New museum gallery to celebrate Mumbai’s grit and glamour

MUMBAI: Mumbai is in for a Diwali treat on Monday with a gift that celebrates its very soul. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) is unwrapping a brand-new gallery dedicated to the city, featuring historic artefacts alongside modern and futuristic exhibits.

Housed in the museum’s extension wing on the first floor, the Mumbai Gallery is a tribute to the city’s grit, glamour, and endless hustle, and the stories that make it tick. The idea for the gallery took shape two years ago, during the museum’s centenary celebrations, when CSMVS’s director general Sabyasachi Mukherjee imagined a space solely dedicated to the city.

“When we talk about our city Mumbai, three things come to mind — land, people, and the sea. This city reflects the creativity, passion, resilience, and courage of its people, most of whom migrated here over centuries, quietly helping it grow,” says Mukherjee, “happy” to have created a dedicated space to showcase both well-known and unheard stories of the city’s unique connection with its people. “It’s these narratives that make Mumbai a great city—not because it’s easy to live in, but because it’s inclusive,” he explains, adding, “This is our Diwali gift to the city.”

The main challenge for the gallery was how to represent Mumbai—a city of 21.6 million people—in a 2000 square foot space. “Mumbai is such a vast theme that it would almost be impossible to have one gallery that does justice to it. So, instead, the gallery has been conceived as a platform for cyclical, annual exhibitions that explore different aspects of Mumbai,” explained Joyoti Roy of CSMVS.

The first exhibition, titled ‘The People of Mumbai’, breaks down into three key themes — Mumbai as a city of opportunity, a city of migrants, and a city of cosmopolitanism through the lives and contributions of Mumbaikars. From the earliest settlers to those chasing their dreams today, the narratives explore how people design and shape a city simply by living in it.

Featuring works from 16 lenders, artists, and collectors, the exhibition starts with the idea of ‘Mayanagri’ or the city of dreams that’s equal parts dazzling and daunting. “Mumbai is unique because it’s been sculpted by the people who migrate here, live here, and make a living. To portray the city through the work of its people and their stories, we created a collective that includes artists, historians, and academics to design this representation of the city,” explained Nandini Sampat, curator of the exhibition and principal architect and designer at Somaya & Kalappa Consultants, a multidisciplinary architecture and design practice.

As visitors step into the exhibition, they are greeted by a calm, historical atmosphere—the ‘orientation area’—that houses a striking visual timeline of Mumbai’s history through artefacts like inscriptions, coins, and postcards from the museum’s collection, including the Ashokan edict found in Nalasopara, near Mumbai, dating back to the 3rd century BCE. An array of digital screens illustrates other fascinating aspects of the city’s history from prehistoric times.

A giant mural of Mumbai stretches across the wall, featuring iconic imagery—Koli women, a black-and-yellow taxi, and the local train—painted by poster artists. But as you move inside, the mood shifts into what Sampat calls a “sensory visual overload.”

Breaking away from traditional exhibit norms, Sampat wanted the exhibition to capture the pulse of the city. “My imagery of Bombay is vibrant with fantastic colours,” she says, explaining the bold use of neon backdrops that bring the city’s energy to life.

A standout piece that captures the “beautiful chaos” is Valay Shende’s ‘Virar Fast’—a suspended piece of life-size figures made of metal discs of people hanging from a local train. Ambient sounds of taxi horns and street chatter greet visitors the moment they step into the exhibition, immersing them in the city’s rhythm. “The reflective metal allows viewers to see themselves within it and at the same time captures the order and harmony in the density, interconnectedness, and realities of the common man and the chaos of Bombay.”

You then wander through a maze of Portuguese maps, words, and visuals that immerse people in the storytelling of Mumbai. Sabu Koli’s interactive installation breathes life into Mumbai’s mangroves teeming with animals, birds, and insects. Parag Tandel pays tribute to his Koli heritage with rows of concrete sculptures representing Bombay duck drying in the sun, while David Desouza’s photo series pairs portraits of Bairagis and dabbawalas with their tools—whips and dabbas—creating a powerful connection between people and their crafts. A recreated vending stall tells stories of pav bhaji and vada pav’s cotton mill origins, sitting alongside tetrapods stacked high, evoking the spirit of Mumbai’s street life.

The exhibit also pays homage to Bhanu Athaya’s Oscar-winning costume designs, with sketches and original pieces on display—including Mumtaz’s orange sari in Brahmachari and an original drape from Gandhi, the film for which she won the Oscar—loaned by her daughter. “We close the exhibition with a futuristic AI projection of what Mumbai might look like, hinting at themes like sports and tech that we couldn’t cover this time but hope to explore in a sequel,” adds Sampat.

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