The Louvre in Paris gets the largest number of footfall than any museum in the world. But it does not have a single piece of Indian art. The only examples are Mughal miniatures, which are labelled under Islamic art section.
For the first time in its history, the world's pre-eminent museum of art gets a woman as its boss, Laurence des Cars. All she had to do was cross the Seine from the Musée d'Orsay where she was president. The 54-year-old has a reputation for bringing to light overlooked art.
Says art critic Kishore Singh, "Museums in the West rarely step out of their geographical domain. There are hardly any curators who are of ethnic origin. Some museums acquire the art, but then don’t air it out. At the same time, I believe the situation is slowly changing. I’m confident Indian art will have a better showcase in years to come."
In 2019, when the pandemic was yet to invade Paris and the champagne flowed freely at art shows and galleries, des Cars exhibited 'Black Models: from Géricault to Matisse', dealing with Black subjects and themes that had been ignored by the French world.
Revolutionary France had Blacks in powerful positions - Generals Thomas-Alexandre Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie, son and author Alexandre Dumas and Chevalier de Saint-Georges, musician, master fencer and soldier. Black women from French colonies visited Paris to buy the latest fashions. France's affair with race is complex.
In 1315, King Louis X had declared, "French ground frees any slave that touches it," but in 1685, Louis XIV set up the Code Noir ('Black Code'), which denied Blacks judicial rights. Now race is back on the French mind as children of immigrants take inspiration from #BlackLivesMatter to challenge France’s universality ethos.
It is in the charged atmosphere of anti-racist rallies sweeping France that the socially aware des Cars takes over the Louvre. On May 26, a week after the government allowed museums in France to officially reopen, she told a radio interviewer that she hopes to build “a museum of the present”, and attract younger generations to art.
She had worked on the development of the Abu Dhabi Louvre, which has 150 Indian sculptures and paintings ranging from 12th century BC to the 20th century. Seema Kohli, whose art is currently on display at the Museum of Sacred Art in next-door Brussels, says, "We’re looking at more democratic representation all over the world. Indian art is still very undershown. The global art world needs to open up more to Indian art. Even contemporary art is missing."
In des Car' previous jobs, the director has championed diversity, highlighted racial divisions and curated shows with cross-generational relevance. Going by her past record, the racial profile of the Louvre in Paris is likely to change its frame.