Every other call we got this week, extended an invitation to attend a photography exhibition. Skimming through each correspondence carefully, we zeroed in on three exhibitions that could be worth your time.
Starting with the name of God, Durga, is a solo exhibition by Sharmistha Dutta taking place at The Gallery on MG, till March 28. Through the exhibit, she presents a collection of photographs that highlight the emergence of women in India, and compares them with Durga who, according to Sharmistha, is a dynamic power house that can overcome the evils of society. ‘‘For the initial accumulation of the story, I travelled to Delhi, Kolkata and Varanasi, spending a lot of time researching and shooting in Vrindavan. The sole purpose of this exhibition is to create awareness about the violence against the voiceless widows of the country. I want to generate public attention towards their vulnerability and thereby help raise their social acceptability. It’s a mindset that we need to fight and change,” she says.
Photographer Ashok P Kochhar echoes the same sentiment, only his weapon to fight injustice is optimism. With that, he says, anything can be achieved. Through his exhibition titled, A Million Smiles, he celebrates womanhood by showcasing joyous smiles of more than 1,000 women across Delhi-NCR. ‘‘It is high time women get their due. By presenting these happy faces, I have tried to reinstate that there is still hope,’’ he says, adding, ‘‘In such a vast and limitless existence, nothing happens randomly. Every act is absolute and photography is a medium that calls for oneness,’’ says Kochhar, whose showcase of works is on view at Ambience Mall Vasant Kunj and Gurgaon, till March 16.
Aruna Adiceam, cultural attaché at the French Embassy, too agrees that photography is an all-inclusive medium of expression that speaks a universal language, understood by all. Keeping that in mind, she is presenting Fete De La Photo 2014, a photo festival being organised by Institut Francais en Inde, the French Embassy in India and Alliance Francaise, that has turned Connaught Place into an art gallery with life-size projections on the facades of inner circle, bus stops and subways. ‘‘Everybody can relate to beautiful visuals. You don’t necessarily have to be a photographer to do so. We have gone out into the public space to increase social inclusion and explore all avenues to bring together amateur and professional photographers and photography enthusiasts,’’ she says. The exhibition is ongoing till March 31, day and night. The first two are on view from 11 am to 7 pm.