The Science Museum celebrates India’s scientific and cultural fabric with two illuminating shows

The Science Museum is celebrating 70 years of Indian independence this winter with two major concurrent exhibitions, dedicated to both technological and scientific innovations and artistic endeavours from the country.
The first show, ‘5000 Years of Science and Innovation’, stretches back not only to the start of an independent India in 1947, but 5,000 years – to the Indus Valley Civilisation in 3000 – 2500 BCE, who developed some of the earliest standardised weights, and the Bakhsali Manuscript, the oldest document in the world in which the zero symbol appears.
These objects are on display alongside countless others, tracing India’s long interest in understanding the world. Bringing this into the present, among the special events taking place at the Science Museum to coincide with ‘Illuminating India’ are a tea-blending workshop, and Q&As with space researcher Moumita Dutta and film director, Danny Boyle.
High Court, Chandigarh, 1955
If you are more inspired by India’s visual culture, ‘Illuminating India: Photography 1857 – 2017’, running in tandem at the Science Museum, is one of the largest displays of Indian photography ever to take place in the UK. It’s also an unprecedented insight into the development of modern India through the eyes of soldiers, journalists, artists and explorers who have lived in and travelled the country over the last century and documented its people, architecture and nature on camera.
Focusing solely on photographs – known to have arrived on the continent in the mid-19th century, not long after the first pictures were taken in Britain in 1839 – the exhibition evokes the importance of pictures not only as a scientific development, but as a vehicle for understanding and empowerment. Visitors can also familiarise themselves with some lesser-known contributors to the history of photography, including India’s first recognised photographer, Ahmad Ali Khan.
In addition to pioneers such as Marahaja Ram Singh II of Jaipur, who would spent hours in the laboratory with his plates, and Shapoor N Bhedwar, 19th-century photographer and critic, whose elegant studio portraits are also included in the show. Another name absent from the western art history canon is Homai Vyarawalla – India’s first female photojournalist – whose depictions of the crowds celebrating independence at Red Fort and outside Parliament in 1947 are perhaps among the most iconic images of the nation’s recent history, yet have rarely before been seen abroad.
Employees of the Tata Iron and Steel Company on their way to work, Jamshedpur, India, May, 1951, by Werner Bischof.
High Court Chandigarh, 1955
Anwesh Kumar Sahoo former Mr Gay India, photographed on Juhu Beach, India, 2017, by Olivia Arthur.
Humayans Tomb, Delhi, India ,1985, by Mitch Epstein.
Party Field, Janakpur, Nepal, 2016, by Vasantha Yogananthan, from the series A Myth Of Two Souls, 2013.
Rama Combing His Hair, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India, 2015, by Vasantha Yogananthan, from the series A Myth of Two Souls.
Boy Playing Girl, Janakpur, Nepal, 2016, by Vasantha Yogananthan, hand-painted by Jaykumar Shankar, from A Myth Of Two Souls, 2013.
Lovebird, Ramtek, Maharashtra, India, 2015, by Vasantha Yogananthan, from the series A Myth Of Two Souls, 2013. © Vasantha Yogananthan
INFORMATION
‘Illuminating India’ is on view until 31 March 2018. For more information, visit the Science Museum website
ADDRESS
Exhibition Road
South Kensington
London SW7 2DD
Charlotte Jansen is a journalist and the author of two books on photography, Girl on Girl (2017) and Photography Now (2021). She is commissioning editor at Elephant magazine and has written on contemporary art and culture for The Guardian, the Financial Times, ELLE, the British Journal of Photography, Frieze and Artsy. Jansen is also presenter of Dior Talks podcast series, The Female Gaze.
-
In memoriam: Paolo Portoghesi (1931 - 2023)
Postmodernist Italian architect Paolo Portoghesi has died; writer David Plaisant celebrates his life and legacy, recalling his visit to Calcata for a feature in the Wallpaper* April 2021 issue
By David Plaisant • Published
-
Cindy Sherman’s freaky new portrait collages dissect the divided self
We preview Cindy Sherman’s new portraits, on view at Hauser & Wirth Zurich during Zurich Art Weekend – which will see digitally manipulated collages explore the many facets of society
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Published
-
Sotheby's to buy the Breuer Building in New York
The Breuer Building in New York is to be acquired by famed auction house Sotheby's, it's been announced
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
‘In Our Veins Flow Ink and Fire’: a fervent return for India’s Kochi-Muziris Biennale
In its fifth edition, the postponed Kochi-Muziris Biennale surpasses the intersectional, collaborative essence of previous editions, writes Aastha D
By Aastha D • Published
-
Bharti Kher escapes to Somerset in search of solitude
The New Delhi-based artist presents an exhibition of new installation, painting and sculpture work following her 2017 residency at Hauser & Wirth Somerset
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith • Last updated
-
A colonial warehouse in Kerala hosts the third Kochi-Muziris Biennale
By Emma O'Kelly • Last updated
-
Special argent: a silvered family house holds its own at French sculpture park Domaine du Muy
By Natalia Rachlin • Last updated
-
A legacy of Bangladeshi architecture on show at the Dhaka Art Summit
By Nick Compton • Last updated
-
ZegnArt enlists Reena Kallat to create a site-specific artwork in Mumbai
By JJ Martin • Last updated
-
Bharti Kher exhibition at Hauser & Wirth, New York
By Marina Cashdan • Last updated
-
Anish Kapoor's first exhibition in India
By Malaika Byng • Last updated