TRUTH OF HOPE Community Art - photography project By the National institute of Fashion Technology, Chennai In Association with, Chennai Photo Biennale
Chennai Photo Biennale
Chennai Photo Biennale is an international photography festival organized by the CPB foundation. The CPB Foundation is a non-profit charitable trust engaged in promoting photographic art, meaningful socio-cultural discussion and educational activities in Chennai. CPB’s goal is to bring visibility to historical and contemporary photography from India and the subcontinent. They aim to create mentorship opportunities and provide residencies and scholarships for young photographers and curators. CPB foundation is managed by a board of trustees formed by exceptional photographers, art enthusiast, and entrepreneurs like Ms. Varun Gupta, Ms. Gayatri Nair, Ms. Shuchi Kapoor, Mr. Helmut Schippert and Mr. Sethu Vaidyanathan.
CPB made its foray in February 2016. As a month long event, the Biennale installed photographic works in train stations, public parks and galleries spread across Chennai. This first edition of the Biennale from 26th February to 13th March 2016 welcomed over 100,000 visitors. The 2nd edition of Chennai Photo Biennale is scheduled from 22 February – 24 March, 2019. There are 10 on site installations in various venues across the city like the MLS library, Madras University Senate house, Government Arts Museum, and three different MRTS stations curated by Pusphamala N apart from collateral exhibitions at several art galleries.
NIFT’s Association with Chennai Photo Biennale (CPB)
NIFT, Chennai’s association with Chennai Photo Biennale began in November 2018, with the core team meeting the department of Fashion Communication to interact with the students and the faculties to explore possibilities of Collaboration. Probabilities of doing photo installations and artists residencies were discussed. As a result, students of Sem IV and VI enlisted as volunteers for their various workshops, tour guides for exhibits and writers for their promotional campaigns. One student, Ms. Alla Meghna, FC-VII is currently pursuing her graduation project with CPB. The prospect of doing a photo art installation at a local train station such as Thiruvanmiyur or Taramani MRTS was discussed.
In January 2019, the idea crystallised into a large scale Photo exhibition at the foyer of Thiruvanmiyur MRTS. A team of students across the various departments of NIFT Chennai was formed under the mentorship of five faculties.
Conceptualisation of the Project
The students were divided into ten teams – nine art teams and one team who coordinated the project and executed the installations. Students in the art teams took on roles of designers, stylists, makeup artists, model coordinators and photographers.
Community Art Photo Project
The CPB project was conceptualised by NIFT Chennai team as a Community Art Photo Project. This meant that, the project was not only for the community, i.e, the people of Chennai but it was also by | of | for | with the Community. This meant involving the local community at every step. As a premier Fashion institute, NIFT Chennai’s aim was to put the fashion of Chennai and Chennaities on the global map. We orchestrated series of High fashion editorials on various concepts such as explorer, royal resurrection, Madras Checks, etc. using people from different walks of life as models. The models include cooks, auto driver, domestic helpers, construction workers, gypsies, flower sellers among others. The idea was to showcase fashionably styled Chennaiites in unconventional poses and settings by transforming them into style Icons in this experimental narrative.
Location – Thiruvanmiyur MRTS
Thiruvanmiyur MRTS is a station on the Chennai Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) in India. It is located opposite the Tidel Park on Rajiv Gandhi Salai, Taramani near NIFT Chennai, Campus. It was quite a challenge to convert such a functional space with high footfall of commuters into an aesthetic pleasing exhibit area. The goal was to make art as a part and parcel of daily life for these commuters. The location played a significant role in the conceptualization and execution processes. From the fabrics used in styling to angles and lighting, the location and its pros and cons were considered.
Concept Note - Truth of Hope
It is 2019 - The time to manifest your eccentric visual culture and non-conformity. The need of the hour is to make an intense impact both above the ground and in the underground style scene. Breaking out of one’s comfort zone and inspiring action through rigour is essential. Fusion of Ideas with regard to tradition, fashion, food, music, and art define the Visual Culture of Chennai. In this season of Chennai Photo Biennale, NIFT Chennai presents a range of experiences, view points, and norms of this Visual culture through an extravagant Fashion Fiesta. Presented by the prestigious National Institute of Fashion Technology-Chennai, this Fashion series presents fashionably styled Chennaites in unconventional poses in unique places. From domestic help to delivery boys, daily labourers and auto drivers to flower vendors and mechanics, the real people of Chennai are exceptionally transformed into style icons in this experimental narrative. Photography and Fashion is playfully interpreted as the art of visual remix ascends levels, redefining beauty norms. This is Fashion Photography at the pinnacle of community art and engagement.
Execution – On Site Installation After digital visualisation and approval from the Curator of the event, printing and installation of the 34 selected photographs was initiated. For durability, they were printed on foam board with a flex coated print. The on site installation was supervised by students and faculties.
The Exhibit
Concept – Royal Resurrection
Concepts – Oru Muzham Poo | Explorer
Students, during the pre-launch guided tour, explaining the concepts to Mr. Helmut Schippert, Director of the Goethe Institut, Chennai.
Inauguration at the Senate house The Chennai Photo biennale organised by the Chennai Photo Biennale Foundation and the Goethe Institut, Max Mueller Bhavan in association with The Hindu was inaugurated on February 22nd at the Senate House in Madras University. It was attended by the Students and faculties of NIFT Chennai. It was inaugurated by Hon. Minister for Tamil Official Language and Culture K. Pandiarajan, Minister, who felt that the biennale was a concept that revolved around the idea of making everyday life look spectacular.
Media Mentions This initiative by NIFT, Chennai has been mentioned in several city newspapers. Here are a few media mentions. The Hindu Metroplus, Chennai edition, February 12, 2019
The Hindu Metroplus, Chennai edition, February 20, 2019
The New Indian Express, Chennai edition, February 21, 2019
The Hindu Metroplus Weekend, Chennai edition, February 23, 2019
TEAM OF PARTICIPANTS
Models Occupation
Ms. Gouri Maid Ms. Vijandra Cook Ms. Kavitha Flower vendor Ms.Lakshmi Construction worker Ms.Parameshwari Auto & Cab Driver Mr. P. Venkatesan Owner of a cycle repair shop Mrs. Gowri Jambunathan House wife Ms. Jaypriya.J Works at NIFT college canteen Ms. R.Saral First year college student Mr. M. Kathisesan Cable TV Technician Ms. Manjula Domestic helper Ms. Parvati Domestic helper Mr. Velu Electrician Mrs. Saroja House maid Mrs. Uma House wife Mr. Shiva Junior engineer at Geo Smart Josmar JV Pvt. Ltd Mr. Ashok Kumar Graining machine operator at Sree Industries Mr. Ajay Kumar Turner operator at Sree Industries Mr. Shravan Kumar Machine supervisor at GEO Smart Josmar JV Pvt.Ltd Mr. Manarswamy Sight Engineer at Geo Smart Josmar JV Pvt. Ltd Ms. Sabari Police officer Ms. Shanthi Flower seller Ms. Velankanni Bead jewellery maker/Gypsy
Faculty Mentors
Mr. B. Karthikeyan, Associate Professor Mr. Sridhar Amanchy, Assistant Professor Ms. Pratheepa Raj, Assistant Professor Ms. Divya N, Assistant Professor Mr. Uday Raj, Assistant Professor
Photography By Aakash V Mukul Abhirami Mohandas Natasha Elizabeth Thomas Arya Menon Prem Chauhan Bidyut Prerna Kolluri Deepthi Krishnan Richa Shriwastava Dharshini Vaishnav Rohit Kumar Gadha A S Sanchit Kaushal Haseen Abdullah Sneha Anna Jiji Lokesh MR Vaibhav Kumar Sahu Martin Thomas Vanessa Hannah Clement
Styling & Make up by Abhirami Mohandas Poornima S Abhirami S Chandran Prerana Pralhad Kulkarni Aditi Dixit Prerna Kolluri Aishwarya Mazumdar Priya Manjunath Akshara Thangamani Rebecca Christeeda Anuradha Sethi Ritvik Chauhan Aparna K Sakthi Damodaran Ariya T R Sargam Tomar Asenla Terangpi Sehal Karwasra Ayushi Amit Shah Shristi Bharadwaj Cibi S Smrithi Riya Alex Deepthi Krishnan Smriti Das Kavya Narasimhan Sneha Anna Jiji Keerthana Chandrasekar Soraya DSouza Lavanya K Srinidhi Seshadri Meenu Jain Srishty Kashyap Meriam Koipuram Swarna Tejawsri Mukti Swaminathan Swetha Vasudevan Nidhi Joshi Vanessa Hannah Clement Niharika Trehan Varshne Balaji Nikita P Chundur Y Begum Shazadhi Poornhimaa Sreekrishnan Yashika Poornima Nair
Co-ordination by
Aarthi Neelakrishnan Labani Biswas Akshita Jain Pooja R Amirtha A Riya Rawat Chitkala Sridharan Tharani K Jaspreet Kaur