Tag: gallerie max mueller

Categories
Event

Attend: ‘Museum of Chance’, a photo-book release

Singh’s photographic sequence of her own work ‘Go Away Closer’ is titled ‘Chance’ and opens for public viewing in Mumbai.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Dayanita Singh’s Museum of Chance (2014) is a book about how life unfolds, and asks to be recorded and edited, along and off the axis of time. The inscrutably woven photographic sequence of Singh’s Go Away Closer has now grown into a labyrinth of connections and correspondences. The thread through this novel-like web of happenings is that elusive entity called Chance. It is Chance that seems to disperse as well as gather fragments or clusters of experience, creating a form of simultaneity that is realized in the idea and matter of the book, with its interlaced or parallel timelines and patterns of recurrence and return. “While I was in London I dreamed that I was on a boat on the Thames,” Singh writes in the book’s epigraph, “which took me to the Anandmayee Ma ashram in Varanasi. I climbed the stairs and found I had entered the hotel in Devigarh. At a certain time I tried to leave the fort but could not find a door. Finally I climbed out through a window and I was in the moss garden in Kyoto.”

The 88 quadratone images in the book also appear on the front and back covers in random pairs, transforming each copy of the book into a distinct piece of work by the author. ‘’Exhibitions come and go,” Singh says in an interview, “but what remains is the book’’. Each copy of Museum of Chance, therefore, is mass-produced as well as unique because of the random combination of images on its front and back covers and the different colored cloth covers. Moving away from showing editioned prints framed on the wall, Singh makes the book itself the art object, to be valued, looked at and read as such, rather than being regarded as a gathering of photographic reproductions. Infact the Book in its special structure is the work, as were  her silver gelatin prints, and the images inside could be seen as the catalogue of this exhibition of the 88 book covers.

One of the finest photographic artists in the world, Dayanita Singh has always seen herself as a bookmaker working with photography. She has published several mass produced artist books in the course of her career like Go Away Closer (2007), Sent a Letter (2008), Blue Book (2009), Dream Villa (2010), Dayanita Singh (2010), House of Love (2011) and File Room (2013), among others. She has also presented her work in several solo and group exhibitions like Go Away Closer, a solo exhibition at Museum Für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt (2014); Dayanita Singh, a solo exhibition at the Art Institute, Chicago (2014); A group exhibition in the German Pavilion at the 2013 Venice Biennale; Indian Highway, a touring group exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery, London; Astrup Museum, Oslo (2009); Privacy, a solo exhibition at Hamburger Bahnhof Museum for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2003).

During the opening today, November 6, 2014, Singh will make available the very first of her limited edition of the Book object. She will also individualise them during the opening. The limited edition of the book object, in an edition of 352, costs Rs 9,000 and is only available through her.

It is the same object as you will see on the wall (the book, Museum of Chance, in a specially-made wooden structure to install it on the wall). So in a sense, you can carry part of the exhibition home.

Head to Galerie Max Mueller, Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Mumbai, Kalaghoda, Mumbai on Thursday, November 6, at 6.30 pm. The exhibition is on till December 10, 2014.

Categories
Film

European film fest comes to Mumbai

Starting tomorrow, Gallerie Max Mueller will host a nine-day screening of one film each from countries belonging to the EU.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Gallerie Max Mueller, located at Kala Ghoda, will play host to the 18th European Union Film Festival, which will start tomorrow and conclude on April 28, 2013. The theme for this year’s fest is ‘Celebrating Women’ – a pertinent theme for the times we are living in.

If you’re a film buff, this is a great opportunity to catch films made in such European countries as Estonia (Graveyard Keeper’s Daughter), Bulgaria (Lora From Morning To Evening), Belgium (Altiplano) and Cyprus (Roads & Oranges). In all, 24 films will be screened over a nine-day period, in three time slots (see complete schedule below).

Entry to the event is free.

The 18th European Union Film Festival schedule is as follows:

April 20: 5 pm, After Five In The Forest Primeval (Germany)

April 21: 11 am, Back To Your Arms (Lithuania), 2.30 pm, Your Name is Justine (Luxembourg), 5 pm, My Personal Life (Romania)

April 22: 11 am, Little Girl Blue (Czech Republic), 2.30 pm, Applause (Denmark), 5 pm, The First Assignment (Italy)

April 23: 11 am, Fast Girls (United Kingdom), 2.30 pm, Graveyard Keeper’s Daughter (Estonia), 5 pm, Beyond (Sweden)

April 24: 11 am, My Name is Ki (Poland), 2.30 am, Athanasia (Greece), 5 pm, Water Lilies (France)

April 25: 11 am, Eccentricities Of A Blond Haired Girl (Portugal), 2.30 pm, The House (Slovakia), 5 pm, Take My Eyes (Spain)

April 26: 11 am, Roads & Oranges (Cyprus), 2.30 pm, Eszter’s Inheritance (Hungary), 5 pm, Lora From Morning To Evening (Bulgaria)

April 27: 11 am, The Dark House (Netherlands), 2.30 pm, Princess (Finland), 5 pm, Altiplano (Belgium)

April 28: 11 am, Installation of Love (Slovenia), 2.30 pm, 32 A (Ireland)

(Picture courtesy poppyjasperfilmfest.com)

 

Categories
Event

Like a thousand words on Mumbai

A review of the FOCUS Festival that has its eyes on Mumbai without being confined to one theme or genre.
by Medha Kulkarni

Last Sunday, I decided to spend my day checking out the FOCUS Festival that’s currently on in the city. Armed with a basic understanding of what the festival was about, I checked the schedule for Sunday and headed off to town, not really knowing what to expect. However, from the minute I stepped into the Gallerie Max Mueller (my first stop) I knew that this was going to be one amazing fest!

A Fantastic Legacy: Early Bombay Photography, from 1840 to 1900 is an exhibition curated by Susan Hapgood. It’s a visual treat for anyone who loves this city. The grainy black and white images hark back to a time when Mumbai was Bombay, and provide a stunning juxtaposition to the city as it is now. Each and every single photograph is an original.

My next stop was the other pivotal focus for the festival titled A Photograph is Not an Opinion – Contemporary Photography by Women, which is on display at the Jehangir Art Gallery. I think it is truly commendable that the organisers of the festival recognised the need for a separate discourse on gender and art, and thus organised such an exhibition. With works ranging across diverse themes by women photographers from around the world, this exhibition lived up to its name. Instead of pronouncing judgement, it offers people a point from where they can build on.

I decided to take a break from viewing the exhibitions and took a sneak peek at Children’s Digital Photography Workshop with Himanshu Seth. I arrived when it was nearing its end and reached in time to see excited children, who were armed with their digicams, busy planning their next photography exhibition. I spoke to some of the parents present there and asked them what they thought about the workshop. “It’s a wonderful idea. Kids these days are surrounded by technology and know much more than their parents. Such events help us channel this interest and knowledge of theirs in a healthy manner” said Anubha Chati, whose son and daughter attended the workshop.

With no other events lined up for that afternoon, I headed to the next exhibition and stopped by at The Guild, which has mounted a group exhibition featuring the works of Baiju Parthan, Gigi Scaria, Mithu Sen and Pooja Iranna. What I loved about this exhibition was that they brought four established and very different artists working in the same medium, but each having their own style, together. Gigi Scaria’s photographs of buildings arranged in a Tetris-reminiscent manner were perhaps the most engaging works on display.

I headed out towards Art Musings in Colaba next, where I viewed another group exhibition. Titled ‘37 Indian still lifes’, which is a collaboration between the gallery and Tasveer, the exhibition is a fabulous photographic documentation of Indian still life and an exploration of the narrative within it. “Sheer variety!” was the reaction of Shraddha Kulkarni, a viewer I met at this exhibition, when I asked her what she liked best about the exhibition. I had the opportunity to speak with a lot of exhibition goers and they all more or less reiterated what Shraddha said. The best thing about FOCUS, as far the masses of the city go, was the ease of accessibility to works and also the wide variety of works exhibited. No single theme or genre dominates the exhibition.

The FOCUS Festival is will be on for over two weeks from now. Look for event details here. 

                                       (Picture courtesy Goethe Institut, Mumbai)

Categories
Hum log

The objects of her affection

Shrutti Garg is a talented young photographer who doesn’t like to capture people or nature – give her objects, instead.
by Vrushali Lad | vrushali@themetrognome.in

Shrutti Garg (25) is a Worli resident and ace photographer who doesn’t like to capture people’s faces, or nature. Her latest works – Objects as streets, streets as objects, and The Green Project are on display at Gallerie Max Mueller, and the two walls of the Gallerie that hold the exhibition’s photographs are strong examples of how objects are central to Shrutti’s imagination.

In a series of black and white pictures across half of one wall, there are glimpses of people carrying their belongings as they move about the streets –a woman’s bundled several bags into one shopping cart, in another, a musician’s put down his guitar on the sidewalk. In a third, you see squashy sleeping bags. The Green Project, meanwhile, has a series of colour photographs in which Shrutti’s aimed for a contrast between life as it happens and a single object or piece of clothing or even a mark on the road, that is bathed in a startling shade of green.

“I went to Cologne, Germany in 2011 through Max Mueller Bhavan for a six-month artists’ residency. Before my departure, I had discovered the word ‘flaneur’, which describes a person who walks through the city to explore it. I took this idea for the Objects… series, wanting to see how people moved from place to place with belongings they held dear, because there was maybe a strong memory attached to them. The first three months I was there, I simply walked everywhere and explored. During these walks, I saw several interesting examples of people moving from spot to spot with their belongings – some in one big bag, others in a shopping cart,” she explains.

The Green Project, meanwhile, was an exploration of two contrasting symbols attached to the colour green – of new beginnings, and envy. “I started it in Mumbai; it explores the balance between these two opposites. It was fun working on it, because I only photographed this one shade of green which was the most eye-catching, and I had to find situations and items bearing this colour. I have not Photoshopped the colour in any of my pictures. I’m not a fan of Photoshop anyway,” she smiles.

Shrutti, a Commercial Arts graduate who was attracted to photography very early in life, has always “worked in a series, I’ve rarely worked on individual pieces” – prior to this, she’s worked on Mumbai in Motion, about how everything moves fast in Mumbai but how one still has to wait, Hidden Realities and Luxurious Life Of the Streets, among others. “I also showed the Objects series and The Green Project in Germany, and it was interesting for them to see my point of view in the pictures,” she says.

She also heard a few interesting back stories of some of her subjects. “There were these two guys who met when they were living on the streets, and they would move everywhere in twos, because while one was away, the other would look after their belongings! Then I learnt that you can’t live on the streets in Munich at all. Besides, the weather plays a big role in people staying out or going underground.”

Her focus is always on objects, not on faces. “Your imagination must guide you to ask questions about the person you can’t see,” she explains. “Besides, I am very attracted to objects in the context of the environment they are in. I’m not into photographing people or nature.”

She is currently working on a privately-commissioned series of photographs very much like The Green Project, but “the colour the client wants is blue,” she says. She is also toying with the idea of a project where she asks you to part with a very precious object and substitute it with a picture of that object. “I’m also applying for a lot of residencies,” she says.

Shrutti Garg’s twin exhibition, Objects as streets, streets as objects and The Green Project concludes at Gallerie Max Mueller, Kala Ghoda, today.  

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