Ten years ago, on 18 December 2014, an interesting art exhibition entitled “Deconstructed Innings: A Tribute to Sachin Tendulkar” was opened to the public at the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai. On the previous evening,17 December, Sachin Tendulkar, accompanied by his family, inaugurated this exhibition at the NGMA Mumbai in the presence of many dignitaries and an unprecedented number of journalists, including photojournalists. I was privileged to be a part of this event in my capacity as the Director of NGMA Mumbai, a position I held from Feb 2013 to October 2018.
I had forgotten about this exhibition, but then today I was reminded of the exhibition and its inauguration, a historic moment for me when I had the honour to share a dais with the legendary Sachin Tendulkar and speak to him and share the Cricket Connects: India – South Africa exhibition with him. This decadal reminiscence of this historic moment has prompted me to write this blog post.
A couple of days ago, there was a debate on the Indian Constitution, which will be celebrating its seventy-five years in 2026, in the temple of the Indian democracy, the Parliament. Notwithstanding the vituperative debate in the parliament, what stands out from the debate is the vibrancy of the Indian democracy, which stands as an exemplar of its diversity. The trademark of, multi-religious, multi-lingual, multicultural, argumentative Indians is our resolute unity in our diversity. And such unity is exemplified on many occasions including in collectively complementing the accomplishments of great achievers who bring glory to the nation. One such achiever is Bharat Ratna Sachin Tendulkar, who is hailed across the country and the reverence that the nation has for him was evidenced in this historic moment when the ‘God of Cricket’, Sachin Tendulkar, walked back to the pavilion, after playing yet another memorable innings, for one last time at the Wankhede Stadium, and bidding adieu to Cricket after 25 long years. Just a year before the exhibition at NGMA Mumbai, Sachin Tendulkar played his last Test match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on November 14, 2013, against the West Indies. Tendulkar scored 74 runs in his final innings and gave an emotional farewell speech after the match as he bid goodbye to Cricket.
Incidentally, just a month before the opening of the Deconstructed Innings exhibition, the autobiography of Sachin “Playing It My Way” was released in November 2014 and it was also the year that won Sachin Tendulkar a befitting ‘Bharat Ratna’, the highest civilian Award. While his autobiography book provided an insight into his cricketing life, the exhibition “Deconstructed Innings: A Tribute to Sachin Tendulkar” provided an altogether new perspective and an artistic insight into the legend's life. This exhibition was innovatively and painstakingly created by ten artists, who joined hands to artistically “deconstruct the innings of Sachin Tendulkar - the sporting legend of India, by collaborating with the legend himself. These ten artists, Remen Chopra, Vibha Galhotra, Sunil Gawde, R Iranna, Manjunath Kamat, Shreyas Karle, Riyas Komu, Jagannath Panda, Anand Trilochan, and Hema Upadhyay, artistically deconstructed the innings of the legend into an understanding of the notion of a legend and the perfection associated with creation alongside the existence of personal ideologies and histories.
‘Deconstructed Innings’, where
art and sports intersect, is patronage to both sport and art. The aim was to
create an interdisciplinary understanding of the notion of an icon, a legend, and the perfection associated with creation alongside the existence of personal
ideologies and histories. It takes the
meaning of the word ‘play’ beyond recreation and into the sector of
performance, ideas, and collaborations. The works created through a
collaborative effort with ten contemporary artists and Sachin Tendulkar is exploratory
in nature and interdisciplinary in definition. These creations through the
convergence of art and sport elevate beyond the notion of memorabilia to imbibe
unique and personal narratives within elements of their own individualistic
creative language with a cricket legend. Art like sport can also inspire a nation and connect to the thousands of
Indians who live and breathe sport.
The “Deconstructed
Innings” exhibition featured paintings, sculptures, videos, drawings, and sound
works, which collectively narrated experiences that we all identify with the
cricketing life of Sachin Tendulkar. All these artworks were created by the ten
artists – Sachin’s jersey number – after prolonged interaction with the legend
himself. The outcome was the works of art featured in the exhibition that had
the power to deconstruct the cricketing career of the legend in works of art that
had the power to communicate messages, empower meaning, and connect with the
people in a manner that crosses all language barriers, which the game of
cricket symbolizes in our cricket adoring nation.
The works included in the exhibition were created by the ten chosen artists through a collaborative effort with interaction with Sachin and these works were exploratory in nature and interdisciplinary in definition. These creations, through the convergence of art and sport, elevated the experience of the visitors beyond the notion of memorabilia with each artist collaborating to create something unique with Sachin Tendulkar to include his personal anecdotal narratives and elements into their individualistic creative language. This exhibition, conceptualized by Mr. Kiran Desai and curated by Ms. Veerangana Kumari Solanki, presented a range of creative artworks, aesthetically shaped by the ten artists who explored divergent themes of art to deconstruct the legend’s life. It is a befitting tribute that the art-loving community of Aamchi Mumbai could pay to the legend, the ‘God of Cricket’. NGMA, Mumbai was justly privileged to host this exhibition, which was befittingly opened by the legend himself, who also posed for a photo op with all the ten artists who painstakingly created works of art with creativity, love, and passion. No wonder the exhibition was a major success and attracted overwhelming media coverage. The success of the exhibition also prompted NGMA Bangalore, to host this exhibition which was opened by another cricketing legend, Anil Kumble in Feb 2025.
On this occasion, I am honored to share a link to a blog where I have paid my 49th birthday tribute to the legend under the title “Happy Birth Day Sachin - God of Cricket, for the leisure reading of those who it may interest.
https://khened.blogspot.com/2022/04/happy-birthday-24-april-sachin.html
Images: Courtesy NGMA Mumbai
For those who are interested in knowing details of the artists and the works of art they created which were displayed in the exhibition, here is the list with a brief on the works
1. ANAND TRILOCHAND
A. [Sculpture]
Title: Treasure Box
Medium: wooden bat, coins, video animation
Size: Actual Bat Size
Year: 2014
B [Bat]
Title:
Run Machine
Medium:
oil on wood
Size: Actual Bat Size
Year:
2014
2. G. R. IRANNA
A [Painting]
Title:
The Many Lives of Tendulkar
Medium:
acrylic on canvas
Size:
54 x 132 inches
Year:
2014
B [Sculpture]
Title:
Not Out
Medium:
wooden bat and cricket balls
Size:
Actual Bat Size
Year:
2014
C [Sculpture]
Title:
Dashavatara
Medium:
wooden bat and bronze
Size:
84 x 6 x 8 inches
Year:
2014
D. [Bat]
Title:
Blind bat
Medium:
acrylic on wood
Size:
Actual Bat Size
Year:
2014
3. HEMA
UPADHYAY
A. Title:
Completion of oneself through the other
Year:
2014
Size:
Variable (site-specific) (6 x 8 inches each)
Medium: motion lenticular prints
B. [Bat]
Title:
Untitled
Medium:
paper cut images on wood
Size:
Actual Bat Size
4. JAGANNATH
PANDA
A. Title:
"... And a billion memories we lived with your dream"
Medium:
acrylic, fabric and glue on canvas
Size:
101 X 66 inches
Year:
2014
B. "The
infinite memories of spectacle"
Medium:
acrylic, canvas, mirror, enamel paint, oil
Size: 61 x 49 inches
Year:
2014
C. Title:
"A memory being lived with a hero"
Medium:
wood cut, oil and acrylic
Size:
24 x 22.5 inches
Year:
2014
D [BAT]
Title:
Memories of Sachin
Medium
– acrylic on wooden bat
Size:
33.5 x 4 x 2.5 inches (Actual Bat Size)
Year:
2014
A Title:
“Arrival of a Cricket God”
Medium:
digital print on archival paper
Size:
60 x 168 inches
Year:
2014
B. Bat
–
Title:
Artist with Bat
Medium:
acrylic on wood
Size:
Actual Bat Size
Year:
2014
6. REMEN
CHOPRA
A Title:
City of Dreams
Medium:
wood, digital print on paper
Size:
96 x 204 inches; 144 x 108 inches [Site Specific]
Year:
2014
B. Title:
Dream Chaser
Medium:
wood, acrylic
Size:
Year:
2014
7. RIYAS
KOMU
A. Title:
Legacy Beyond Centuries
Medium:
fibre-glass cast, wood, acrylic paint
Size: variable [100 pieces]
Year:
2014
B. Bat:
Title:
A Legacy Beyond Centuries
Medium:
engraving on wood
Size:
Year:
2014
A legend travels beyond the structure of
time and into the stories carried forward by generations to create ‘A Legacy
Beyond Centuries’.
8. SHREYAS
KARLE
A. Title:
Notes from a Terrace – The Kachha Nimbu
observatory archives
Medium:
series of drawings and carbon print on paper
Size:
variable
Year:
2014
B. [image
reference of 2 drawings for catalogue details below]:
In case of
rubber change use grip cone*
8 x 6 “
Drawing
and carbon print on paper
2014
C. Out (box
cricket series)
6.6 x 10.6
“
Drawing
and carbon print on paper
2014
D. [Bat work]
title- Dhokebaaz
medium- oil paint
size- life size bat.
9. SUNIL
GAWDE
A. Title: Untitled
Medium:
wood, paint, LED screens, video animation and sound
Size:
variable (site-specific)
Year:
2014
B. Bat
–
Title:
knock out
Medium:
Readymade wooden bat, painted fibreglass
Size:
34 x 7 x 12.5 inches
Year:
2014
10. VIBHA
GALHOTRA
A Title:
Reflection
Medium:
metal, wood and text
Size:
installation size variable (plate – 20 x 14 inches each)
Year:
2014
B. [Bat]
Title:
Reflection
Medium:
wood and metal
Size:
Year:
2014
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