Who needs an art gallery, when you have the Hawa Mahal!
Jaipur has been home to a lot of interesting events lately. While 2015 ended on a fashionable note: Rajasthan has your travel calendar set and it’s perfect, the first month of 2016 was abuzz with the Jaipur Literature Festival. What followed next was one of the first of its kind Travel Photography exhibit in Jaipur. Currently, the whole of Jaipur city has turned into a photography canvas for larger than life prints of travel photos that portray unique stories. The first edition of ‘Travel Photo Jaipur’ started on the 5th of February and is to continue till the 14th in partnership with the Department of Tourism, Government of Rajasthan. The exhibit only portrays the travel-bug, which means that all the pictures displayed are related to travel stories. The launch edition consists of fourteen exhibits from around the world, which are beautifully displayed in large prints across some of the landmark locations of Jaipur including the Hawa Mahal, Albert Hall Museum and Jawahar Kala Kendra, ideally highlighting the symphony between the monuments of history being used for contemporary artistic showcase.
As per the holistic vision of Chief Minister of Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje to make Rajasthan the destination of all-things-art-and-beautiful, Rajasthan has launched a series of innovative and creative initiatives. While focus has been on the traditional crafts and heritage of Rajasthan since the longest time, Rajasthan has now started embracing contemporary culture along with the traditions. Colossal efforts are being made to provide encouraging environment to contemporary visual arts, photography and music in alliance with specialists and appreciated professionals from varied fields.
The first weekend of the festival (5th – 7th February, 2016), saw a series of talks and screenings as part of the captivating agenda to draw shutter loves to Jaipur. Some of the panelists were Yumi Goto (co-founder and curator of the Reminders Photography Stronghold), Giles Tillotson (Academic and former Director of the Royal Asiatic Society, London), Thomas Seelig (curator, Fotomuseum Winterthur,Switzerland),Cristina de Middel (award winning photographer, Spain), Mauro Bedoni (former photoeditor Colors Magazine), Waswo x Waswo (American photographer based in Udaipur), Rafal Milach (photographer and founder of Sputnik Photos) and Pablo Ortiz Monasterio (founder of Centro de la Imagen, Mexico DF). The festival also offered two special setups for Photography lovers, travelling photo studio by Aradhana Seth and conversion of the former Jaipur Art School in Kishanpole Bazar into a temporary exhibition space by photographer Akshay Mahajan.Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje’s idea is to develop such festivals as set calendar events that people plan for well in advance. While the Government is handholding some of them, these fine events shall gradually be able to nurture themselves with the support of an ardent fan base. The potential for Camerawork in all forms is enormous not just because photography is a far more accessible and popular medium than any art form, but also because the city of Jaipur has many picturesque sites that could be transformed into amazing venues for photographic display.
Xiaoxiao Xu’s hauntingly beautiful photograph She Huo displaying how fire expels evil spirits and the God of the land brings blessings, derived from witchcraft and ancient totem worship, is a treat for eyes. The Flower Women by Eunice Adorno is an examination of the life stories of a group of Mennonite women who gave Adorno access to their intimate spaces and daily experiences within their communities, located in the Durango and Onda Zacatecas regions of Mexico. Siya Singh Akoi’s Dog show project is will mesmerize you with the tiny detailing. MafIa’s Alto Mar has the effect of individualizing the subjects despite the sea of humanity surrounding them, and subtly questions the phenomenon of mass tourism. Laurent Chehere’s Flying Houses may look like a leaf from your favorite fairy tale, but when looked at closely, the details of their dwellers reveal a more complex story. Producer Nikhil Padgaonkar has intricately developed the entire platter with tasteful balance and uniqueness.
The magic of lenses is not a surprise for the people of Jaipur, living in one of the most celebrated cities across the Globe. They’re used to getting captured through the imagination of lenses so often that they’ve become habitual to it. It would be an interesting sight (no pun intended) when the models turn into spectators. If you’re interested in Photography, ‘Travel Photo Jaipur’ is a must see to enrich your eyes and your experience.
