Can we rescue love? This fundamental question underscored Take Me to the Palace of Love, an exhibition of acclaimed artist-engineer Rina Banerjee’s sculpture and drawings that took place at the Syracuse University Art Museum in Syracuse, New York (January 19 – May 14, 2023). Curated during a global pandemic, it invited the public to reflect on our place in the world and on the impact of human interventions in nature. It urged us to refresh our lost bonds. Three critical art installations by Banerjee shaped the core of the exhibition: “Take Me, Take Me…to the Palace of Love” (2003) (after which the exhibition was named), “A World Lost…” (2013), and “Viola, from New Orleans-“ (2017). Together with a selection of the artist’s drawings, these thought-provoking works of art were displayed alongside the museum’s collection of Mithila paintings, African masks, Indian sculpture, American paintings and prints, and historic photographs of Mughal architecture. Rare books from the Syracuse University Libraries; an intricately carved chair designed by Lockwood de Forest from the Munson; and a colonial era photograph of the Taj Mahal loaned by the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University, rounded off the exhibition. A series of public conversations, events, and lectures inspired by critical issues addressed by Banerjee and more broadly, by the exhibition, drew out the complexities of the theme of “love.” Designed as a post-exhibition catalogue, this website brings together those responses. We invite you to browse the videos, essays, and poems that focus on different aspects of Banerjee’s visual repertoire and on curating and installing the exhibition.

In April 2024, Take Me to the Palace of Love was recognized by the Museum Association of New York (MANY) with an Award of Distinction in the “Engaging Communities” category. More than 5,000 visitors attended the exhibition and its events.