Kasturbhai Lalbhai Museum opens in Ahmedabad; rich private art collection made public

January 29, 2017
Ahmedabad Business Gujarat

Ahmedabad: In the midst of family and friends, the Kasturbhai Lalbhai Museum was inaugurated today in Sbahibaug area of Ahmedabad.

Set amongst tall trees, the complex houses two buildings – an old colonial building, constructed in 1905 and a relatively later building designed by Claude Batley in the 1930s. The colonial building was home to the extended Lalbhai family till the time families grew large and members moved away finally leaving this complex unoccupied for almost two decades.

Deciding to restore and renovate the ancestral property, Jayshree and Sanjay Lalbhai decided to get renowned architect Rahul Mehrotra of RMA Associates to undertake the restoration of this complex. Keeping the integrity of the original buildings intact, Mr. Rahul Mehrotra restored the building to its past glory. The Lalbhais had decided to use the building to showcase the art and antiquities collection that their grandfather Kasturbhai Lalbhai had acquired in 1935. The collection, eclectic in nature, perfectly balances art with historical merit and personal favourites all the while retaining the essence of the family home. The paintings on view are from a range of traditions and styles, from the Persian, Mughal, Deccan, Pahari and Rajasthani schools, Tibetan Thangkas, Company School portraits, modernist paintings from the Bengal School, and painted postcards from pre-independent India. Art in stone, metal, wood and Bidri covers a span of more than a thousand years.

Kasturbhai-Lalbhai-Museum-Ahmedabad

In the adjacent building, the Claude Batley house, space has been created to house temporary exhibitions, retrospectives of artists and display of works by young artists. Leaving the beauty of the older building untouched and unmarred, Mehrotra, has constructed a unique and distinctive glass gallery, to create extra display space.

The complex also has a small amphitheatre with a seating capacity of 250 that can host small performances, musical soirees, talks and discourses. Thus with different and changing events being planned through the year, Lalbhais hope to create a dynamic and vibrant atmosphere to draw people for a cultural treat.

Speaking on the occasion, Mrs. Jayshree Lalbhai said, “The museum is a loving tribute to Shri Kasturbhai Lalbhai. For us preserving the house and showcasing Dadaji’s collection were uppermost in our minds and today both Sanjay and I are very happy at the way it has turned out. The collection displayed here is modest in size but it has allowed us to showcase some wonderful specimens of our traditional art while still maintaining the essence of a home. Creating a space for changing exhibitions and a space for performances, lectures, musical events, will ensure that the people of Ahmedabad will come to the complex again and again for newer cultural treats.”

When the museum throws open its doors to the public on the 16th of February, Lalbhais plan to have two guided tours – one in the morning and one in the evening. They are trying to enlist young college students to conduct these tours. Bringing Art within the purview of all is what we want to do.

From media interaction:

The museum is divided into three buildings. Two of them are opened today while third one which will be beneath the surface will be ready after sometime. While the main bungalow showcases old collection the building behind by Claude Batley showcases recent art including the art pieces of Ramkumar, Raza, Manjit Bava, Bhupen Khakhkhar, Amrita Shergil, Akbar Padamshi and M.F. Hussain. Both buildings have ground and first floor showcasing art in different rooms. The drawing room, bathroom(on ground floor), bedroom and library(on the first floor) are kept intact with more or less addition and restoration. The underground building which is in advance stage of construction at present will showcase the life and works of Shri Kasturbhai Lalbhia and 17 generations of the family starting from Shantidas sheth to Kasturbhai and Shrenikbhai. Sanjaybhai in his talk to media persons said the amfi theater in the bungalow compound will host performing arts and other activities on non-commercial basis. He said the bungalow is located next to Textile museum by Sarabhai family. Both places will make Ahmedabad further an attractive place, he added. The private collection shared with public will help students in Ahmedabad. Kasturbhai had collected art pieces with intention to keep them within India, or otherwise the would scatter across the world. NID helped KL Museum in display of antiquity in old house. Punit Shah from Mumbai extended help in curating the displays. New addition of gallery on the first floor of old building on the backside has been done in a way that it can be dismantled within hours to make it again to original shape. The underground portion(third and new building) which will house gallery showcasing the family will be covered with greenery and will be visible therefore only at the entrance.

Sanjay-Lalbhai

Late Sri Kasturbhai Lalbhai- The Versatile Visionary(1894-1980)

The legacy of Sri Kasturbhai has been synonymous with 3 terms in the broadest sense; perseverance, ethics and larger purpose. Starting small in the textile business at an early age, Late Sri Kasturbhai Lalbhai established a diverse business group which today is one of the country’s leading conglomerates. With hard work and perseverance, Sri Kasturbhai went on to create one of the most reputed business houses of India, Lalbhai Group.

An institution builder par excellence, he made seminal contributions, particularly in the fields of industry, education, culture and religion. His pioneering efforts helped in the process of transformation of a newly independent India to a land of emerging hopes and opportunities. He led a purposeful life imbibed with integrity, discipline, excellence, perseverance and simplicity. A versatile visionary who successfully converted his dreams into institutional reality, one of the greatest qualities of Sri Kasturbhai was his legendary ability to balance family, work and life, and the incredible way in which he compartmentalised his multifarious responsibilities and activities to near perfection.

Blessed with a keen appreciation of the need to preserve Indian art, culture and history, Shri Kasturbhai seized every opportunity to preserve Indian heritage. When Shri Punyavijayji, a revered Jain monk, spoke to him about the need to preserve ancient manuscripts that he had collected as he walked all over the country, and the need to house them under one roof, Kasturbhai immediately undertook the project to set up the Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Institute of Indology. He appointed renowned architect Shri Balkrishna Doshi to design the building. Though not a collector in the conventional sense he understood the need of preserving our heritage. Individually he did not buy things for himself as the philosophy behind procuring these priceless objects was not personal possession but rather preservation for posterity. Thus when the Tagore brothers decided to let go their collection he brought it here to Ahmedabad in its entitreity. Fifty percent of it he gave away to the Lalbhai Dalpatbhai Institute as he knew it would be well looked after there. He also knew that accessibility to scholars too would be more at the Institute. His instinctive understanding of buildings, beauty and symmetry led Louis Kahn, a leading architect in mid 1900, to describe him as a natural architect . Inviting international architects like Louis Kahmn and Corbusier to Ahmedabad also sheds light on his vision.

Based on his principles of ‘Nation Building’ the Lalbhai family over generations have contributed actively for education, social and religious causes. Their contribution to education ranges from Gujarat Vernacular Society in late 1800’s to the formation of Ahmedabad Education Society in 1936, which governs 11 leading colleges and 6 schools, and 4 other educational programs. Sri Kasturbhai Lalbhai played a key role in establishing the Physical Research Laboratory in 1948, ATIRA in 1947 and the famed IIM Ahmedabad in 1961.

#Arvind #Sanjay Lalbhai

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