By Sym Posey
The Birmingham Times
The Birmingham Museum of Art has announced the opening of Silver & Ceremony from Southern Asia, 1830–1930, an exhibition featuring the collection of Harish K. Patel.
More than 150 suites of silver that will be on view from June 21 to Nov. 30, 2025.
Katherine Paul, The Virginia and William M. Spencer III Curator of Asian Art, said the connection between this exhibition helps connect things that are happening in South Asia with Birmingham’s history.
“He (Patel) was very interested in different regions of art artistry for Indian silver, but he also collected the kinds of things that I saw could really tell the story about railroads that transported the tea, the coffee and the sugar, and the pepper from the inside of India to the shores and steamships that could bring it around the world … and tell this 1800s story that is also important in Birmingham because Birmingham would not exist without the same kind of things that were happening for railroads in the city and steel and cast iron,” Paul said.
Between the 1830s and 1930s, silver from southern Asia not only reflected the era’s technological advancements — such as the advent of railways, steamships, and automobiles — but also celebrated innovations that reshaped everyday life.
The exhibition tells an untold story about many things that we consume every day that originated in India like sugar, pepper, fruit punch, certain types of tea and coffee, “but also how this artistry promoted those things to become some of the world’s most loved consumables,” said Paul.
She added that the exhibition is organized around four themes that reveal silver’s multifaceted role in society: silver’s integral contribution to religious arts; the sensorial arts, celebrating silver’s impact on the senses; aspirational arts, where silver objects such as awards and trophies exemplify social prestige; and revivalism in silver arts, illustrating how earlier styles from distant parts of the globe became the retro trends of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries.
In a statement, Paul said visitors will experience firsthand how people’s love of silver has been harnessed to promote many aspects of humanity’s aspirations and accomplishments through a southern Asian artistic lens.
In addition, elegant settings for drinking and dining will showcase treasures from the Museum’s renowned decorative arts collections, including furniture, wall hangings, and paintings.
Also, on Saturday, July 19, BMA will host Birmingham’s Dryft Coffee founder, Praveena Sundarraj for a discussion into the global world of coffee and tea with a tasting of global brews.
As a beverage developer, Praveena will discuss her childhood growing up on a fourth-generation tea farm in India, which led to her developing her career in coffee.
This is a ticketed event.
“She can really offer this amazing experience for people who want to take different types of coffees and different types of tea,” said Paul.
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