Hiroshige and Ancient India: Dr Nicholas Cullinan's first major shows as Director of the British Museum

ON OUR RADAR | HAPPENINGS | WORLD OF CABANA

The British Museum’s recently opened hit exhibitions, Hiroshige and Ancient India, solidify the landmark institution as best in class for international lending, relations and storytelling. Sophie Goodwin visits Dr Nicholas Cullinan’s masterful two shows during his first year as Director of the leading cultural institution. 

BY SOPHIE GOODWIN | HAPPENINGS | WORLD OF CABANA

Last year, The British Museum hosted 346 loan objects from 83 different lenders; 1900 objects were loaned to 130 venues in the UK and 1400 objects were loaned to 65 venues globally. Eight million people saw an object from the British Museum outside of London, while the museum stands as the most visited attraction in the UK. The British Museum collections celebrate legacy as much as life, and Dr Nicholas Cullinan's two major exhibitions, held during his first year as director of the institution, exemplify this.

Hiroshige: artist of the open road 

One of Japan’s most revered print artists, Utagawa Hiroshige thrived during the last decades of the Edo period. Hiroshige's ability to depict Japanese landscape, nature and daily life still has huge relevance on our visual language today. 

Hiroshige: artist of the open road includes a major gift of 35 prints to the American Friends of the British Museum from Alan Medaugh, a leading US collector. These are shown alongside another 82 of his prints, also loaned by Medaugh, plus key works from the British Museum's existing collection, and others sourced globally. 

Hiroshige lived during a period of intense upheaval in Japan (1797-1858) as global modernism clashed with Samurai rule. While he was born into a Samurai family, the calm creativity he projected with his work had wide appeal, breaking down barriers with his poetic technicolor and unique perspective on seemingly mundane representations of daily life. Hiroshige's standout triptych work, included in the exhibition, shows a single scene expanded across three prints, revealing pleasure in the passing moment.

His witty, thoughtful art highlights the importance of savouring these freedoms, while his works inspired European masters, such as Van Gogh and Whistler, and leading contemporary artists including Julian Opie. Highlights of the exhibition include two versions of Hiroshige's plum garden, which Van Gogh copied, and bird-and-flower prints, which often include a Japanese or Chinese poem in beautiful swirling calligraphy. 

An unrivalled colorist, his kaleidoscopic creations reveal a sense of harmonious, creative ecstasy, exploring the dynamic between people and the natural world. The exhibition captures all aspects of Japanese life, along with Hiroshige's sense of escapism and ferocious imagination. The show also offers a rare chance to see hand-held printed fans (uchiwa-e) outside of Japan. The majority of his work can be seen for the first time.

Ancient India: living traditions  

The rituals of daily life, routine and devotion are themes continued into the Ancient India exhibition, under the lens of religious analysis. Focused on three of the country's great faiths, the show portrays the spiritual energy of Indian early sacred early art, which is evident in the worldwide practices of today. It charts the progression from symbolic representations to human form in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain religious imagery.

The collection includes 180 objects: 2000 year old sculptures, paintings, drawings and manuscripts. Between 200 BC and AD 600 depictions of gods and the enlightened teachers changed dramatically from symbols to human forms. This is most clearly seen in the evolution of depictions of the Buddha, in contrast to the unchanged images of the Hindu goddess of Lakshmi. This dichotomy between what is steadfast and what morphs is critical; change informs preservation. 

In the show masterpieces like the reliefs from the Great Stupa of Amaravati are celebrated, Buddhist art pioneered lifelike depictions of the human form and soul, influencing Hindu and Jain visual traditions within a creative dialogue.

Drawing on the museum’s South Asian collection with yet more generous international loans, the result is a triumph in novel global pluralistic perspective. The arresting display excels at embracing life, desire, and physicality; as sensuality and eroticism come into play. As a result ancient traditions are successfully connected to present-day faith, reinforcing the art’s ongoing cultural relevance.

Ancient religious heritage still shapes contemporary identity and territorial claims, yet there is joy and compassion. The exhibition is informative but moving and immersive. Works like a lovable statue of Ganesha and a luxurious depiction of the Buddha’s birth embody a spirituality that celebrates the radiation of life. 

The British Museum is the greatest storehouse in the world, with a permanent collection of over 8 million works. Documenting human experience from the very beginning, Hiroshige and Ancient India are a great step forward for the public space.

Under its agile, brave and brilliant new Director, the museum is forging its way into a global future, while understanding and respecting the past with great delicacy and scholastic skill. As Dr Nicholas Cullinan quotes, in the words of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s The Leopard, ‘If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.’ And change they will.