HYDERABAD: The 17th edition of Krishnakriti Festival of art begins with the photography exhibition ongoing at Kalakriti Art Gallery at Banjara Hills. Shots are by the late RC Mehta. A prolific photographer, he lived in Srinagar, and was known for clicking portraits of people and landscapes of Kashmir.
This edition of the festival is titled ‘Makers and Meanings’. The fest is an annual cultural event organised by the Krishnakriti Foundation in memory of Krishnachandra B Lahoti. This year it is spread across three months: January, February and March.
A series of exhibitions, workshops, interactive sessions and performances is what this festival of performing arts constitutes of. The exhibition ‘RC Mehta: Exploring the Familiar and the Iconic’ is the first of the three for the festival, which are collectively titled ‘Deconstructing Paradise: Images and Imaginations of Kashmir’.
The photographs that are on display cover the time frame from 1920 to 1960 through a black and white palette. These are clicked by Ram Chand Mehta who arrived in the valley when he was just seven. It was his brother Amar Chand Mehta who set up the popular Mahatta studio in 1915 on a house boat in Srinagar.
The elder brother shifted to Delhi but Ram chose to stay back overseeing the operations of the studio. His narratives in photography began as he clicked portraits of the locals, tourists and the beauteous landscapes when the latter burst with the colours of spring or wore a monochromatic look in snow dotted with silhouettes of bare trees.
A closer look at the works tells you the change in narrative, aesthetics and technique. The exhibition is curated by Hemant Mehta, the grandson of RC Mehta. He is a filmmaker and a photographer himself.
The next exhibitions in the Kashmir series are upcoming in February and March which will focus on 18th century Kashmir seen through maps and lithographs along with one on Kashmir in modern times seen through colour photographs.
Black and white photographs of Kashmir at Mahatta & Co., the first photography studio in the valley set up 105 years ago draw your attention–the photographs taken by the late RC Mehta are showcased as part of an ongoing exhibition at Kalakriti Art Gallery. The exhibition is on till January 26. Entry is open and free to all.
The writer can be contacted at saima@newindianexpress.com
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