Sebastian Cortés - Sidhpur , Time Present Time Past 25 February - 07 March 2015
Gallery Gitanjali, Goa Gallery Gitanjali in association with Tasveer is delighted to announce that a selection of Sidhpur: Time Present Time Past will open on the 25th of February 2015 at the Gallery Gitanjali – Panjim Pousada. This is in conjunction with Goa Photo 2015, a ten day photography festival to promote the best of contemporary photography in India. To mark the exhibition the artist, Sebastian Cortés, will be in conversation with Rosalyn D’Mello at the Menezes Braganza hall on February 27th ,2015 at 4.15 pm . Sidhpur: Time Present Time Past by Sebastian Cortés is a new and previously un-exhibited series of photographs exploring the traditional habitats and domestic spaces of the Bohra Islamic community in the small town of Sidhpur, Gujarat. This exhibition is the first in-depth photographic exploration of this community to date and will be accompanied by a newbook published by Tasveer, Sidhpur: Time Present Time Past with a text by Rosalyn D’ Mello. Cortés took up photography in 1980 while at the New York University film school, where he studied and collaborated with many of the best names in the industry, earning international recognition as a fashion and lifestyle photographer. In India, Cortés has focused on uncovering the unique inner landscape of societies and cultures, the evocative, simpler realities created within the bubble of imposed cultural stereotypes. In Sidhpur he discovered an abandoned,little known town with a rich heritage and a distinctive vernacular architecture. Aesthetic curiosity led him to photograph the domestic spaces of an elusive and veiled Islamic community,the Bohras whose complex cultural make-up is reflected in their unique architecture, an amalgamation of Hindu, Islamic, Persian, European and Colonial styles. Despite consciously distancing himself from what he sees, and recording objectively, without any pre-conceived notions of his subject, Cortés’ images accentuate photography’s ability to capture, visually interpret and expose the inherent nature contained within places, seemingly mundane domestic environments and architecture. Haunting and dreamlike these images often challenge the veracity of photographs, capturing the residual memories, history and fragments of life that linger in the facades of buildings, empty rooms, windows, stairways, and the other intricate, distinguishing architectural features of Bohra dwellings. Cortés creates an ambiguous reality where past and present blur and merge, and where the physical environment becomes a cultural artefact, that penetrates through the walls exposing the inner realm of this otherwise concealed community. Sidhpur: Time Present Time Past is organised by Tasveer in partnership with Vacheron Constantin and The Singleton of Glen Ord. Sidhpur: Time Present Time Past will then be exhibited at Bhau Daji Lad Museum in Mumbai from the 8th - 31st of March,2015. Exhibition Details: Venue: Gallery Gitanjali E-212, 31st January Road Fontainhas, Panjim Goa 403001 Timings: 9 am - 7 pm Press Contact: gallerygitanj...@gmail.com Special Event Details: The artist, Sebastian Cortés, will be in conversation with Rosalyn D’Mello, writer and author of the catalogue essay that accompanies the show. Venue: Institute Menezes Braganza Opposite Vidyut Bhavan Malaca Road, Panjim Goa 403001 Timing: 4.15 pm Press Contact: gallerygitanj...@gmail.com Thanks & Regards Miriam Koshy Gallery Gitanjali E-212,31st January Road, Fontainhas,Panjim, Goa-403001 India www.gallerygitanjali.com 00919823572035
