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Krishna: Lord of Vrindavan
Price: free for UMFA members, University of Utah staff & faculty and Utah college students, $9 adult non-member
In the Utah Museum of Fine Arts' current exhibition Moksha: Photography by Fazal Sheikh, viewers enter the ancient city of Vrindavan through photography to explore the somber subject of the widows who turn to this sacred city as a place to spend their final days free from the social injustices they encounter in the outside world. The message offered in the new companion exhibit, Krishna: Lord of Vrindavan, presents an entirely different tone and mood. It's an enchanted visitation through art from UMFA's permanent collection, revisiting the origins of this ancient, sacred city and a deity-to-be whose legacy would become transcendent. In his mortal life, Krishna was called a "prankster, lover, warrior, philosopher," whose "flute playing could cause young women to drop everything and follow him." This amorous aspect is the primary element that make Vrindavan "the site of the greatest love stories in India," particularly between Krishna and Radha. The historic art objects on display at the UMFA are of the kind that influenced the many widows who seek Krishna's message of devotion as leading to salvation. In the 1740 image "Krishna and Gopis Swimming in the Yamuna from Harivamsa" (detail pictured), we can see the kind of affections this would-be devotee of salvation would incite in women. He, one of two males, wades in a river surrounded by women; the other male looks discreetly away. All objects, paintings, statuettes and relief carvings in the collection are devoted to amorous affairs, praising Krishna and sanctifying women. (Ehren Clark, City Weekly)
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Utah Museum of Fine Arts
- 410 Campus Center Drive, University of Utah, Salt Lake City SLC-University / Emigration Canyon Utah 84112
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801-581-7332
- www.umfa.utah.edu/
