Rama and Sita – The Ramayana in Indian Painting

Museum Rietberg Zürich presents an exhibition of the works of Indian painters, inspired by the Ramayana’s narrative power. [ dated June 2008]

Venue: Museum Rietberg Zürich Date: 29 June to 28 September 2008

The Ramayana, one of India’s great epics, tells of the deeds of the divine crown prince Rama, exiled with his wife Sita in the wake of a palace intrigue. The heroic poem, written in 24,000 Sanskrit couplets, remains to this day South Asia’s most popular literary work.

The thoughtful design of the exhibition at Museum Rietberg Zürich invites viewers to enter the world of the Ramayana and visit the epic’s key sites. As if they were characters in the story, visitors follow the action through all seven books and experience for themselves how Rama’s beloved wife Sita is ravished by demons. Rama wins her back, with the help of the monkey Hanuman at the head of an army of woodland creatures, and returns to his birthplace, where he enjoys a long and just reign.

The Indian painters, inspired by the Ramayana’s narrative power and wealth of detail, created a comprehensive series of illustrations of all of the poem’s episodes. The small-format, exceptionally valuable pieces testify to a wide range of traditions and stylistic developments in Indian painting. Of note as well is the artists’ great familiarity with the epic, visible in their precise visualization of the text. Among the most splendid works on view at the exhibition are four folios belonging to a Persian translation of the Ramayana prepared during the reign of Akbar, Mogul emperor from 1556 to 1605. The work, created for the emperor’s mother by the most respected painters of the time, is an excellent example of the fusion of the Persian and Indian artistic traditions.

Curators: Jorrit Britschgi, Eberhard Fischer
Architect: Martin Sollberger

Parallel events A traditional shadow-puppet show from southern India will enliven the first week of “Rama and Sita”. Led by S. A. Krishnaiah and B. Veeranna, the puppeteers and musicians will enact an episode from the Ramayana twice daily.

From 16 to 19 September, Kapila Venu will perform classical Sanskrit theatre and dance in the Museum Rietberg. Accompanied by two percussionists, she will enact three episodes from the Ramayana.