The Self and the Other. Portraitures in Contemporary Indian Photography
Achinto Bhadra » Nikhil Chopra » Gauri Gill » Sunil Gupta » Anita Khemka » Anay Mann » Pushpamala N. » Prashant Panjiar » Dileep Prakash » Ketaki Sheth » Ebenezer Sunder Singh » Umrao Singh Sher-Gil » Mahendra Sinh » Anup Mathew Thomas »
Exhibition: 24 Oct 2009 – 1 Jan 2010
Artium - Centro Museo Vasco de Arte Contemporáneo
24, Francia Street
01002 Vitoria-Gasteiz
ARTIUM. Centro-Museo Vasco de Arte Contemporáneo
24, Francia Street
01002 Vitoria-Gasteiz
+34 945-209000
The Self and the Other. Portraitures in Contemporary Indian Photography North Gallery, from October 24 Curators: Lluisa Ortínez and Devika Daulet-Singh This exhibition contains more than 180 works by 14 photographers and analyses Indian photography through the portrait. The artists reveal their interest in the concept of identity in a number of formats ranging from poetic allegory to the representation of stereotypes of popular culture and offer, through portraiture, their particular perception of contemporary social fabric of life in India. The notion of "I" and how this fits into a map of identities is investigated through performance and role play. The project also shows the work of photographers who capture the idea of "the Other", not in an ethnographic sense but in a more intimate, more subjective vision, to create a new scenario open to dialogue. The problem of identity is one of the subjects that have always interested these artists. From poetic allegories to the recreation of a dreamt identity; from the representation of stereotypes of popular culture to the creation of fictitious figures that recreate the colonial history of India; from making the invisible visible through an examination of existing dualities. These works are a sample of the different manifestations that find their origin in the subjective consciousness of the artist and, in short, present the reality or realities of a country through the eyes of its most representative artists. The exhibition begins with a selection of self portraits by UmraoSingh Sher-Gil (1870-1954), pioneer in the mise-en-scène genre in India and continues with works by Achinto, Anay Man, Anup Mathew Thomas, Anita Khemka, Pushpamala N, Prashant Panjiar, Ketaki Sheth, Mahendra Sinh, Deelep Prakash, Sunil Gupta, Gauri Gill, Vidura Jang Bahadur and Nikhil Chopra The exhibition concludes with a catalogue with texts written by the curators Lluisa Ortínez and Devika Daulet-Singh and the first publication of a text by Deepak Ananh, Indian writer and exhibition curator, on the philosophical concept of the term "The Self and the Other" and its application to the photographic medium. A season of Indian films and a series of talks complete the Self and The Other project. Co-produced: Palau de la Virreina (Barcelona) and ARTIUM (Vitoria-Gasteiz).