Zapurza, Pune’s new art centre, to be inaugurated on Thursday

Pune is going to have a unique place to celebrate India’s vibrant culture. ‘Zapurza – The museum of art and culture’, set up by Ajit Gadgil, will be inaugurated on Thursday by legendary flautist pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. “We wished to create a special location for all different art forms in Pune,” Gadgil, the founder of the museum, said, according to the Hindustan Times.

The centre spans 7.5 acre of land and houses eight galleries, an amphitheatre, and an auditorium to celebrate the diversity of art forms. The architecture of the place designed by Shirish Beri lends a traditional vibe to the overall experience. “It took us four years to build the museum. The construction got a little delayed due to Covid-19,” Gadgil said.

A collection of paintings by Jamini Roy, J Swaminathan, progressive artist group Sadanand Bakre and others are on display at Zapurza. Along with this, there is a studio of the Maharashtra art school showing the impact of social and political changes like the Bhakti movement on various art forms. This collection includes creations from Mumbai, Pune, Kolhapur, Nashik and other areas of Maharashtra, the report added.

Raju Sutar, a curator at the centre, said, “When one enters the printing gallery, they can see a black dot on a white background. That is because on paper, mostly everything is written in black if you look at newspapers or books. By contrast, when one enters the lamp gallery, the first thing they can see is a white light on a black background.”

There are galleries allocated to local artists to provide opportunity to the young, budding artists of Pune. “There are a few galleries specifically allocated to showcasing the art of Prabhakar Barwe, Jayant Joshi and other artists,” said Madhav Imartey, one of the curators of the art museum.

In a unique addition to the museums, there are two separate galleries dedicated to jewellery and textiles. “The silver jewellery and vessels in this collection are more than 150 years’ old. All these are hand-made by Pune-based artists like Godbole,” said Gadgil.