{"id":7369,"date":"2011-10-21T03:36:12","date_gmt":"2011-10-21T08:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/?p=7369"},"modified":"2011-10-21T14:32:38","modified_gmt":"2011-10-21T19:32:38","slug":"maharajas-maharanis-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/2011\/10\/21\/maharajas-maharanis-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Maharajas, maharanis and more"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Today marks the start of a new exhibit at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco,\u00a0 Maharaja: The Splendor of India’s Royal Courts<\/em><\/a> running until April 8, 2012. The museum’s assistant curator of South Asian art Qamar Adamjee writes that the exhibit is more than a chance to look at beautiful objects.<\/p>\n\n

The two principal narrative arcs around which the exhibition is organized bring to life the complex and fascinating worlds of India’s great kings. They help us to understand the real people behind the objects that were made for them. The first goes behind the scenes to analyze the roles and qualities of kingship in India. The second traces the ways the institution of kingship shifted against a rapidly changing political and historical backdrop from the early eighteenth century through the 1930s, a period that saw a change in the maharajas’ status from independent rulers to “native princes” under British colonial rule.–Decoding Images of Maharajas<\/a><\/blockquote>\n\n

The exhibit is free this Sunday, October 23, when the museum will also offer a family fun day<\/a>. In the process of rebranding the Asian Art museum has taken on a new logo<\/a>, an upside down A (a symbol<\/a> with a meaning of “for all” in mathematics) in a move to be more inclusive.<\/p>\n\n