Solo photography exhibitions by Sooni Taraporevala & Ketaki Sheth at National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Jaipur House, India Gate > 16th September to 3rd November 2013

Time : 
16th September : 5:00 pm - Inauguration by Shri Raghu Rai, eminent photographer
Director, Prof. Rajeev Lochan and the new Chairperson of the Advisory Committee, Mrs. Manju Singh will also speak on the occasion.
17th September to 3rd November : 10:00 am - 5:00 pm (Closed on Mondays & National Holidays) - Exhibition on View

Entry :
Indian: Rs: 10
Foreign National: Rs: 150
Student / Child: Rs: 1

Place : National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), Jaipur House, India Gate, New Delhi - 110003
Venue Info : Events | About | Map | Nearest Metro Station - 'Khan Market(Violet Line)'

Event Description : National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) invites you to the Solo photography exhibitions : 

Photographs Show 1 : Through A Lens, By a Mirror: The Parsis (1977 – 2013) - Photographs by Sooni Taraporevala

Sooni Taraporevala, an award-winning screenwriter, filmmaker and photographer photographed the Parsi community for the past 36 years. Sooni’s photographs explore the myriad perspectives of her own family and the community, well known for their progressive outlook and contribution to society. The photographs speak unabatedly of the charming persona of the Parsis, their eloquent and warm disposition to one another and their passion for life. These accentuated aspects in Sooni’s photographs only evoke admiration for 
the Parsi community. Sooni has photographed people as they go about their daily lives, successfully narrating emotions of her subjects as they make conversation, attend family functions, at home or in the streets of Mumbai, a city which is considered a Parsi bastion.
Sooni’s photographs in the exhibition broaden the viewer’s understanding and appreciation of the Paris community. Speaking about her photographs, the artist says, “For me, photography has always been a form of magic. Photographs freeze time and survive death. My grandmother died, so did my grandfather and granduncle and a host of aunts and uncles who took with them an entire world. But not before I had captured them on celluloid. Their photographs still give me some measure of, perhaps, childish comfort.”

Prof. Rajeev Lochan, Director, NGMA says, “As someone who practices photography as an art form, I can only say that photography is a medium of creative interpretation, a dialogue between the subject and the artist in an unrestrained fashion. Sooni’s photographs have beautifully chronicled the Parsi community whom the artist now considers her extended family.”

Photographs Show 2 : A Certain Grace : The Sidi: Indians of African Descent (2005 – 2011) - Photographs by Ketaki Sheth

This exhibition is presented by NGMA in collaboration with Photoink.
Ketaki Sheth’s photographs impressively reveal the lives of the Sidi – Indians of African descent, who over the past many centuries migrated to India in successive batches as traders, soldiers but have now culturally adapted the language, cuisines and attires of the land. They have assimilated within the cultural folds of India and any distinction now is only surface as the Sidi consider India as their home. 
The artist has assiduously compiled her work over six years travelling extensively through small pockets in the country where the Sidi reside. The photographs reveal the artist’s acute sensitivity about a community she engaged with. It is also commendable she made a conscious effort to ensure that the camera does not make her subjects feel awkward; rather they communicate uninhibitedly, almost ignoring the presence of the camera. This rare quality can only be achieved when the relationship between artist and subject is marked by long correspondence—remarkably reflected in Ketaki Sheth’s photographs.
Speaking about the exhibition, Prof. Lochan, Director, NGMA says, “These are exciting and aspiring times for practicing photography as art as it allows the subject to be interpreted and understood on many levels. The admirable and inspiring works by Ketaki Sheth truly exploit the dynamism of Photography as a creative medium. I am very happy to have organized this exhibition at NGMA and Acknowledge the support extended by Photoink in the implementation of this exhibition.”
Speaking about her photographs, Ketaki Sheth says, “For six years I travelled through much of Gujarat, Bombay, Goa, Hyderabad and the forests near Manchikere in Karnataka, where the Sidi live. It has been a long journey and my singular reward has been the friends and portraits I made on the way. These portraits bear witness to the quotidian of a community on the margins: the Sidi at home, at work, in celebration, in prayer, at births, deaths and marriages.”

Two publications titled Parsis by Sooni Taraporevala and A Certain Grace - The Sidi: Indians of African Descent are available at NGMA’s Museum Shop. Alsoavailable are two small booklets published by NGMA for exhibition viewers.

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