A MUSEUM IS ONE OF THE FEW INSTITUTIONAL SPACES WHERE THE triangular contest between the past, the present and the future gets conducted with great urgency. At the heart of this encounter between time-frames is the complex idea of heritage, of legacy. As repositories of expressive practices, many of them dynamic, do art museums lead us to
appreciate the contemporary as part of our living inheritance? Or are they satisfied just pickling and preserving distant histories? Why do state-run art museums in India fail to catch up with the art produced around us? Is there a possibility of forging a more intimate network between galleries, archives and museums?

In our issue this time, Kavita Singh engages with art museums in a changing world, traces the development of the NGMA and addresses issues related to the politics of collecting art. In the Special Reports, Meera Menezes visits the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, the second initiative to make a private collection public, as Amit S. Rai and Deeksha Nath discuss four shows at the Devi Art Foundation, the first initiative to do so. Two significant museums in the Euro-American world showcasing contemporary South Asian art are visited in the Lead Features: Susan S. Bean looks at the Peabody Essex and Alexandra Munroe and Sandhini Poddar provide information about the Guggenheim. Quddus Mirza in his Letter presents the different types of museums existing in Pakistan.

Apart from reviews of important national and international shows, we have two pieces that explore the layered world of photography with exemplary sensitivity: Geeta Kapur and Anita Dube write about Richard Bartholomew and Gauri Gill respectively. We also manage to meet Gieve Patel, whose work graces our cover, for an interview.

Thanks for your responses to the Aesthetics & Politics issue. I hope you enjoy this issue as well. Your support and appreciation have been vital to all of us at ART India. We promise to continue to bring more in-depth features with greater variety and range of themes.

Warm regards,
Abhay Sardesai