On February 16, 2008 the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) will open the Sir Christopher Ondaatje South Asian Gallery to the public. Named after Sir Christopher Ondaatje for his donations to the museum, the gallery will showcase over 350 South Asian artifacts in a rotating exhibition for short periods of time. Multicultural Toronto, with its large South Asian community, is the perfect location to showcase amazing exhibit.

The exhibit will be organized into 9 separate areas, each representing a fabulous collection of South Asian religious objects and sculpture, decorative arts, arms and armour, and miniature paintings and textiles that hail from countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Tibet. The idea is to present the 5,000 year history of South Asian art as a series of stories. Visitors to the exhibit can visit any or all of the 9 areas in any order that pleases them. A few of the most coveted pieces of the collection are a rare 3rd century Buddhist reliquary with delicate gold and pearl ornamentation, a 12th century bronze statue of Shiva as the Lord of Dance, and a beautiful 18th century hand painted textile made for the export market.

Krishna is Hinduism’s most powerful divinity. Therefore, it’s only fitting that the first rotating exhibition will be “Playful Krishna” featuring 40 artifacts, including the recently acquired treasure of a “picchvai” which is a painting on cloth depicting the pilgrimage route to sites sacred to Krishna’s life. Each of the sections is as diverse as the time periods and the cultures themselves – “Material Remains”, “Visualizing Divinity”, “Passage to Enlightenment”, “Courtly Culture”, “Cultural Exchange”, “Home and the World” are your windows into this unique cultural experience.

For more information follow the link below.
www.rom.on.ca/exhibitions/wculture/southasia.php