BeyondHeadlines News Desk
New Delhi: A four-day exhibition of the works of the internationally acclaimed Iranian artist Azadeh Akhlaghi is on at the M.F. Husain Art Gallery of the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), organised by the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre (AJKMCRC) of JMI in collaboration with CREA.
The exhibition titled ‘reVisitations’, being held as part of the university’s centenary celebrations opened on 11th December and will continue till December 14, 2019.
Among the works of Akhlaghi, a photographer and filmmaker who uses conceptual and staged photography to create large-scale tableaus, is Me, As the Other Prefers being exhibited in India for the first time.
Besides, ‘Me, As the Other Prefers’ she has come to JMI with her another most famous work ‘By an Eyewitness’.
‘Me, As the Other Prefers’ are self-portraits that reflect on how women are frequently expected to conform to the expectations of others.
‘By an Eyewitness’ revisits significant moments in Iranian history that have never been photographed.
Azadeh Akhlaghi will be formally welcomed to the university in the presence of Amal Allana, distinguished theatre director and Guest of Honour on Friday, December 13 at 4 PM at the M.F. Husain Art Gallery. This will be followed by a conversation between Akhlaghi and the curator of the show, Prof. Sabeena Gadihoke of AJK MCRC. The event will be presided over by JMI Vice-Chancellor Prof. Najma Akhtar.
Students in large number have been visiting the exhibition to watch the magnificent tableaus on display both inside and outside the M.F. Husain Art Gallery.
Azadeh Akhlaghi today conducted guided walks through the exhibition which will continue till December 14th from 2:30 PM onward. Those interested can register at the M. F. Husain Art Gallery. All events, including the conversation, are open to the public.
Azadeh Akhlaghi has been named the 2019 Robert Gardner Fellow in Photography by the Peabody Museum of Archeology & Ethnology, Harvard University. She is a Sovereign Arts Prize Finalist in 2016 and a recipient of the prize from the UN-Habitat Photography Competition 2009, London. Her works have been displayed at the Contemporary Museum of Art, Tehran; The Contemporary Photography Museum, Chicago, Somerset School of Art in London, Paris Photo, Photo London and the Ulrich Museum, Wichita, Kansas. She has also been a participant at the Shanghai and Seoul Biennial.
CREA which has collaborated with AJK MCRC in organising the exhibition ‘reVisitations’ works on issues of gender and rights. In April 2019, CREA hosted an Azadeh Akhlaghi exhibition and conversation that was curated by Sabeena Gadihoke in Kathmandu, Nepal.
