Photo courtesy of Fuzheado via Wikimedia Commons. The Nita Ambani Cultural Center opened in Bombay, India last month. However, Pradeep '23 warns that institutions like the Cultural Center should resist conforming to Western norms and validation.
By Jahnavi Pradeep ’23
Opinion Editor
On March 31, 2023, the new Nita Ambani Cultural Center was launched in Bombay, India. As indicated by its name, the center was founded by Nita Ambani, part of India’s elite billionaire business family, to promote, as per the website, a “sensory journey of India’s rich cultural history through costume, performing and visual arts.” As a part of its launch, the Center celebrated a MET gala-style grand red-carpet opening graced primarily by various celebrities and fashion designers, among others. Of its popular invitees, apart from the city’s familiar Bollywood faces, were Western figures Christian Louboutin, Emma Chamberlain, Gigi Hadid, Jeff Koons, Karlie Kloss, Kat Graham, Nick Jonas, Penelope Cruz, Tom Holland and Zendaya.
While the Center is an impressive investment for Ambani to make toward the rich fabric that comprises Indian art and culture, the opening alone reflects an age-old reductive dynamic between South Asia and the Western hemisphere. The opening ceremony, through both its obsession with its new Western guests and its mimicry of Hollywood galas, reflects how Western validation still forms an integral part of South Asia’s identity formation and reach for global recognition. In this preoccupation with catering to global, or more specifically Western validation, indigenous art suffers the harm of reductive promotion that does no justice to the “rich cultural history” that Ambani boasts of promoting.
As a former British colony, India has a long-standing complicated history with the West. Even after decades of independence, we have always, on a state level as well as on the individual level, had a need to appease the West in order to feel worthy of progress and development. NMACC becomes one such example in a history of many others.
For example, in an article for The Swaddle in 2022, Devrupa Rakshit discusses the country’s strained relationship with Western validation by examining the Cannes Film Festival and its Indian guests. Rakshit discusses the harsh criticism these celebrities faced from different media coverages, tracing back Indians’ anxieties over their representation on a global platform to a colonial need for Western validation, stating that “It is, perhaps, our history of being colonized for close to a century that often leads us to seek western approval in unspoken ways — like landing roles, no matter how small, in Hollywood movies being considered a feat or a foreign degree prima facie being deemed more valuable than an Indian one.”
This year alone, India has celebrated wide global recognition for their art and culture. For example, the Dior show took place at the Gateway of India in Bombay right before the NMACC opening. Additionally, previously in the year, India was often in global news, primarily at the Academy Awards, where Indian actress Deepika Padukone presented for the ceremony, Tollywood Film ‘RRR’’s song ‘Naatu Naatu’ won the Best Original Song and Kartiki Gonsalves’ ‘Elephant Whisperers’ won Best Documentary Short Film.
While commendable that India is making forays into previously Western-centric and exclusive arenas, their celebration exists as a part of what Rakshit describes as “our desire to ‘match’ those in structural power — in a show of tacit subservience.” NMACC has a clear desire for this “tacit subservience” in its construction of what comprises the cultural center as well as its inclusion of Western figures. The first evidence of this need manifests itself in the opening ceremony, graced by several prominent Western figures.
Ambani’s goal for the center is to celebrate Indian art and culture. As per India Times, Ambani stated her vision for the center as an “ode to our nation, the cultural center aims to preserve and promote Indian arts. I hope our spaces nurture and inspire talent, bringing together communities from across India and the globe.” As per another article for LiveMint, Ambani went on to build how NMACC would be a “world-class center” for “promoting and celebrating our artistic and cultural heritage … In cinema and music, In dance and drama, In literature and folklore, In arts and crafts, In science and spirituality, All of which is India’s intangible national wealth.”
However, Ambani’s focus on promoting this “intangible national wealth” is catered toward seeking validation from the west rather than doing right by the country’s cultural history. The opening show had Western celebrities, but no focus on artists from India who did not come from A-list Bollywood backgrounds. I was greeted with an influx of media coverage specifically targeting the new Hollywood attendees of the event. It was only after a good amount of digging around that I was able to understand the true intent behind Ambani’s new center and the core values it claims to espouse.
On the one hand, it is indeed important for Ambani to create a space where India’s cultural wealth is foregrounded, as a means of properly claiming a space for Indian culture within an increasingly interconnected world. However, this representation gains meaning only if it does right by the culture it is trying to represent. Hollywood attendees might have a greater reach on a global audience, but the priority must be to first cultivate a space for the growth of Indian culture and art before bringing in a global dynamic. This has not been the case. The center’s preoccupation with the West is reflected in its events and agendas for the near future.
Among its first shows, which does include some Indian dance, music and theater, is “Sound of Music.” While a great musical to watch as well as a great move by Ambani to bring a Tony award-winning show to Bombay, this detracts from her mission to promote Indian culture. Yes, the center must be a global hub that allows Indian audiences to engage with varied cultures and arts. However, we have often made space for the West to have priority.
Growing up, I have watched myself and those around me grow up with the assumption that Western art, Western-validated art or anglicized art, seem to be the only form of art that might be considered worthy of being enjoyable or inspiring. Ambani’s move only reinforces this idea of over-highlighting marginalized art forms within the country as a priority. Furthermore, in India, access to Western art and education has historical ties with class privilege. Herein, Ambani creation of the center reinforces a classist space aspiring to Western standards and ignoring the need to embolden Indian arts and culture.
Indian art — performing and visual — is sprawling. Even within the country, not everyone is familiar with arts from different corners of the country. I appreciate what appears to be Ambani’s attempts to include a variety of dance forms for the Center’s upcoming shows. I hope that NMACC’s future endeavors remember the primary goal of the institution and how to best serve it. Amabani must make more efforts to raise awareness of the different forms of art within the country and their meaning for different communities.
As one of the wealthiest philanthropists in the country claiming a commitment to promoting India’s rich cultural heritage, she must rethink her approach to celebrating the country’s art forms and creating a space that is inclusive, accessible and representative of the country’s rich tapestry of arts.