T. N. Mukharji and the exhibition of India, 1870-1900

© 2014 Dr. Cherie McKeichT.N. Mukharji is not an unknown figure in the history of late nineteenth century exhibitions and museums, yet his contribution to the collection and display of India’s industrial arts and economic products has not been studied in any detail before. Instead, scholars have tended to consider the exhibition of India from the British perspective, and usually in relation to cultural hegemony. Little attention has been given to the role played by Indian officials. This thesis therefore is intended as a contribution towards addressing a significant lacuna in the literature. It draws on a range of overlooked source materials, both archival and objects, held at libraries and museums in Australia, Calcutta, London and Glasgow. A Bengali civil servant, T.N. Mukharji was an active participant in some of the key international exhibitions held in the late nineteenth century. He assembled collections of raw materials and art manufactures, compiled a number of exhibition catalogues, and wrote monographs on India’s arts, products and industries. He published a popular travelogue, A Visit to Europe, based on his experiences at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition of 1886. Between 1887 and 1896 Mukharji was employed as assistant curator of the Economic and Art Section at the Indian Museum in Calcutta. By providing a detailed analysis of his work, the thesis argues for the significance of Mukharji’s contribution to international exhibitions and museums. More than just a willing collaborator, the thesis contends that Mukharji exercised considerable agency in the collection, documentation and display of Indian materials, as an expert in his own right. It discusses how Mukharji’s approach to his role as an exhibitions official and curator was vitally influenced not only by the aims of the Indian government, but also by his personal views on the condition of India under British rule and by the social and political milieu of late nineteenth century Bengal. Further, the thesis investigates Mukharji’s engagement with the early swadeshi movement through his involvement in the Indian Industrial Association. The thesis demonstrates how Mukharji adopted and adapted the knowledge and methods acquired from his government employment to construct his programme for national regeneration