Annexation Annexation; detail

Fieldnotes: tomorrow was here yesterday’ featured works by Jitish Kallat that found profound resonance within the space of the Museum. The artist appropriated the Museum’s architecture and intervened within the display cases creating new readings of the collection and the Museum's history. The idyll of the Museum, which represents the aspirations of the city's founding fathers, stood in sharp contrast to the battle for life that is played out on the city's streets and forms the underlying theme of Kallat's works.The sculpture titled 'Annexation' is an oversized black lead kerosene stove carrying more than a hundred images on its intricately carved surface. Referenced from the porch of the neo-Gothic Victoria Terminus building (the nerve center of Mumbai’s commuter action), this curious decorative frieze features animals devouring each other and clinging to various foods, united in their need to survive.