Septuagenarian Nemai Ghosh, famous for chronicling filmmaker Satyajit Ray and his films through his lens over three decades, was the first Indian photographer to be exhibited at the famous Musio Marino Marini housed in a 100-year-old church in Florence, Italy. This was in 2010. Almost a decade later, another Indian photographer has made her way there—Parul Sharma. Her photographs on the Kumbh are being showcased as part of the River to River Florence Indian Festival. The exhibition, Mystic India, is on till December 16.
The River to River Florence Indian Festival, started in 2001, was exclusively devoted to Indian cinema before becoming a melting pot of cultural events over the years. “I am happy and honoured to have Parul Sharma’s photos exhibited during the festival. Her work is extremely powerful and interesting and in this case it depicts a very specific moment of Indian traditions,” said Selvaggia Velo, founder and director of the festival. The photographer, who debuted at the critically acclaimed show—Parulscape—in Delhi’s Bikaner House in July 2017, talks about her journey so far, “What can I say? It has been nothing short of fabulous. The support, the appreciation have been unprecedented and something for which I am indebted.”
The 40-odd photographs that are displayed at the exhibition were taken by Parul during the famous ‘Shahi Snan’ at Kumbh in Allahabad and Varanasi. The Kumbh is probably one of the most photographed religious events in the world, yet Parul’s discerning lens—rather, her phone camera, as she shoots only on her phone—nonetheless captures some visuals unique in its very nature.
Amid the over 120 million devotees, her camera finds the transgender community—for the first time given formal recognition at the Kumbh. Besides, there are the almost surreal images of Naga sadhus brandishing swords, trishuls, smoking chillums, cavorting in the water and more. “Almost every photographer has at some time or the other visited the Kumbh or wanted to. Even photographers from the West. It was the same with me. But I wanted to delve deeper than just superficial shots. My images speak of a more intimate exchange,” she says.
The exhibition is being curated by architect and impresario Gigi Cupellini, who previously curated the Medici gem collection in Florence’s Archaeological Museum. It boasts over 2,300 pieces of the world’s largest and most important gem collection between 2300 BC and the Renaissance. The show was highly acclaimed.
The Musio Marino Marini is one of Europe’s most revered cultural spaces. It is devoted to contemporary painting, sculpture and photography. A former church, it was founded before the year 1000—the first recorded history of the church is from the year 931. Deconsecrated in 1809, it was used for different purposes for over a century before being lovingly renovated by two designers merging existing architectural elements of the church with contemporary additions. The museum conserves 180 of Italian sculptor Marino Marini’s artworks, after whom it has been named.
Amid all this, showcases Parul—the new generation photographer—whose métier draws largely from architectural design and form. She is currently working on another solo exhibition to be held in March next year in Paris, besides preparing to bring out a book of her photographic interpretation of Mumbai’s Colaba district in early 2020.
Musio Marino Marini
The crypt of the Museo Marino Marini is where contemporary art exhibitions are held. It serves as a perfect foil. What dominates the artistic sense is the groin vaults of the repurposed crypt. The heavy stone masonry opens the doors to an artistic and architectural history that is seldom seen. While the rest of the San Pancrazio church has been deconsecrated and finally evolved into the museum, the Rucellai Chapel from the 15th century containing the ‘Rucellai Sepulchre’ still stands and can be visited.