Museum of Art & Photography PORTFOLIO ONE

When Bengaluru's shiny new Museum of Art & Photography (MAP) opened this spring, it was the culmination of a five-year-long project that included among its challenges an unprecedented global pandemic. As much about place and purpose as it is about people, its understated design, by AD100 firm Mathew & Ghosh Architects, is shaped by sociology, culture, history, technology, and the essential nature of a city in flux.

- Divya Mishra

THE WORD "MUSEUM" COMES FROM THE ancient Greek mouseion, meaning a space or a temple dedicated to the muses. Fittingly, Bengaluru's new Museum of Art & Photography houses an eclectic pantheon of muses, ranging from a 10th-century stone mother goddess, to a collection of prints based on and created during-the Covid pandemic.

The idea of a museum first came to founder Abhishek Poddar 30 years ago, when he and his family first moved to Bengaluru. Poddar grew up surrounded by art and artists, and sharing its transformative effect with others became a priority for him. "Setting up a museum was something I'd thought about often," says the industrialist, philanthropist, and longtime art collector.

Today, MAP sits in the heart of Bengaluru's cultural district, across the road from three of the city's most venerable institutions-the Government Museum, the Venkatappa Art Gallery, and the Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum. By its location alone, it encapsulates the essence of Bengaluru-a city tightly wedded to its history, yet inspired by the possibilities of the future.