Where Three Dreams Cross
150 Years of Photography from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh
12 June – 22 August 2010
Fotomuseum Winterthur
Grüzenstrasse 44+45
CH-8400 Winterthur (Zurich)
Switzerland
+41 52 234 10 60
www.fotomuseum.ch
The place of solitude where three dreams cross
–T.S. Eliot, Ash Wednesday, 1930
History of photography has been dominated by Europe and the United States. The exhibition Where Three Dreams Cross – 150 Years of Photography from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh and the publication accompanying it articulate the significant history of South-Asian Photography from an inside view. It does not reiterate a western view of the east, but celebrates how successive generations of photographers from the subcontinent have portrayed themselves and their eras. On view shall be a photography rich and formally innovative, yet embedded in the culture and politics of South Asia.
Where Three Dreams Cross picks up on the pictorial worlds of the 19th century, it shows urban views, architectural photography and hand-coloured portraits of Indian life during colonial times. It concentrates on the transition of the South Asian peninsula – once defined as ‘the immense rhomboid’ bordered by the Himalayas in the north and the ocean to the south – from a heterogeneous yet single entity defined by the Indus river to its subdivision into three nations: India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The fast time of political upheaval and technology and the slow time of family, culture and ritual are captured through the lens of some 80 artists. Last but not least, the exhibition presents today’s lively photographic scenes in Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. The works demonstrate formal experimentation and aesthetic lines of enquiry as well as social awareness.
On the weekend of the official opening a two-day international symposium on South-Asian photography will take place (in English). Following persons are to speak: Bani Abidi, Shahidul Alam, Akshaya Tankha, Dayanita Singh, Sabeena Gadihoke, Sunil Gupta, Pramod Kumar KG, Suryanandini Narain, Hammad Nasar, Aveek Sen and Akshaya Tankha. Informations at (Events – Symposium)
Where Three Dreams Cross – 150 Years of Photography from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh was organized by Whitechapel Gallery in London in collaboration with Fotomuseum Winterthur. The curators are Sunil Gupta, Radhika Singh, Hammad Nasar, Shahidul Alam, Kirsty Ogg (Whitechapel Gallery) and Urs Stahel (Fotomuseum Winterthur).
The exhibition catalogue is published by Steidl / Fotomuseum Winterthur / Whitechapel Gallery, London:
Where Three Dreams Cross –150 Years of Photography from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh / 150 Jahre Fotografie aus Indien, Pakistan und Bangladesch.
376 pages, hardcover, with texts (English/German) by Sunil Gupta/Radhika Singh, Hammad Nasar, Shahidul Alam, Christopher Pinney, Sabeena Gadihoke, Geeta Kapur, and approx. 220 illustrations of 80 photographers.
Main sponsors of the exhibition: BTS Investment Advisors / Volkart Stiftung We thank Pro Helvetia and Holcim Ltd. for their additional support.
For further information please visit our website www.fotomuseum.ch
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Fotomuseum Winterthur
Grüzenstrasse 44+45
CH-8400 Winterthur (Zurich)
Switzerland
Phone: +41 52 234 10 60
Fax: +41 52 233 60 97
e-mail: fotomuseum@fotomuseum.ch
www.fotomuseum.ch
Opening hours: Tue – Sun 11am – 6pm, Wed 11am – 8pm, closed on Mondays
