The Revolution Will Not Be Exhibited

Abstract

In this essay, I try to understand what it means to stage an Indian classical dance performance at the British Museum and what is at stake. More specifically I query, what does it mean to sacralize stolen objects with immigrant bodies dancing dances from colonized lands. Apotheosis, a carefully-choreographed staging by several Indian neo-classical dancers, was performed in the storied museum’s Sir Joseph Hotung Gallery of China and South Asia, in 2019. The performance’s title which means “divinification,” is the elevation of a person to the rank of a god or divine being, or, the ultimate expression or epitome of a divine quality. The question I ask is if and how this artistic performance, in this space, intervenes in or uncritically extends the well-established depravations of colonial plundering.