MAP Museum of Art & Photography Opens in Bangalore, India

The MAP – Museum of Art & Photography has opened in Bangalore, India, marking the first major private museum in the city and the state of Karnataka. Designed by Soumitro Ghosh of Mathew & Ghosh Architects, the five-story, 4,000-square-meter building on Kasturba Road includes galleries, an auditorium, a library, an education center, a conservation facility, and a café with a terrace. The museum aims to redefine Indian museology from a post-colonial perspective, with all planning and execution led by Indian professionals. Director Kamini Sawhney, formerly of the Jehangir Nicholson Art Foundation, oversees the institution. The core collection of 7,000 works was donated by industrialist and philanthropist Abhishek Poddar, who founded the museum in 2016 and funded it through auctions and a donation drive. The collection has grown to 18,000 works, including traditional sculptures, 19th-century chromolithographs, and rare archival photographs by Nagda Suresh Punjabi. Other donors include Deepak Puri, Jyoti Bhatt, and Barbara Kipper. The museum's architectural committee was led by Rahul Mehrotra of RMA Architects, with Mahrukh Tarapore and the late Martand Singh. A virtual tour launched in December 2020 during the pandemic.