"Imaging the Isle Across: Vintage Photography from Ceylon" a photography exhibition at National Museum, Janpath > 26th September to 10th November 2015

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Time : 
26th September : 5:00 pm Add to Calendar 26/09/2015 17:00 26/09/2015 18:30 Asia/Kolkata Inauguration of "Imaging the Isle Across: Vintage Photography from Ceylon" a photography exhibition Event Page : http://www.delhievents.com/2015/09/imaging-isle-across-vintage-photography.html Special Exhibition Hall 2, National Museum, Janpath, New Delhi-110011 DD/MM/YYYY - Inauguration by Dr. Rakesh Tewari (Director General, ASI) and Mr. Sanjiv Mittal (Director General, National Museum) 
27th September to 10th November: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm (Closed on Mondays and Public Holidays)  Add to Calendar 27/09/2015 10:00 10/11/2015 17:00 Asia/Kolkata "Imaging the Isle Across: Vintage Photography from Ceylon" a photography exhibition Event Page : http://www.delhievents.com/2015/09/imaging-isle-across-vintage-photography.html Special Exhibition Hall 2, National Museum, Janpath, New Delhi-110011 DD/MM/YYYY - Exhibition on View

Entry : Nominal Entry Charges Apply

Venue : Special Exhibition Hall 2, National Museum, Janpath, New Delhi-110011

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Event Description : Alkazi Foundation for the Arts in collaboration with the National Museum (New Delhi) and the Archaeological Survey of India present "Imaging the Isle Across: Vintage Photography from Ceylon" a photography exhibition. 

The history of photography in South Asia is a story of itinerant practitioners, seeking to expand the eye of the lens by exposure to the farthest corners of the world. Though Ceylon came under British rule only in 1815, it followed the maritime expansion of the Portuguese, the Dutch, Danes and the French – the first of which identified it in their sea-charts as Zeilon, from which the modern name Ceylon was derived and maintained till 1972.

Featuring vintage photographs drawn primarily from the Alkazi Collection of Photography, this exhibition takes its viewers through a mapping of sites as well as visual tropes and themes emerging from photography in the region via diverse mediums of production such as single prints, albums, illustrated books and postcards. These traces remain foundational in generating an imagistic canon that etched the life of a swiftly transforming country, as did the coming of a modern, pictorial language instituted by Lionel Wendt, the art photographer and patron. 


We are extendedly grateful to the contributions and support of the University of Cambridge, Centre of South Asian Studies; the India-Sri Lanka Foundation, Ismeth Raheem, Annamaria Motrescu-Mayes, Dominic Sansoni and Anoli Perera.

Guided Walks led by Jennifer Chowdhry Biswas and Ayesha Matthan on:
17 October 2015, Saturday at 3 pm
24 October 2015, Saturday at 3 pm
31 October 2015, Saturday at 3 pm
7 November 2015, Saturday at 3 pm 

Jennifer Chowdhry Biswas is a Research Scholar at the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts. She has done Masters in Museology from the National Museum Institute, New Delhi. Prior to this she did her internship at the Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore and worked for the Mehrangarh Museum Trust, Jodhpur, Rajasthan.


Ayesha Matthan is a Research Scholar at the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts. Her MPhil thesis awarded by the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, was titled “From Courts, Studios to Bazaars: A Visual History of the Tawai’f in Colonial North India”. Her research interests include gender, class and artistic production in colonial India. She was a recipient of the Brooks International Fellowship with Tate Britain in collaboration with Delfina Foundation, London in 2014. 

Accompanying Talks : 
1 October 2015, Thursday at 4 pm by Ismeth Raheem

3 October 2015, Saturday at 3 pm by Jennifer Chowdhry Biswas and Ayesha Matthan
About the Speakers:
Ismeth Raheem is an architect by profession and is based in Colombo. His chief interest is in the visual arts of Sri Lanka’s colonial period. He has extensively written on the history of photography, painting and print-making in Sri Lanka. He has authored Images of British Ceylon: Nineteenth Century Photography of Sri Lanka and Archaeology and Photography: The Early Years 1868-1880. He has also written on the Dutch Burghers of Sri Lanka, Furniture from the Colonial Period and the History of Natural History of Sri Lanka. 

Jennifer Chowdhry Biswas is a Research Scholar at the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts. She has done Masters in Museology from the National Museum Institute, New Delhi. Prior to this she did her internship at the Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore and worked for the Mehrangarh Museum Trust, Jodhpur, Rajasthan.


Ayesha Matthan is a Research Scholar at the Alkazi Foundation for the Arts. Her MPhil thesis awarded by the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, was titled “From Courts, Studios to Bazaars: A Visual History of the Tawai’f in Colonial North India”. Her research interests include gender, class and artistic production in colonial India. She was a recipient of the Brooks International Fellowship with Tate Britain in collaboration with Delfina Foundation, London in 2014. 

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