The God of Small Things Faith and Popular Culture

Raja Ravi Varma, India 1848–1906 / Ravi Varma Press, Karla-Lonavla, India / Sheshnarayan printed 1894–1930 / Oleograph with Zardosi embroidery / 50.8 x 35.56cm / Purchased 2024 with funds from the Henry and Amanda Bartlett Trust through the QAGOMA Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art

Raja Ravi Varma, India 1848–1906 / Ravi Varma Press, Karla-Lonavla, India / Sheshnarayan printed 1894–1930 / Oleograph with Zardosi embroidery / 50.8 x 35.56cm / Purchased 2024 with funds from the Henry and Amanda Bartlett Trust through the QAGOMA Foundation / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / View full image

When

21 Jun 2025 – 5 Oct 2026

Where

Queensland Art Gallery, Galleries 5 & 6 (Henry and Amanda Bartlett Galleries)

Admission

Free

About

'The God of Small Things: Faith and Popular Culture' draws its title from Arundhati Roy's evocative novel to explore the omnipresence of faith in the mundane and extraordinary alike. Centred around a rare collection of embellished oleographs by Raja Ravi Varma (India, 1848-1906), the exhibition delves into the intersection between devotional imagery and popular culture, capturing the divine as a living part of everyday life.

Works from the QAGOMA contemporary Asian collection complement and extend this dialogue, through the juxtaposition of religious and vernacular iconographies with contemporary reflections on belief.