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n updated display of works by Raja Ravi Varma has opened at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), bringing fresh attention to how devotional imagery has circulated through households, print culture and everyday visual life.
The exhibition, The God of Small Things: Faith and Popular Culture, introduces a new selection of embroidered oleographs drawn from Ravi Varma’s widely reproduced images of Hindu deities and mythological scenes. The works, originally created through chromolithographic printing processes in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, were designed to be accessible beyond elite art spaces and found their way into domestic shrines and family settings across India.
The title of the exhibition references Arundhati Roy’s Booker Prize-winning novel, with the curatorial focus turning to how religious imagery sits within both sacred practice and popular visual culture. Rather than treating the works as purely historical artefacts, the display considers how they have been handled, adapted and personalised over time, including hand embroidery, cloth detailing and decorative embellishments added by owners.
QAGOMA acquired a collection of 48 Raja Ravi Varma Press oleographs in 2024 through the Henry and Amanda Bartlett Trust. Many of the works had been used in private devotional contexts, which presented both conservation challenges and interpretive questions for the Gallery’s curators and conservators.
QAGOMA Director Chris Saines CNZM said the works arrived as a single collection but carried individual histories shaped by their use in domestic worship spaces. He noted that conservation work required careful attention to the materials involved, including paper, ink, textiles and added decorative elements such as sequins and glitter, which had aged differently over time.
He said the restoration process involved stabilising fragile surfaces while retaining the integrity of later additions made by owners. According to Saines, the aim was to ensure the works could be viewed by future audiences while respecting the layers of use that formed part of their story.
A key feature of the project has been a conservation and research exchange between Australia and India. Specialists from QAGOMA have worked alongside colleagues from the Museum of Art and Photography (MAP), sharing techniques and documentation methods used in the preservation of printed devotional works.
The collaboration also included QAGOMA conservators travelling to India and MAP specialists visiting Brisbane, supported by funding through the Centre for Australia-India Relations Maitri Grant program. The initiative has focused on shared approaches to conservation and the digitisation of heritage materials, alongside comparative study of Ravi Varma Press works held in different collections.
Curatorial Manager, Asian and Pacific Art at QAGOMA, Tarun Nagesh, said the collection includes some of the most recognisable images produced by the Ravi Varma Press, many of which were reproduced widely after the artist’s death in 1906. He said Ravi Varma’s work continues to be closely associated with how many people visualise Hindu deities, particularly through printed reproductions that circulated across homes and public spaces.
Nagesh said the exhibition brings together depictions of figures such as Lakshmi, Saraswati, Krishna and Ram, drawn from epic narratives including the Mahabharata, Ramayana and Puranic texts. He noted the way Ravi Varma combined academic painting techniques influenced by European training with Indian mythological storytelling and iconography.
He also pointed to the domestic settings in which many of these prints were originally placed, often in prayer rooms or small household shrines. Some examples on display feature additional hand-applied decoration, including embroidered fabric, beads and zardozi work, showing how images were adapted through personal devotional practice.
The current display continues at QAGOMA until 26 October 2026, with free entry for visitors. The Gallery has also made supporting material and behind-the-scenes content available for those interested in the conservation work and research partnerships behind the exhibition.
While the exhibition centres on a historical printmaking practice, it also raises broader questions about how images travel, change meaning and remain present in everyday life. The collaboration between institutions in Australia and India reflects an ongoing exchange of conservation knowledge, as well as shared interest in preserving works that sit between art history, craft and devotional use.
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