One of the things I like best about the new exhibition From the Land of the Taj Mahal is how easy it is for visitors of all ages and backgrounds to enjoy. It might seem hard to believe that paintings completed hundreds of years ago and calligraphies written in languages many of our visitors can’t read could be made easy and fun to understand, but our exhibition team has done everything possible to make this happen.
The paintings and calligraphies in the exhibition are incredibly vibrant and beautiful, but it’s easy to miss tiny details like insects, flower petals, and whiskers on the emperors’ beards. Mughal imperial painters often worked with brushes made from only a bird quill and one or two bristles from squirrel or kitten tails, so unless you stand so close your nose touches the painting, you probably won’t see everything with the naked eye.
Our gallery attendants probably won’t let you get that close to these priceless works, but there is a solution. At the entrance and several other areas in the exhibition, you’ll find plastic magnifying glasses with a handy string to wear around your neck or wrap around your wrist. If you hold the magnifying glass at different angles, you’ll be able to see things like the shimmer of the gold paint and the texture of the 400-year-old paper. If the paintings are too high up to look closely, there are kid-friendly footstools available throughout the galleries.
Once you can get a good look at the art, there are lots of resources in the galleries to help you understand it better. Almost all of the pieces have extensive explanatory labels that discuss the artist’s intent, unusual techniques, why the image was made, or the history behind it. There are also hints about specific details to examine, and the room of calligraphies even has a reproduction of an illuminated manuscript you can look through for yourself.
As this short exhibition continues, I’ll be sure to give you more updates on this great art, but hopefully after reading this you can see how our educators and curators have made it even greater by offering an interactive, fun experience for all.