Divine Façades: Views of Indian Architecture
A British exhibition of 80 architectural photographs in 4 sets; one historical and three contemporary portfolios that have been especially commissioned, 19th C. photographs of India by Beato, Bourne, Shepherd, Murray, and contemporary views by Abul Kalam Azad, Dinesh Khanna and Ram Rahman.
The project is a celebration of fifty years of Indian independence.
The intention of this exhibition is to raise the issues surrounding architectural photography; who makes the image, who are its intended audience, whose cultural/political aims are being served, is the present practice in a post-colonial setting an "improvement" over its predecessor, how has colonialism been replaced by communalism? This will be conveyed to the audience by a curatorial selection of historical photographs, the display of a contemporary commissioned response to the historical material, accompanying wall texts, artists' talks and a symposium around architecture and post-colonialism. In addition we will invite the artist activist group, Sahmat, from India to give an account of their anti-communalism work after the destruction of the Babri Mosque. The UK rarely sees original photographic works of art that are at the intersection of history and contemporary practice from another culture. This exhibition will attempt to redress this balance by posing significant questions about an area of practice, architectural photography, that frequently goes unchallenged in its assumptions.
The historical photographs: These have been selected from a collection held by the Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal, Canada. Sunil Gupta and Edward Ward (OVA) made an initial selection of 40 images that have been further edited down to 20 with the collaboration of Cheryl Reynolds (Impressions). The material will be reproduced as facsimiles for the purposes of this exhibition. The co-operation of the CCA is gratefully acknowledged.
The contemporary commissions: Selected by Radhika Singh, Fotomedia, New Delhi in consultation with OVA the three new commissions have been awarded to Abul Kalam Azad, Dinesh Khanna and Ram Rahman.
OVA has produced a catalogue illustrated by work from the exhibition. Price £9.75
Funded by London Arts Board
The project is a celebration of fifty years of Indian independence.
The intention of this exhibition is to raise the issues surrounding architectural photography; who makes the image, who are its intended audience, whose cultural/political aims are being served, is the present practice in a post-colonial setting an "improvement" over its predecessor, how has colonialism been replaced by communalism? This will be conveyed to the audience by a curatorial selection of historical photographs, the display of a contemporary commissioned response to the historical material, accompanying wall texts, artists' talks and a symposium around architecture and post-colonialism. In addition we will invite the artist activist group, Sahmat, from India to give an account of their anti-communalism work after the destruction of the Babri Mosque. The UK rarely sees original photographic works of art that are at the intersection of history and contemporary practice from another culture. This exhibition will attempt to redress this balance by posing significant questions about an area of practice, architectural photography, that frequently goes unchallenged in its assumptions.
The historical photographs: These have been selected from a collection held by the Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal, Canada. Sunil Gupta and Edward Ward (OVA) made an initial selection of 40 images that have been further edited down to 20 with the collaboration of Cheryl Reynolds (Impressions). The material will be reproduced as facsimiles for the purposes of this exhibition. The co-operation of the CCA is gratefully acknowledged.
The contemporary commissions: Selected by Radhika Singh, Fotomedia, New Delhi in consultation with OVA the three new commissions have been awarded to Abul Kalam Azad, Dinesh Khanna and Ram Rahman.
OVA has produced a catalogue illustrated by work from the exhibition. Price £9.75
Funded by London Arts Board
