In brief
This article traces the significant historical evolution of Bombay into Mumbai, detailing its transition from a set of islands to a bustling urban center characterized by diverse cultural influences and significant architectural shifts. The new exhibition 'Bombay Framed' highlights the city's transformation through various artworks and photographs, showcasing its dynamic nature and the influence of its inhabitants.
From seven islands to a city of 20 million, Bombay (now Mumbai) has been shaped over centuries by political, economic and social forces.
From Koli fisherfolk to colonial planners, and from Bollywood stars to textile barons, many have shaped the western Indian city's landscape and identity.
The city is ever-evolving, the past giving way to the future, birthing new guises and blurring the old. From fishing nets to ports and mills to malls, Bombay has constantly reinvented itself and remained a city in flux.
A new exhibition 'Bombay Framed' charts the city's shape-shifting passage through the centuries using a stunning array of paintings, photographs, and multimedia prints.
More than 100 images spanning three centuries have an extraordinary range that document the city in its full diversity from the elite worlds of Zoroastrian merchants and cinema stars to working-class lives of ordinary citizens.
Together, they invite us to see the city itself as a kind of artwork: layered, complex and made up of many different experiences, Gyan Prakash, curator of the exhibition, told the BBC.
According to Prakash, key moments of change include the 1830s and 40s, when reclamations and bunds joined the seven separate islets into a single island city, and the 1860s, when the fort walls came down, allowing imperial buildings to dominate the skyline.
The 1920s and 30s saw the creation of the Marine Drive corniche, with its striking Art Deco buildings showcasing a departure from earlier Victorian Gothic styles.
Since the 2000s, the city has undergone further transformation through infrastructural projects leading to new sea bridges and coastal roads.
This is a city of stark contradictions and wild extremes—luxury towers jostle for space with shanty towns, while the restless chaos contrasts with the calmness of the ocean that surrounds it. Bombay’s identity persists amidst ancient caves, modern mills, and atomic research facilities.
The exhibition also features commissioned portraits reflecting the aspirations of the Parsi community, contrasting with the critical depictions of working-class life by artists like Chittaprosad.
The city’s name officially changed from Bombay to Mumbai in the mid-1990s, an effort to shed colonial associations. However, Prakash emphasizes the importance of the title 'Bombay Framed' as it references the time when the city was predominantly known as Bombay.
For Marathi speakers, it was always Mumbai. I'm agnostic about the name, as are many people, which reflects the city's long history of dual names and multiple perspectives. It really only becomes contentious when politicized, he notes.
