Denver Art Museum (DAM) in Colorado will be showcasing Hindu deity Lord Ganesha in an exhibition “Ganesha: The Playful Protector” from October one to 28.
This exhibition, in collaboration with National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom Penh, claims to provide a spectrum of ancient to modern representations of Lord Ganesha through sculptures, paintings and textiles. It includes 600s-700s cross-legged sandstone Lord Ganesha from Cambodia, 800s-900s stone Lord Ganesha from India with three mother goddesses, 1000s-1100s six-armed dancing Lord Ganesha from India, etc.
“This significant pre-Angkor artwork will be on view along with sculptures, paintings, and textiles from the DAM’s own collection of ancient to modern representations of the Hindu deity”, Museum announcement states. Lord Ganesha inspired “numerous representations throughout the Asian subcontinent over time—all of which will be surveyed in the exhibition”, it adds. Museum also invites kids and families to “read aloud an illustrated story that tells how Ganesha broke his tusk”.
Welcoming DAM for exhibiting highly revered Hindu deity Lord Ganesha, Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada today, said that art had a long and rich tradition in Hinduism and ancient Sanskrit literature talked about religious paintings of deities on wood or cloth.
Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, urged major art museums of the world, including Musee du Louvre and Musee d’Orsay of Paris, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Los Angeles Getty Center, Uffizi Gallery of Florence (Italy), Art Institute of Chicago, Tate Modern of London, Prado Museum of Madrid, National Gallery of Art in Washington DC, etc., to frequently organize Hindu art focused exhibitions, thus sharing the rich Hindu art heritage with the rest of the world.
There are about three million Hindus in USA. In Hinduism, Lord Ganesha is worshipped as god of wisdom and remover of obstacles and is invoked before the beginning of any major undertaking.
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Claimed to be “one of the largest art museums between Chicago and the West Coast”, DAM, founded in 1893, has about 70,000 art objects in its collections. Its Mission includes sparking “creative thinking and expression through transformative experiences with art”. J. Landis (Lanny) Martin is Trustees Chairman, while Dr. Christoph Heinrich is the Director.