Now Reading: SWARAJ exhibition revisits India’s political history with dissent and nuance
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SWARAJ exhibition revisits India’s political history with dissent and nuance
SWARAJ exhibition revisits India’s political history with dissent and nuance
An exhibition titled 'SWARAJ: Revisualising India's Political History' was held at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi from August 12 to 16, curated by Neville Tuli and presented by the Tuli…
An exhibition titled 'SWARAJ: Revisualising India's Political History' was held at the India Habitat Centre in New Delhi from August 12 to 16, curated by Neville Tuli and presented by the Tuli Research Centre for India Studies. The show used old prints, posters, paintings, newspapers and photographs to explore the multiple meanings of swaraj, self-rule, as understood by different figures in India's freedom struggle.
It prominently featured Mahatma Gandhi as the moral centre of Indian politics, alongside Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Jawaharlal Nehru, Bhagat Singh and B.R. Ambedkar. The exhibition also brought in dissenting voices: Rabindranath Tagore questioned nationalism itself, while Ambedkar asked 'Whose Swaraj and for whom?'
Sections covered the 1857 uprising (labelled 'Mutiny / Revolt / First War of Independence'), nationalist imagery, the role of printing presses, Raja Ravi Varma's art, Hindi cinema, and post-Independence cartoons. Archival front pages of newspapers marked events such as Independence Day, the deaths of several leaders, the birth of Bangladesh, and the Emergency.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The exhibition's focus on contested interpretations of swaraj, from Tilak's assertive nationalism to Tagore's anti-colonial universalism and Ambedkar's caste question, mirrors a deeper intellectual struggle still unresolved in Indian public life. By placing Gandhi's moral-spiritual vision alongside revolutionary and Dalit critiques, the curators implicitly challenge the singular narrative often privileged in school textbooks. What remains underexplored is how these competing ideas translate into contemporary political choices, including the current debate over constitutional values versus majoritarian nationalism. A useful next step would be for the Tuli Research Centre to digitise select artefacts, making them accessible to students and scholars outside Delhi.
Source: frontline.thehindu.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
