I had the honor to experience the ‘Resonant Histories’ Exhibition on Indian and Arab Art at the Nicholson Jahangir Art Gallery at the CSVSS Museum, Kala Ghoda, Bombay by Barjeel Art Foundation in Sharjah. Had all the masters in place and the framing was decolonial and enthused by the spirit of Bandung. The art work by a Shantiniketan trained Egyptian artist was special as both my parents are Visvabharti alumni.

I grew up in Oman and call Masqat, Bayt hence the art had a special resonance especially the painting on President Nasser. Art is a register of history of modernity, which in the digital era is often lost. Art is cultural anchoring, and is a space of taste and aesthetics.

The Barjeel Foundation team did a splendid job, with the local curators. Getting a Ganesh Payne to a Gaitonde to a Jamini Roy under one roof, and juxtaposing it with Arab masters especially Emirati artists is no mean feat.

The museum is near to the Gateway of India where the Dhows were anchored in British India, when Bombay, Karachi, Aden, Masqat, Kuwait and Basra were a part of the Western Indian Ocean Grid, a Bombay Islam as the title of the book by Historian Nile Green says.

Excellent references world be Monsoon Voyagers by Professor Fahad Bishara and Sam Dalrymple’s book, on multiple partitions of South Asia, Shattered Lands.