BENGALURU: Like it or hate it, we can’t change history. And what is important is knowing it. MAP Academy, an online venture by Museum of Art and Photography (MAP), is a platform that delves into the history of art in South Asia. Created and maintained by over 40 researchers, editors and academic advisors from across the world, it comprises an encyclopedia of art from the Indian subcontinent.
To give extensive information, there are over 2,000 articles and counting on the subject. The timeline goes from pre-modern art, post-independence art, narrative and indigenous traditions, as well as explores popular culture.
The concept is the brainchild of Nathaniel Gaskell, founder and director of the MAP Academy. “The premise of our encyclopedia and online courses is simple — to make the art histories of South Asia more accessible, based on the belief that doing so can have a positive social impact,” says Gaskell.
MAP Academy, which was launched recently, looks into the current cultural and political movement we are going through. The researchers of the academy also delve into global re-evaluation of what art means in contemporary society. The work also focuses on the regional histories in a new and informed light.
“The last decade has seen an increasing curiosity in learning about this visual heritage, but most resources online tend to be difficult to access or are unreliable. Our encyclopedia aims to address this by bringing to young people a critical resource of entirely unprecedented scale,” says Anirudh V Kanisetti, research editor at the MAP Academy and author of Lords of the Deccan: Southern India From the Chalukyas to the Cholas.
Written primarily by South Asian researchers, it attempts to question canonical narratives, fill essential gaps and provide objective understandings of complex subjects on historical issues with greater nuance and sensitivity. “There isn’t one place that covers the breadth of this rich subject in a manner that is absolutely introductory, yet empowering. The works aim to serve — first and foremost — as the starting points that we ourselves have struggled to find,” says Pooja Savansukha, project lead (online courses), MAP Academy.