How Bharti Kher’s four-metre V&A sculpture is getting people through the door
- Aug 2
- 4 min read
Gaia, a monumental work by Bharti Kher, has been placed just outside the V&A to entice visitors in. Once inside, can the curators keep them there?
Tien Albert
Just outside the V&A's entrance on Exhibition Road, everyone is taking pictures of Bharti Kher’s new monumental sculpture, Gaia. That’s kind of the point. Four metres tall and painted inviting shades of green and purple, the bronze work is designed to do just that- attract passersby inside. According to curator Whitney Kerr-Lewis on the morning of Gaia’s unveiling, it is already generating walk-ins of all ages: ‘when we wheeled it in from Exhibition Road, kids gathered around and followed it in’.
Gaia represents a massive Mother Earth hybrid figure, who hosts a house over its head. ‘She carries on her the weight of the world, but also the idea of home’, says Kher, 57. ‘As a generic term, and also how it has become politicised.’ At the end of the day, ‘this is your home, this whole big planet.’ Whilst its message of togetherness may be heavy-handed, the sculpture certainly has the power to turn heads. The choice to mount the sculpture, which includes its own classically informed-plinth, onto a second more modern pedestal, also provokes reflection on the elevating function of the plinth. It can seem, however, like it’s only there to make the work taller than it already is.
Combatting ‘threshold fear’, the psychological barrier that sometimes prevents people from entering spaces they view as too prestigious or elitist, is a priority for the curatorial team. And with queues for the Science Museum across the street slowing tourists down to a crawl from opening to close in the summer, Gaia couldn’t be better placed to attract visitors unaware of the V&A.
Inside the sculpture galleries on the ground floor, accessible from the Exhibition Road entrance, three additional works by Kher have been placed between the bronze and marble sculptures that make up the bulk of the room. Helping the series to stand out from the older sculptures surrounding them are a collection of bespoke wall labels, accompanied by a map designed to lead visitors into the belly of the gallery. The curatorial hope is that once people are pulled into the V&A’s centre, they might as well stick around to explore the rest of the collections. And considering the strong influence of classical sculpture on Kher, her additional works inform viewer perspectives on the Rodins, Michelangelos, and Canovas alongside them.
In Ghost (2024), more convincing than its outdoor counterpart, a female figure is draped almost entirely in a resin-covered sari. All that remains are its legs, which give the appearance of marble as they peek out beneath the cloaking, and the faint imprint of a woman’s face through the translucent resin.
The final sculpture in the series, Warrior with Cloak and Shield (2008) is a life-size nude cast from a friend of Kher’s. ‘She pulls you in to the end of the gallery’, says assistant curator Kira Albuquerque. Her strong stance is supplemented with long antlers which curl around her back until they find their way back by the figure’s side, in her hands, pointing at the viewer. For Kher, showcasing strength and vulnerability is integral to her representations of womanhood. ‘She’s a warrior, yet I made her shield a banana leaf.’ This is a vulnerability Kher shares with her nude sitters. ‘Very often I say, “If it would make you more comfortable, I will take off my shirt as well.” And the minute I start to take my shirt off, then it’s fine.’
It’s not the first time the V&A has affixed huge works to the Exhibition Road entrance. Thomas J Price’s 2023 Moments Contained bronze sculpture, depicted a young black woman in sportswear, consciously reflecting on the historical lack of ethnic diversity within the museum. Just like Moments Contained, Gaia and the three additional sculptures feature a female figure. And just like Price’s sculpture, Gaia is clothed, an important distinction. ‘Part of the story is communicated through what Kher’s figures are wearing. Her works are using materials like the Sari and the Bindi, an interesting counterpart to the female nude theme in the sculpture galleries’, says fellow assistant curator Laura Chase. ‘And as we know for most of our works, for that interpretation of the nude female, nine times out of ten, it’s by a male artist.’
For Kher herself, the opportunity to create a dialogue with the V&A’s collection is crucial. ‘The future lies in the way that museums and artists collaborate, and are generous in their spirits… The plaster rooms have been a massive source of inspiration for me. I wish I could carve like Canova.’ This is without mentioning the V&A’s vast collection of Indian art, which Kher says she feels honoured to join as a contemporary artist- with, this time, an active voice. And with growing tensions around immigration in the UK that Kher is ‘not particularly thrilled about’, her answer is clear when asked who she wants to see the sculpture and its unifying message. ‘If you come in the morning there are thousands of schoolchildren, it’s just amazing. It’s so great. I want all of London to see it.’ With the help of the V&A’s curation, Kher may be able to hope that all of London is led to the rest of the collection inside, too.
Bharti Kher at the V&A is on display until January 24th, 2027.
