Zindagi

On October 6, 2016, the Griffin Museum opens with “Zindagi,” which in its essence is shown under the overarching idea of a celebration of daily life in India and its legacy. The exhibit will feature solo exhibits and 3 videos by five photographers in the Main Gallery of the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA.

The artists are Manjari Sharma, Priya Kambli, Dan Eckstein, Quintavius Oliver and Raj Mayukh Dam.

Paula Tognarelli, executive director of the Griffin Museum of Photography, says “We do not promise that we will cover all aspects of daily life in India in this exhibition, but we hope that these 5 artists will whet the public’s curiosity for cultural legacy and future exploration.”

Manjari Sharma will be exhibiting 9 large pieces from her “Darshan” series. New York based Sharma says of her work that, “Darshan is a series consisting of photographically recreated, classical images of Hindu Gods and Goddesses that are pivotal to mythological stories in Hinduism.” She goes on to say that, “having left a ritual-driven community in India, my move to the U.S. precipitated an enormous cultural shift. It was this cultural paralysis that motivated me to use my one medium of worship–the camera–to study, construct and deconstruct the mythologies of my land.”

Priya Kambli will be exhibiting from her “Color Falls Down” series. Says Kambli, “My photographs, which are rooted in my fascination with my parents, visually express the notion of transience and split cultural identity caused by the act of migration. In Color Falls Down these issues are seen through the lens of my own personal history and cultural identity.”

Excerpts from Dan Eckstein’s “Horn Please” will be on view. “Horn Please,” says California artist Eckstein, “could be considered the mantra of the Indian highway, and some version of the phrase is written on the back of practically every truck on the road in India today.” Eckstein’s exhibit features the brightly decorated trucks that ply India’s country’s roads and the men who drive them.

Photographer Quintavius Oliver is exhibiting pieces from his “Love Made Me Do It” series. This project began from a deep desire to leave his Atlanta neighborhood where he felt he was going nowhere. This series is an example of what it meant for him to throw himself head first from home and into the unknown of India.

In addition Raj Mayukh Dam will be exhibiting 3 videos on daily life in India. The three videos feature the people of Sundarban, the last ritual of “Antyesti “and the Festival of Color of Life called “Holi.”

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.