Human CurrentsThe World's Largest Pilgrimage as Interpreted by Hannes Schmid

July 22, 2011–November 13, 2011
Rubin Museum
150 W. 17th St., NYC

Photograph of woman with jewel above her eyebrows looking up and to the right, surrounded by tightly packed bodies with colorful fabrics. — Maha Kumbh Mela #1, 2001 C-print; Hannes Schmid

From January to February 2001, tens of millions of pilgrims assembled in Allahabad, India, for the month-long Maha Kumbh Mela festival, held only once every 144 years. The largest gathering of human beings on earth—so big that the crowd was visible from space—the event was attended by devotees of all ages, castes, and classes from every corner of India. Photographer Hannes Schmid was there as these pilgrims gathered by the banks of the sacred Ganges River, capturing this massive act of faith on film, both still and moving. Schmid’s large color photographs and aerial-angled movie bring to life the claustrophobic crowds, myriad colors, and energy of this greatest of Hindu pilgrimages.

CuratorsCurators

Becky Bloom is a scholar and curator who specializes in Tibetan Buddhism, Buddhist material culture, and issues surrounding the intersection of religion and museums. Following four years of curatorial and educational work at the Rubin, she pursued graduate studies and research that engage materials across media, methods across disciplines, and subjects across geographical boundaries.

Beth Citron was previously the curator of modern and contemporary art at the Rubin Museum of Art. Her exhibitions for the Rubin Museum included Genesis Breyer P-Orridge: Try to Altar Everything (2016), Francesco Clemente: Inspired by India (2014), Witness at a Crossroads: Photographer Marc Riboud in Asia (2014), and the three-part exhibition series Modernist Art from India (2011-13). She completed a PhD in the History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania, and has taught in the Art History Department at New York University, from which she also earned a BA in Fine Arts.

Human Currents is supported, in part, by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia.

Human CurrentsThe World's Largest Pilgrimage as Interpreted by Hannes Schmid

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