Zurich museum

Zurich museum

Subject – Art and Culture

Context – Research centre for Indian art set up in Zurich museum

Concept –

• Museum Rietberg, based in Zurich, Switzerland, has established a unique research centre and fellowship programme with a focus on Indian art.
• The GBF Centre is meant for scholars, curators, and artists who specialise in Indian painting.
• The public-private partnership takes its name from the initials of its founders, three renowned names in art historical research, Prof. B.N. Goswamy from India, Prof. Milo Cleveland Beach from the U.S., and Dr. Eberhard Fischer from Switzerland.
• Research fellows will get a chance to engage with original art works from renowned collections for three to six months in a project of their own design.
• They will work with the museum’s team of scholars as well as experts from Switzerland and Europe.
• Their papers will be presented at lectures and conferences and feed into the work at the Rietberg.
• The programme aims to enhance international scientific, artistic, and curatorial exchange on Indian art and advance the museum’s own collections through dialogues from different perspectives.
• Museum Rietberg is the only art museum for non-European art in Switzerland, and houses collections from Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Oceania.
• It holds exhibitions, cultural events, and global collaborations. Founded in 1952, its Indian paintings collection is ranked alongside those in London, Paris, and Berlin.
• The GBF Centre has named SonikaSoni as its first research fellow. Ms. Soni is an artist and art historian from Rajasthan, whose interests lie in the connection between Indian painting and traditional Indian music.