Exhibition traces how art, history connect Lucknow with Bengal

Lucknow: The relationship between Lucknow and Calcutta found a beautiful expression in the exhibition ‘Shahrashob: Letters Between Lucknow and Calcutta' by artist-researcher Soumyadeep Roy, showcased at the Mahindra Sanatkada festival on Friday.Based on nine years of research, the exhibition tells the story of how these two cities have remained connected through people, art, memories and movement over centuries. Shahrashob brings history to life through letters, paintings, photographs, installations, sound and personal stories.
The journey begins in the mid-18th century, when poets, artists, musicians and administrators regularly travelled between Lucknow and Calcutta. This exchange of ideas took a dramatic turn in 1856 with the exile of Wajid Ali Shah, the last nawab of Awadh, to Calcutta. His pain and deep attachment to Lucknow come through in his words, "I carry Lucknow in my heart, yet I must plant its soul in the soil of Calcutta."The exhibition traces how the nawab recreated the world of Lucknow in exile at Metiabruz through music, dance, poetry, food, rituals, and even his famous menagerie. His courtiers and companions and other artists, cooks and performers carried Lucknow's culture with them to Bengal. Moving into the 20th century, Shahrashob highlights the strong connection between Bengal's art world and Lucknow. In his diary, Asit Kumar Haldar, a Bengal school artist and the first Indian principal of the Arts College at Lucknow University, reflected on his artistic journey, noting that "While Calcutta shaped his art, Lucknow continued to live in his heart".One of the sections includes letters written by a 20-year-old Satyajit Ray during his stay in Lucknow while on vacation from Kala Bhavan, Shantiniketan at his maternal uncle's house. Writing to his mother, Ray described how the city's music, light and stories influenced his sketches and dreams. At the same time, he complained about dirty clothes and daily chores, even drawing himself sinking into soap bubbles while washing them. "Between soap bubbles and sketches, I am discovering Lucknow, a city that slips into my drawings as easily as it does into my thoughts."The exhibition also turns to the present, focusing on people who live between identities today, belonging fully to neither city, yet shaped by both. Sections like Huzn and Ishqnama move across the past, present and imagined futures, showing Lucknow and Calcutta not just as places on a map, but as living, emotional worlds.