When Switzerland met India

Swiss sculptor-painter Alice Boner's life and her works on display in Mumbai reflect an amalgamation of cultures

It was in 1926 that Alice Boner first watched a performance by Indian dancer-choreographer Uday Shankar in her hometown, Zurich. The Swiss sculptor, who explored body forms and composition in her work, was so fascinated by Shankar's skill that she invited him to her studio for an exclusive recital. She took photographs at the time and later used them to make sketches and sculptures. "It was a point of no return," says Johannes Beltz, curator of South and Southeast Asian art at Museum Rietberg. Boner's life, artworks and research on Indian art are the subject of an exhibition titled "Alice from Switzerland" organised by the Zurich-based museum and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS), Mumbai.

Hailing from a wealthy family, Boner could afford to focus on art and worked out of a picturesque studio in Zurich. Her prosperous background gave her opportunities but she also felt restrained by it. "To be a true artist is to truly experience life naturally and intensely," she once wrote. Boner decided to travel with Shankar's troupe around Europe, supporting them financially and documenting events. Eventually, a desire to further her creativity led her to move to India, where she continued to record and research art in consultation with other scholars. The sculptor was instrumental in guiding Shankar and his youngest brother, Ravi, who went on to become a sitar maestro.

Shankar and Boner developed a close friendship evident in some rare photos she clicked of the dancer away from the stage, holding a cigarette and petting a dog or in the green room before a show. She helped him create a live music group for accompaniment and bonded with troupe members, including Zohra Segal. Over the years, her ties with Shankar are said to have severed over a misunderstanding. Boner continued to live in Varanasi from 1935 and supported other artists. Following this, her own work picked up pace and she began painting more. A near-obsession ensued with the form of Kali - whom she saw first as a force of destruction before discovering other facets.

During her stay, she also became interested in the composition of sacred art. While at the cave temples of Ellora, she began seeing geometric patterns in the way the sculptures were designed. It resulted in a theory that although they are set in square or rectangular frames, their main element was a circle. She published academic works on this idea and later, on the Konark temple. Art historians, however, raised questions about the credibility of the manuscripts used to substantiate her theory. Some of them, like Kapila Vatsyayan, confirmed certain ideas suggested by Boner.

Interesting objects on display include a poster Boner made for Shankar's performance in Paris and delicate watercolour paintings of scenes from a Kathakali routine, a dance-drama style she regarded as the highest form of theatre. There is also a photo with Ravi Shankar, whom she often took care of, during a visit to the doctor. The Exakta camera she used with its vintage brown cover still intact, a small trunk, passport and volumes of her research are on display too.

Sculptures by Boner and her collection of miniatures are displayed at Museum Rietberg. It also possesses 20,000 black-and-white pictures that she either took or collected. Co-curator Andrea Kuratli had the onerous task of selecting a mere hundred out of those images for the exhibition. She studied Boner's diaries entries and letters to estimate the age of some undated photographs, presenting them in packages along with her sculptures and paintings. While Boner did not see herself as a photographer - the pictures were more for documentation and aids for sketches - the photographs are well-shot, says Kuratli. The exhibition creates a timeline covering her lifespan from 1889-1981.

The show is housed in the Premchand Roychand Hall rather than the Coomaraswamy Hall named after art historian and philosopher Ananda Coomaraswamy who actively guided Boner in her research. The exhibition will travel to Delhi and other cities before culminating in Zurich. The two museums had been planning a partnership since 2012 and decided the retrospective on Boner would be ideal since she links the two cultures.

"She was shy, difficult to approach and reluctant to talk - not someone who liked to be on a public stage or perform," says Beltz, who discovered this after speaking to those who knew Boner. In photographs, she wears only a faint smile, and diary entries speak of loneliness and comfort in solitude. Her contemporary Alain Danielou, a French artist, noted she was not afraid of shocking people by refusing to observe Hindu customs she disapproved of. But in the manner of many travellers who seek inner peace in India, Boner also wrote of being moved by the simplicity of Varanasi and the "benedictory power of mother Ganga".

Beltz says despite her extensive involvement in taking Indian art to Europeans, she remains relatively unknown in India and her home country. "But this exhibition is not just about a Westerner looking at India. It is really an amalgam," adds the curator, explaining how Boner first supported Indian performers in the West and then researched art in India with local scholars. She was awarded the Padma Bhushan for her efforts. Another contemporary, Alfred Wuerfel, a German scholar, said of her, "If it is true that culture is a vehicle of international understanding and those promoting it are its ambassadors, then Alice Boner, indeed, deserves to be called an ambassador of Indian culture."

"Alice from Switzerland" will be on display at CSMVS, Mumbai, till January 31