Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Adventures in Art: India’s Fabulous New Art Venue

An Insider Visit to the Art and Luxury of the Aman New Delhi Hotel 

Everyone knows I adore India—and contemporary art.

I travel to India as often as possible, to explore, to visit friends, to see palaces and peacocks, immerse myself in the ancient culture, to get lost in the celebration and cavalcade and panoply of everyday life, and to see what’s new from Indian artists.

So it was a thrill, when I was in India recently, to discover a striking new contemporary art collection on display in the elegant architecture of the new Aman New Delhi hotel.

Join me for a tour of the superbly curated iconic sculpture and paintings. And discover a chic new culture venue, the luxe Aman hotel in New Delhi, as well as nonchalant, vibrant and vivid contemporary Indian art.




Above, the striking 11-foot tall goddess sculpture in gilded fiberglass by Indian superstar artist Ravinder Reddy (born 1956) that greets guests arriving at the Aman New Delhi. 


Reddy’s signature sculpture is also the dazzlingly totemic centerpiece of the ‘Paris Delhi Bombay’ art exhibit currently on display at the Pompidou Centre in Paris, through September 19. I highly recommend seeing this seductive show. 


The art collection at the Aman New Delhi, an art connoisseur’s dream and paradise, is the bold and triumphant creation of the joint general managers of the hotel, Robyn Bickford (a New Zealand native, formerly in the diplomatic corps), and her husband Manav Garewal, in collaboration with Sharan Apparao and the Apparao Galleries in Chennai and Delhi (see information below).



Golden calf sculpure by Siddharth.
Gold-leafed fiberglass with Sanskrit holy scriptures calligraphy.

The Aman art exhibit has been extended over the 6-acre property, with steel sculptures in the gardens, a golden sacred cow in a sitting area, a range of conceptual pieces on a stairway, and paintings on the walls of the restaurant. All are for sale.

“Guests and visitors are loving it and we achieve many sales,” said Bickford. “I often find guests having their photograph taken with the Reddy goddess. Our sandstone elephant at the entrance is not so happy about this as he was always the feature.” 



Sharan Apparao, from the Apparao Galleries in Chennai, placed all the exhibitions in the hotel and is a respected authority on contemporary Indian art. Apparao has many international clients and is a favorite with the art-loving Indian diaspora.




I landed in New Delhi at 7.40am.

On the map: I am in Northern India, west of the Gangetic Plain, and on the western banks of the sacred Yamuna River.

Delhi city streets pass in a ghostly blur of upright bicycles, holy cows, chugging Tata trucks, ragged children, rusty buses with turbaned passengers hanging out the windows, camels, handsome gardens and fountains, darting monkeys, a glimpse or two of temples and monuments.

My driver phones the Aman hotel to report we expect to arrive in three minutes.

We turn from Lodhi Road into the monumental stone territory of the Aman New Delhi. 


My first impression of the hotel is that an austere and highly refined architectural sensibility is at work here. Pared down and uncompromising, the walls of honed ivory-colored stone are somehow reminiscent of the pale, perfect, pure exterior walls of the Taj Mahal.

And yet this new Aman is from another aesthetic, style sensibility, and century entirely. It’s Meier-modern, and feels logical, harmonious, solid but ethereal, intelligent, understated. It’s perfectly serene on this 41 deg F late autumn morning, as it will be on the scorching 112 deg F days that suffocate Delhi in July's monsoon season.

The hotel architect and designer is Australian Kerry Hill, based in Singapore and Western Australia. He is a master of his craft. It feels India modern, but chic and 21st-century. Delhi without a trace of nostalgia. 





At the front entrance a group of handsome men in taupe tunics take the luggage, Robyn Bickford welcomes me. I pause to view the wondrous Reddy sculpture before I am swept inside the hotel, past a large carved black stone water basin filled in which float brilliant orange marigolds.


My floor butler silently guides me to my suite, along an enfilade of silent hallways. In the suite, a graceful bedroom has an entirely efficient series of adjacent wardrobes, luggage stands and dressing tables. Everything in the right place. The scent of fresh tuberoses wafts into the air. I sign a document. That’s my check-in. how polished, how thoughtful. Bliss.

I am here. I am in India.





There’s a restful view of gardens and trees and Hamuyan’s Tomb in the foggy distance. There’s a plunge pool, heated. A cantilevered chaise-longue.

Breakfast arrives. English Breakfast tea, of course, and wheat toast. House-made orange marmalade. Bitter/sweet. I read the Times of India. Linger.

But I have things to do. The hotel has arranged a trip to review the great architecture of Lutyens’s imperial Delhi, then onward to the marigold-wreathed flower market, and to Chandni Chowk, that raucous, mediaeval, shrieking and over-stimulating market with saris and jewels and fabrics, and dhoti-clad characters in twirls of turbans, and rickety bicycles and boot-legged electricity. What century is this? ‘Madam, fine silks’, ‘Madam, we can make you a jacket’, ‘Silver bracelets, Madam’, ‘Come, Madam, fine hand-woven cotton”.




Old Delhi. Chandni Chowk. It’s a visual upload this morning, not commerce.



“When I first arrived in New Delhi in 1984, I used to slip out and explore. I would take a rickshaw into the innards of the Old City and pass through the narrowing funnel of gullies and lanes, alleys and cul-de-sacs, feeling the houses close in around me. In particular, what remained of the 18th-century palace of the last Mughal, Bahadur Shah II, the Red Fort of the Great Mughals, kept drawing me back. I would often slip in there with a book and spend whole afternoons in the shade of a cool pavilion. Delhi’s relationship with its past continues to intrigue me.” – from 'The Last Mughal’ by William Dalrymple (2006)








Privacy is perhaps the most precious travel luxury. I seldom see another guest on this stay, except at the restaurant. Aman-style, this feels like a private residence (if only). There are no signs, the staff greets me by name, and it is all very discreet.

My first impression of the hotel is that an austere and highly refined architectural sensibility is at work here. Pared down and uncompromising, the walls of honed ivory-colored stone are somehow reminiscent of the pale, perfect, pure exterior walls of the Taj Mahal. And yet this new Aman is from another aesthetic, style sensibility, and century entirely. It’s Meier-modern, and feels logical, harmonious, solid but ethereal, intelligent, understated. It’s perfectly serene on this 41 deg F late autumn morning, as it will be on the scorching 112 deg F days that suffocate Delhi in July's monsoon season.

The hotel architect and designer is Australian Kerry Hill, based in Singapore and Western Australia. He is a master of his craft. It feels India modern, but chic and 21st-century. Delhi without a trace of nostalgia.



Architect, Kerry Hill on the design of Aman New Delhi: 
“We reference past building traditions through suggestion and association rather than replication, and through the reinterpretation of indigenous building forms as opposed to mimicry.” 
“We prefer to build upon what is there and to contemporize our understanding of what it can be. I think of our design for Aman New Delhi as being current, but filtered through a sieve of traditional values.” 

The décor by Hill is at first hit reminiscent of Christian Liaigre, with the strong silhouette of dark woods, a counterpoint of moody muddy green hand-woven wool carpets, no pattern, wooden window and door shutters, and hits of brass. But the sensibility is more modern Anglo-Indian, with dark exotic wood wall cabinets, bronze bowls filled with pomegranates, stone bowls with fresh tuberose blossoms, muted tones throughout, everything cohesively modern Indian. All furniture was locally crafted.

It’s Aman’s first city property, as it happens. They have taken the hotel-as-private-retreat concept that they’ve done so well in remote and dreamy places like Bali and Sri Lanka and Bhutan, and brought it to this urban setting.

I’ve stayed in many wonderful and captivating and highly individual hotels over time. Aman New Delhi was a rare visit: deeply private, modern but with a sense of tradition and formality, and with intelligent service.

I had mentioned to my butler that I liked the Indian flute music playing in my suite when I arrived. He burned a disk and left it ready for my departure. This dreamy weave of flute notes is now on my iPod. 


Aman New Delhi is a dramatic property. Now enhanced with Sharan Apparao’s display of modern Indian culture and creativity, it moves in a significant new direction, celebrating Indian ideas and thought, emerging trends and fresh visions of Indian traditions.

I can’t wait to return.





Aman New Delhi
Lodhi Road
New Delhi
phone from US 800-477-9180
Rates from $550
www.amanresorts.com


Art Gallery:
APPARAO GALLERIES

Chennai, Delhi and Bangalore.
gallery@apparaoart.com
exhibitions@apparaoart.com


Photo credits:
Hotel images courtesy of Amanresorts, used with permission.
Art images courtesy Apparao Galleries, with permission. 




6 comments:

Sunita Jariwala-Gajjar said...

Dear Diane,
I have been reading your blogs via our connection on FB. Just like you I love India (was born there so it comes naturally) and find unlimited inspiration on my frequent visits. You can check out the results of the inspirations in my artwork. If you wish please visit my website: www.theearthscapes.com. Would love to hear your comments. You are sooo Ms. Style...
Best,
Sunita Jariwala-Gajjar.

Harry Lawenda said...

I just discovered you blog. What a treat! You've got me hooked on your elegant travelogue.

Harry Lawenda
Founder Kneedler-Fauchère

Diane Dorrans Saeks said...

HI SUNITA-

I love your art work. India is such an inspiration--for artist, for textiles designers, for painters, for sculptors, for architects and interior designers. Do stay in touch.
I admire your creativity.

Dear Harry-I am so very pleased you are now hooked on my blog! I'm delighted. We spoke about connecting and being involved with Facebook and the new blogs and all the new ways of communicating ideas. I'm thrilled to hear from you. Please stay in touch. I look forward to seeing you soon. Curiosity and your energy are wonderful.

BEST DIANE

columnist said...

Ravinder Reddy's work, (not unlike this piece) used to adorn the piazza (how un-Thai), in front of Central World, the section of which was destroyed during the civil unrest in Bangkok last year. Whether or not his piece was destroyed in that extraordinary time I do not know. How interesting to see it in its native India. Love Aman.

Philip Bewley said...

This is a post I have looked at numerous times...love the sensibility of the place, "ethereal, intelligent" as you so beautifully describe...There is something of a tradition of Modernism in India with Chandigarh, even Umaid Bhawan, but this is decidedly luxe and forward looking. Loved the modern art of India...you show things not seen anywhere else and it is always a marvelous discovery.

Diane Dorrans Saeks said...

Dear Friends-

Contemp. Indian art is now world-class and it is fantastic that it is now being show-cased at the AMAN NEW DELHI. Yes, it is being shown in Thailand and in Paris. I'm so pleased.
Philip, as you noted, the hotel architecture is pure and beautiful and quite ethereal.
I love arriving there--as the entrance is slightly concealed at first--as there is a great sense of arrival.
Guests are whisked straight to their suites..which is lovely when you have flown a great distance. The hotel accom. is perfectly planned...everything in place. Sometimes, i have to depart at 5am to catch a flight, and it is lovely to have efficiently planned rooms. It's a superb hotel, expertly managed. best to all friends, IANE