The 1872 founded museum had fallen into a derelict condition by the late 1990s. Tasneem Zakaria Mehta is Board Member at Wockhardt Ltd. See Tasneem Zakaria Mehta's compensation, career history, education, & memberships. Today, museums are more important than ever as safe spaces for critical thinking. As a senior student ambassador for the Wellesley Center of Women, it is my job to try to communicate to the college the work the Center does to promote women empowerment. We start with the ongoing exhibitions, especially 'Games People Play' by the Delhi-based contemporary artist duo Thukral & Tagra. The secret to her 33-year-old marriage, says Mehta, is giving space and sharing interests. Tasneem Zakaria Mehta. I can lose my cool with non-performance. Salesmanship is what she picked up on her first job a three-year stint at Bloomingdales, New York. Mumbai : A City Through Objects - 101 Stories from the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum By Tasneem Zakaria Mehta 2,999.00 inclusive of all taxes Buy Now Or from your local bookseller. [The late] Bal Thackeray used to drink wine himself. She recently came under fire by the civic body when corporators alleged that Mehta planned to convert the existing playground into a parking lot as part of the museum's expansion plan. BDL has also hosted several online and in-person sessions on climate change, waste management, land ecosystem, ozone depletion, and so on, which have received an overwhelming response from schools and NGOs. "My father was liberal. Tallur, among others,to respond to the collection, to the history and archives, addressing issues that speak directly to the traditions and tensions that underlie the founding of the museum, yet invoke the present by challenging orthodoxies and questioning assumptions. Both sofas are from London. The Presidency was important, but it was really about the city. I have all my work, my notes, my music, pictures, etc on my laptop.ON YOUR iPOD: I love Bollywood music and Bollywood movies. We spoke to Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, managing trustee and honorary director of BDL, trustee of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale Foundation, a member of the advisory board of the National Gallery for . Tasneem Zakaria Mehta is an art historian, curator, designer, and cultural activist. closed in 2020. No other museum has such a comprehensive collection of people of the city. BDL director Tasneem Zakaria Mehta says the public-private partnership between the Bajaj Group and the Mumbai authorities is what finally allowed the museum's restoration and conservation. "We have fights about that. He made them by referencing photography as well as prints and paintings by earlier artists. Mehta roped in contemporary artists such as Jitish and Reena Kallat, Atul Dodiya, Thukral and Tagra, Valay Shende, etc to showcase their works alongside museum exhibits, a trend that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sanghralaya has since emulated. Thereafter, she introduced a hotel management course in alliance with a British university. She is also geared up for new batches of the Post Graduate Diploma in Modern & Contemporary Indian Art & Curatorial Studies offered by the Museum, started under her aegis. Whats their significance? Being a good human being is the only thing that matters. Buy Now | Our best subscription plan now has a special price. The relief map of Heptanesia, between 1700 and 1800, is one such example. The museum continues to hold discussions on climate change, health, and sustainability among other topics, which are all extremely well-received. Part of HuffPost News. Mumbai: A City through Objects tells the story of a city through unique objects in the collection of the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, the erstwhile Victoria and Albert Museum, Bombay. During her time in the Ambani high school, she was interested in pursuing History and Economics. 'Mumbai - A City Through Objects, 101 Stories from the Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum' Edited by Tasneem Zakaria Mehta "Most museums in India ignore the contemporary," she says, "It's a two-pronged approach for us, as we are showcasing the contemporary talent of India; and through that, the artists are able to do more." "The [party] MNS says 'This is against Maharashtrian culture.' While the first half of the year saw the Museum get high praise for its various successes, it also had its share of controversy, as politicians threatened to oust Mehta and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation put her on six months' notice. Within a month, an additional gallery, an educational centre, a gift shop, a caf and toilets were in place for the show. This means we are able to keep this site free-of-charge to use. Right at the centre of the busy Byculla district stands one of the city's great treasures Mumbai's first museum, a Palladian building with Victorian pillars, established in 1872. BDL revived the art scene after its 2008 relaunch. Curated by Tasneem Zakaria Mehta . It is very different to the normal path a museum treads. We will notify you when the book is released! 1 Marriage 3 Children. While studying there, I lived with a host family for months and travelled to different parts of Europe on my own. Political leaders, stalwarts who died in 2020. You dont get things like this anymore; I need to look after them more carefully, she says, as I hurriedly extricate it from under me. Tasneem Zakaria Mehta: The Revivalist. Otherwise, what's the point of doing all this?". She squeezes in a little more than an hour to talk about her curatorial style, about her life at the Museum, and her plans for it over the second half of the year. I think thats the main reason she inspires me she has never sacrificed her passion for anyone or anything and has become so successful following it. PASSIONS/INTERESTS: Ive always wanted to study law. "You need footfalls; otherwise you should just give up, because that means your product is not working. Mehta is very clear about basing the overall schedule on the idea that Indian art is holistic, handmade and participative in nature. The exhibition has been seeing plenty of participation from visitors, something she is pleased about. The city and the Museum developed together, each . What makes you take on social justice issues like these? Those days gave me a clear sense of national pride.". In 2010, she was elected Vice Chairman of INTACH, the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage and has been the Convenor of the Mumbai Chapter and member of the Governing Council since 1996. "A lot of contemporary art has to do with politics, and with literary theory." She has achieved so much and everytime I mention it to her, her eyes sparkle because she always says that she is doing exactly what she loves. The couple's two daughters study abroad Malika, 27, is pursuing public policy at Harvard and 21-year-old Ahilya is at Wellesley College. Human and group interaction is far more valuablethan anything one can find on Google, at least for the time being. Tasneem Zakaria Mehta. Please include '@' in the email address, Copyrights 2023 Business Standard Private Ltd. All Full access to our intuitive epaper - clip, save, share articles from any device; newspaper archives from 2006. The colonial wrought-iron table is from Mehta's time in Alexandria, Egypt, where she lived for two years. Whats their significance? We re-curated the collection to bring in a new focus on the city and on contemporary artistic practice. Navigating the spacious sea-facing apartment of Tasneem Zakaria Mehta the managing trustee of the Dr Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museumis a bit of an adventure sport, especially if youre a klutz like me. I am like the visual editor here and my task is to make sure that the overall product is great.". The largest singular event for nonprofit art curators across all fields, types of organizations, and geographic locations. She is a member of the International Council of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and has been a nominator for the Rockefeller Foundations Bellagio Creative Arts awards. Contemporary artists explored different aspects of this fraught history to provoke a rethinking of how we can perceive received histories. Could you tell us more about this? The College is committed to providing equal access and opportunity in employment and education to all employees and students. She's done a good job, but BDL is not her private property," fumes corporator and MNS members Sandeep Deshpande. The second is Mansoor Zakaria, a former Silicon Valley entrepreneur who is now a partner in a wealth management firm. Arshad Zakaria, Tasneem Zakaria Mehta: School: Cathedral and John Connan School, Mumbai: College: Yale University: Religion: Islam: Nationality: Indian: Zodiac Sign: Aquarius: Gender: Male: . All images have been provided by Open Magazine. Tasneem Zakaria Mehta has battled several odds to bring alive a once derelict bastion of culture. "Ask the museum staff (about our arguments)," he laughs, recalling that every phase of the museum's restoration saw a clash of the titans, especially the one over air-conditioning the space 24x7 as per international standards. As of 2023, Fareed Zakaria's Net Worth is $15 million. Soon after, Mukesh Ambani came to the Museum's rescue by announcing a grant of Rs 1.8 crore. For example, Sheba Chhachhis work Mistry ke Haath depicts the photograph of a laid-off factory worker holding the last remnant of his working life, a floor tile, in his hands in a gesture of humble appeal. At the opposite end, there is a large table that displays some memorabilia, thick copies of annual reports and a few programme catalogues, among other things. The daughter of Rafiq Zakaria, wife of former Shell CEO and current chairman of Brookings India Vikram Mehta and sister of Fareed Zakaria Tasneem Zakaria Mehta has mentioned so many big names to me in the first 25 minutes of our conversation that I wonder if she . [8] She was the president of Maulana Azad Education Society (MAES) and chairman of Maulana Azad Educational Trust (MAET), both in Aurangabad. She belongs to one of the most prominent families of Mumbai: her step-brother is the journalist Fareed Zakaria; her father, Rafiq Zakaria, was Maulana Azad's secretary and a participant in India's freedom struggle. Tata, Jayaprakash Narayan, and then prime minister Morarji Desai, Charan Singh. Please provide your consent for the following so that we can ensure that you have an enjoyable experience on our website. "When I was working there, I didn't think it was really going anywhere," she says, "But it's funny how things come together. Tasneem Zakaria Mehta is the honorary director of the museum and has a Board of Management and Trustees that include the mayor and the municipal commissioner of Mumbai. May 6-9, 2023. www.artcurators.org. Mehta's methods are so alien to the establishment that 227, perhaps otherwise-warring corporators, have come together to see her out of BDL and terminate a 2003 tripartite agreement between the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Indian National Trust for Art and Culture Heritage (INTACH) and Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation for the museum's management. Mehta clarifies that she's not on a notice period but in a strong legal arrangement that keeps her put till 2023. As managing trustee and honorary director of the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum, Mehta conceptualized, curated, designed, and implemented the institutions restoration and revitalization. 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The models [of professions, ethnicities and religions] had become very popular at the Great Exhibition of 1851 and subsequent showings. Another experience that comes surprisingly in handy at the Museum was her stint at Bloomingdales in New York. She admits she can do with reserves of patience. They allow us a peek into a civilisation long past or bring us close to today's issues. Museum display has moved quite a distance from rows of glass cases but what is the present trend? Menu. The approval came through the following morning. Fareed Zakaria Education Zakaria was a student at the Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai, India. The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards. Before youve taken two steps in, youve probably got grubby fingerprints on a Gulammohammed Sheikh; walked into an antique spindle table with about 5,000 pieces of handcrafted brass; and sat on an exquisite mirror-work cushion salvaged from gatthriwalis (travelling fabric saleswomen). The daughter of Rafiq Zakaria, wife of former Shell CEO and current chairman of Brookings India Vikram Mehta and sister of Fareed Zakaria Tasneem Zakaria Mehta has mentioned so many big names to me in the first 25 minutes of our conversation that I wonder if she knows any regular people. She recalls extensive travels around the country. She cites the example of American museums, which-- unlike most European ones--must raise their own funds and have therefore become so adept at PR and marketing that they are dynamic institutions. ALSO READ: Forging solidarities across differences: Nancy Adajania. "I am only focused on being successful at what I do; 90 per cent of the comments in our feedback book are positive. Tasneem Zakaria Mehta is synonymous with the 144-year-old Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum (BDL). But whats comfortable, whats familiar is the wood and the old wooden flooring and I think thats why I love this home so much, elaborates Tasneem Zakaria Mehta. Eminem apologizes to Rihanna in his lat Eminem apologizes to Rihanna in his latest song for siding with Chris Brown who assaulted her; says "I'm sorry, Ri". Its deep archival research till we ended up hitting rock bottom at our own archives, and then we explored other museums and libraries in India, the UK and the US. Invalid email. "Having a high standard of excellence can be challenging for others. The facial expressions of the models and the photographs are almost exact. She also served as the editor of the Taj magazine of the Taj Hotels. We focus on how great we were in the past, but what about today? They spend a lot of time here looking at our collection, archives, and meeting our curatorial team. Her eldest stepson Tasneem Zakaria Mehta is an art historian and writer. Read 15 years of Mumbai Mirror's journalism here. Zakaria was the second wife of Rafiq Zakaria, who was an Indian politician and Islamic religious cleric. Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, curator of the ongoing exhibition Asymmetrical Objects, writes about how it visually addresses issues that plague modern society. So there is an interesting art historical trajectory here. As Managing Trustee and Honorary Director of the museum since 2003 she has a future-forward approach to what she describes as a jewel box museum, rich with exhibits but also compact and easily navigable within an hour ortwo. Tasneem Zakaria Mehta Author Overview TasneemZakaria Mehta has been deeply engaged with art and culture, especiallyof India, since she graduated from the Sir J.J. School of Art many yearsback. They thought Indians didnt have the intellect needed to produce a Michelangelo-level sculpture. Her political background also comes into play in her role as a curator. Copies of accounts submitted to and stamped by the BMC make their way to this writer's mailbox in no time. The museum was meant to present these products of trade pottery, decorative crafts, building material, minerals, seeds, plants, medicinal herbs and teas. The museum industry is still grappling with the long-term implications and faces a continuous challenge to reinvent and revitalise in order to keep up with the quickly evolving times and to create more engaging exhibitions and educational programmes for visitors. Is healing and redemption possible? The dioramas and models are among the highlights of the museum and the book devotes a whole section to them as People of India. While Zakaria hasnt reacted to the jab, his sister, Tasneem Mehta felt it seemed Coulter hadnt watched Zakarias program. How do you collect when you know everybody in the art world and everybody is a potential friend? She decided to turn her focus to one particular theme about 10 years ago, specifically, Indian women artists. Subscribe We will email you when the book is released! At Wellesley, Im pursuing my interest in law as a member of the Mock Trial team. The exhibition invited viewers to form their own conclusions and share these in a dialogue that continued for the length of the exhibition through many activities and discussions. French Open: Rafael Nadal sets up 59th match with Novak Djokovic, Copyright 2023 The Indian Express [P] Ltd. All Rights Reserved, Tasneem Zakaria Mehta: 'We focus on how great we were in the past, but what about today? Mehta says this is a worthwhile vision. Unlock incisive commentary only on Business Standard. The exhibition would be looking at the history of photography in India. Friday 17 February '12. of 6. She looks highly composed, a far cry from someone who has been through a storm, even as she mentions an upcoming trip to the Himalayas where she would be completely inaccessible. And no chit-chat." Earlier this month, Maharashtras minister of tourism Aaditya Thackeray released a book and inaugurated an exhibition at Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum commemorating the 150th anniversary of its establishment in Byculla. Since the COVID outbreak, various museums and cultural institutions, large and small, public and private, have had to remain closed temporarily, resulting in massive financial losses. During my gap year and for my summer after my first year at Wellesley, I was studying and interning in Spain. [7] Her office was located in the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai. Even though the museum is a historic place, it was always meant to reflect contemporary design and innovation in the arts, showcasing the best examples of Indian craftsmanship that was in high demand in the international market. Govt must give cultural institutions financial and functional autonomy. "I loved going on campaigns with my father in the jeep and shouting slogans like 'Vote for Congress!' The museum architecture is classical but the content is very much contemporary of that time. Please wait while you are being redirected to the next page. "I always came first in art at Cathedral & John Connon School and graduated in Fine Arts from JJ School of Arts," she says. But he loved my husband Vikram, although the Hindu-Muslim bit wasn't a cakewalk for either of us." "I've spent 15 years doing pro bono work. Museums are not only repositories of the past but an excellent environment for experimental, interdisciplinary learning. Office was located in the Taj Hotels pursuing history and Economics best subscription now. 'S the point of doing all this? `` of 1851 and showings... New York not only repositories of the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai, India following so we! 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