The second edition of the India Habitat Centre Photosphere festival, running from 18 February to 18 March 2019, again promotes awareness about the need to understand the importance of a sustainable environment and culture, through the medium of photography. Presented at various venues at India Habitat Centre in Lodhi Road, New Delhi, the Festival this year delves into the mythology of Bhu or Earth. Last year’s edition explored the related theme of the five elements or Panchtattatvas — earth, air, water, ether and fire.
Speaking about the theme, Dr Alka Pande, art historian and Artistic Director of Habitat Photosphere, explains:
The goddess Bhu Devi has been an integral part of the mythology and stories of India, as well as its geography since the very beginning. …
The main exhibition presents photographic works by the four Photosphere Fellowship awardees — Juhi Saklani, Syed Adnan Ahmed, Thulasi Kakkat and Zishaan A Latif — and their respective mentors and senior photographers Aditya Arya, Bandeep Singh, Parthiv Shah and Prabir Purkayastha.
In addition, there are parallel exhibitions on the theme of sustainability by French artist Beatrice de Fays (French artist), Miguel Angel Garcia from Spain, Swiss artist Katja Loher (Swiss artist) and Australia’s John Gollings.
Dr Alka Pande, art historian and Artistic Director of Habitat Photosphere, says about the festival:
Photosphere is the first biennial photo-festival in the world that brings together the spheres of photography and sustainability through a fellowship-mentorship program, which includes exhibitions, workshops, and talks, among many other interactive sessions with public. As an extension to the first edition, this year’s edition will delve deeper into the mythology of Bhu or Earth. Also, feeling the importance of widening the canvas, we have also roped in several NGOs, to make Photosphere widely accessible to differently-abled children and children with special needs. Culture is one of the three pillars of holistic preservation alongwith the environment and the economy. Without an organic and seamless inclusion of culture and sustainability, we cannot have a healthy environment where the emotional and happiness quotients are not equally taken care of in our attempt to build a better future.
The mythology of Bhu
The four awardees exhibition weaves a complex narrative derived from the mythology of Bhu or the Earth.
Juhi Saklani presents a project entitled Human/Nature, a collection of images shot within a context of breakneck development that led to the loss of trees everywhere, to make space for buildings, roads, highways, river interlinking and smart city projects among others. The artist says of the project:
… When we think of ‘human’ as separate from ‘nature’, we do great violence to ourselves, our lives, and our planet — as can be seen in the dramatic climate change, deforestation, water crisis, air pollution, and extinction of species all around us.
To show how humanity could preserve nature, Saklani’s project includes a special section on the redevelopment of Delhi’s colonies, which planned to fell 15,000 trees in Sarojini Nagar and Netaji Nagar alone. Here, the artist presents photographic collages in which she projects a future co-existence of trees and semi-demolished houses.
Meanwhile, Saklani’s mentor, Aditya Arya, presents work inspired by the elements of the Aravalli mountain range.
Syed Adnan Ahmed’s project on rooster fights entitled Murgh Baazi displays a strong primal, earthy energy. The roosters are seen in a constant state of aggression, and reflect the clearly human thirst for power and conquest of their owners, whose aim is to win the fights and the bets. His work stands out as a reflection on man’s ‘enslavement’ of nature.
The artist’s mentor, Bandeep Singh, explores the connection between man and nature at both physical and spiritual levels, through his work Bhiksha, inspired by the Indian tradition of offering or seeking alms primarily of food. The photographs are of Bhiksha mats spread on the sandbanks at the site of the Kumbha Mela in Allahabad. The Kumbha Mela (the festival of the sacred pitcher) is a religious gathering anchored in Hindu mythology. It is the largest public gathering and collective act of faith today, drawing tens of millions of pilgrims over the course of approximately 48 days to bathe at the sacred confluence of the Ganga, the Yamuna and the mystical Sarasvati. Primarily, this congregation includes Ascetics, Saints, Sadhus, Sadhvis, Kalpvasis, and Pilgrims from all walks of life.
Withering by Zishaan A. Latif documents the “drowning state of existence” of the river island of Majuli in Assam, a catastrophe caused by the aggressive Brahmaputra. Latif aims to reflect on the larger consequences of climate change and displacement, by documentating a disappearing, mystical and culturally rich environment, with an organic community facing the growingly complex issue of sustainability. The artist says of the location:
Majuli is enchanting in ways that it calls for me to return, a call to hear its soul, to experience it fully in all its forms and fury, in its many shapes and beauty.
Continuing on this exploration of disappearance, Latif’s mentor Prabir Purkayastha’s Dheemahi presents a traditional visual narrative about our hidden world, “a visual tapestry that amplifies the disappearing desolation, around us and within us”.
Thulasi Kakkat’s Lost Wilderness documents the ritualistic dance of Theyyam, drawing connections between the natural and the cultural ecosystem in the rich wilderness of the sacred groves of Kaavus, home to Malabar’s pantheistic deities, and now threatened by destruction.
Finally, his mentor Parthiv Shah makes the river Narmada his muse in the project entitled Rewa, speaking to the importance of water in human existence. He explains:
Historically water has paved paths embedded with memory, history, landscape and these paths stand diverted by powers to reckon with. This series of work attempts to make an enquiry into three categories – the journey (passage), the river (water) and recording (observing/ looking).
Habitat Photosphere 2019 runs from 18 February to 18 March 2019 at India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi, India.