An international show that analyzes India’s photographic evolution

Pushpamala N, Ketaki Sheth, Prashant Panjiar, Anita Khemka, Mahendra Sinh, Sunil Gupta, Anup Mathew Thomas, Gauri Gill and Nikhil Chopra among others feature at a major photographic show conceptualized by ARTIUM (Vitoria-Gasteiz) and Palau de la Virreina (Barcelona).

Lluisa Ortínez and Devika Daulet-Singh, the curators of the exhibition, have selected over 180 works to analyze Indian photographic evolution through the portrait. Works featuring in ‘The Self and the Other’ are connected in their celebration of the staged image and invalidate any assertion of realism. They together offer a close view of day-to-day life from a new angle.

The participating artists reveal their fascination for the concept of identity in varied formats that range from poetic allegory to the representation of stereotypes of popular culture. While the self-portraits are an enactment of roles essentially drawn from the experiences and imagination, portraits of the ‘other’ rely on the complicity and collaboration of the subjects so as to arrive at some extent of resemblance of the ‘other’ Self.

Providing a prospective to the works on view, the curatorial essay mentions: “The 90s witnessed some tectonic shifts. The essential instability of this period instigated artists and photographers to react and make works challenging the status quo. Economically and politically India was entering unfamiliar terrain and the social fabric of life began to alter quite dramatically. It is against this backdrop that the exhibition is set in a quest to engage with the personal and cultural identity of a young nation.”

While individual identity can be perceived through different constructs of the Self, it is not easier to ignore the representation of the ‘Other’. This is essential for the purpose of understanding the cultural identity and aspirations of a larger set of people. In fact, the process has played a major role in the crystallization of opinion and memory of masses.

The subtitle, ‘Portraiture in Contemporary Indian Photography’ alludes to the prism through which the disturbances and dichotomies pervading the complex social fabric of life in the country is viewed by its well known photographers and artists.