Zapurza Museum of Art & Culture

Zapurza Museum of Art & Culture is a museum located in Kudje village, located 25 kilometers from the city of Pune in Maharashtra, India. it opened to the public in May 2022. The museum was inaugurated by flautist pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. The museum depicts an extensive collection of family heirloom of Maharashtra coupled with a collection of Indian painters and historic artifacts.^[1]

The museum showcases the private collection of Ajit Gadgil, assembled over a span of 25 years. A sixth-generation jeweller from Pune, Gadgil often encountered customers who came to pawn family heirlooms. Appreciating the exceptional craftsmanship and historical value of these pieces, he could not bring himself to melt them down and instead began preserving the most remarkable items.

In addition to jewellery, people frequently brought paithani sarees woven with real gold zari. Typically, the process of extracting the gold involved burning the saree, but Gadgil chose not to destroy these valuable textiles and added them to his growing collection.

Over time, his interest expanded beyond jewellery to include sculptures, paintings, artefacts, textiles, lamps, prints, and silverware. Today, the collection comprises around 1,500 artifacts. Since the museum has limited display space, only about 30–35% of the collection can be exhibited at any given time, with items rotated periodically so that all pieces are eventually showcased.^[2][3]

The concept behind the museum was to display the tradition and culture of Maharashtra, the museum is designed by Shirish Beri, from Kolhapur along with the Dilip Joshi. The museum is situated overlooking the Khadakwasla Lake with Sinhagad Fort in the backdrop. It covers an area of 7.5- 8 acres. The campus includes ten galleries, 195 seater auditorium, amphitheater by the lake, multiple studios for various activities and a café.

During an interview Raju Sutar the museum curator said that the idea behind the museum was to make it welcoming and open to all, in contrast to an intimidating grand facade generally portrayed by the museums. The colour pallette of the museum is composed of earthy tones, by using traditional materials such as Stonemasonry, pitched roof with terracotta tiles.^[4][5]

The museum consists of eight galleries -

• Gallery One exhibits work of modern and contemporary artists including Rabindranath Tagore, FN Souza, S.H. Raza, Jamini Roy, Tyeb Mehta, M. V. Dhurandhar, and Raja Ravi Varma.
• Gallery Two is called "light of world", dedicated to fire, it depicts the history and objects of fire starting from lighting fire in a forest to modern day electric lamps.
• Gallery Three, talks about the history of printing and how it had change the mode of communication and transfer of knowledge.
• Gallery Four is dedicated to neo tantric artist Prabhakar Barve, his works range from abstract to surreal.
• Gallery Five, displays the Indian tradition of weaving its own fabric ranging from silk to cotton, which was also exported to the Roman Empire, the gallery consists of a large collection of Paithani sarees.
• Gallery Six has a display of jewellery from Maharashtra, featuring a distinctive design that combines chatai (mesh work), beads, and embossed detailing.
• Gallery Seven represents the Maharashtra school of thought, which was largely devoted to the Bhakti Movement. Much of the art that originated in Maharashtra had a strong religious focus, with paintings and sculptures created to adorn temples and pilgrimage sites. Music, particularly kirtan, was also regarded as a form of worship.
• Gallery Eight is an exhibit by Jayant B Joshi. Gallery seven displays the works of artists from Sir J. J. School of Art which includes The Bombay School, such as S. L. Haldankar, known for his watercolours and Abalal Rahiman, pioneer of Kolhapur School of European Naturalism. A painting by M. V. Dhurandhar displays a woman with a saree pallu over her head, holding three spherical fruits and staring out of the frame. The work was credited to Baburao Painter, although during conservation the signature of MV Dhurandhar was revealed.
• Gallery of imprint displays black stone used in the workshop of Raja Ravi Varma to create oleographs. Oleograph is a traditional means of mass printing, and Ravi Varma used them to print images of gods and goddess depicting popular scenes from mythology.

• Official website