Rabindranath Tagore's legacy is lived, felt and practised in our daily lives

Rabindranath Tagore's legacy is lived, felt and practised in our daily lives

- LAVINA MELWANI

In an America that is increasingly insular and inward-looking, Sundaram Tagore, an Indian immigrant from Kolkata and great-grandnephew of Rabindranath Tagore, celebrates diversity and global culture through art in New York. An Oxford-educated art historian, gallerist and award-winning filmmaker, this year Sundaram marks 25 years of promoting east-west dialogue among artists, art lovers and nations.

Sundaram’s father, Subhagendranath (Subho) Tagore, was one of India’s first modernist painters, a poet and a magazine publisher. His art magazine was called Sundaram, and he named his son after it. Subho left the family home in Jorasanko at 26, later forming the Calcutta Group in 1943 with other young artists like Nirode Mazumdar, Gopal Ghose and Kamala Das Gupta.

Born to an Assamese mother and having lived in eight countries, Sundaram says his global exposure and Indian heritage have profoundly shaped his outlook. He opened his first gallery in SoHo, New York, in 2000, to showcase artists engaged in cross-cultural explorations. It is now in the chic new art district of Chelsea. There are no borders at the eponymous gallery, for on its walls you'll see the work of artists from countries as far apart as South Korea, Morocco, Iran and the US. Sundaram currently has two galleries in New York, and galleries in Singapore and London.

To mark the 25th anniversary, the Sundaram Tagore Gallery in Chelsea has mounted an exhibition featuring more than 30 artists. Events are to follow in Singapore as well as the gallery reopening in London in a new location in the spring.

Sundaram is also an avid writer and filmmaker, known for The Poetics of Color, Louis Kahn’s Tiger City, and his current project Art Matters starring Nandita Das and Linus Roache.

Excerpts from an interview:

Q/ How important has Tagore's legacy been in your life?