Jehangir Art Gallery, Art exhibition center in Kala Ghoda, India
Jehangir Art Gallery is a concrete building from 1952 in Kala Ghoda, South Mumbai, with four exhibition halls. Its facade of light beige stone cladding carries large dark letters reading "JEHANGIR ART GALL", and a white wavy cantilevered canopy with four dark fixtures extends over the entrance steps. The gallery turns inward, away from the street, because it was designed to combine an art gallery with an auditorium.
Jehangir Art Gallery was inaugurated on 21 January 1952 by B. G. Kher, then Chief Minister of Bombay State, and was dedicated by Sir Cowasji Jehangir to the memory of his late son Jehangir. The project was urged by artist K. K. Hebbar and scientist Homi J. Bhabha, and Sir Cowasji bore the entire cost of the building. Its history is tied to the renaissance of Indian art, and the complex long housed the Samovar cafe, a meeting point of 1970s socialist culture.
The gallery's name honours Jehangir, Sir Cowasji Jehangir's late son, and the building was inaugurated on 21 January 1952 by B. G. Kher, then Chief Minister of Bombay State. Its four halls host paintings, sculpture and photography, with free entry for all exhibitions. The Kala Ghoda Association, founded on 30 October 1998, organises the Kala Ghoda Festival, in which the gallery plays a major role.
The gallery sits at Kala Ghoda, behind the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya in South Mumbai, near the Gateway of India. Entry is free of charge. It closed for 11 months during the COVID-19 lockdown and partially reopened on 16 February 2021 before fully reopening. The wavy cantilevered canopy marks the entrance on the street side.
The gallery's history is tied to the Samovar cafe, a meeting place of the 1970s that was started by Usha Khanna, niece of actor Balraj Sahni. Shortage of space forced the cafe to close so that more room could go to exhibitions. Both the gallery and Samovar appear in the 1975 Hindi film Chhoti Si Baat, and the gallery is visible in the 1987 Tamil film Nayakan.
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