Forget static history and sleepy museum halls. A squad of young student artists from So-Artsy Club just crowded Mumbai’s newly restored F.D. Alpaiwalla Museum, armed with nothing but charcoal pencils, blank sketchbooks, and a hunger to create and give new life to what they saw. Their mission? To capture the rich heritage of the Parsi community through live sketching.
Nestled between Godrej Chowk (Kemps Corner) and the sprawling Babulnath Mandir, the museum sits within the heritage precinct of Khareghat Colony — this isn’t just any building, it is the city’s exclusive, hyper-focused sanctuary for the history and culture of the Parsi Irani Zoroastrian community.
Instead of casually peering through boring glass cases, the artists completely immersed themselves in the museum space. They turned the museum floor into a live, breathing studio, keen to translate centuries-old secrets into sharp, realistic strokes.
The energy in the main hall was electric. Artists hunched over their sketch books, captured the sharp reflections of antique Chinese porcelain, status symbols of the early China Trade. Across the room, others seduced by fashion, carefully etched the sheer sartorial elegance of 19th-century Parsi woman. Their pencils traced the intricate, complex designs of traditional Gara sarees, not quite Chinese and yet not quite Indian –a hybrid textile of the China trade. And some sat with their pencil poised in the air, awaiting inspiration from the exotic “Persian Revival” entrance of the Walk-in Fire temple.
Watching young artists honing their modern perspective, melding and sometimes colliding head-on with ancient relics, stopped everyone in their tracks. Curators and patrons watched as the past was visually brought back to life by an undefinable Gen-Z energy. This wasn’t a standard, boring classroom drawing assignment; it was a deep, visceral connection to the city’s many cosmopolitan layers embedded in time. By sketching archaeological finds from Iran and the majesty of Assyrian King Ashurnasirpal, these students didn’t just study history, they spun the silent spiral of the past bringing it into the cacophony of present times to say that it still exists.
They walked out with filled sketchbooks, ink-smudged fingers, and a brand-new obsession for exploring Mumbai’s many-layered hidden past.
F.D. Alpaiwalla thanks all the artists from So-Artsy Club institution for adding a new flavour and charm to the world of museums.
