Kanu's Gandhi
To launch an exciting new India-Wales collaboration marking the 70thanniversary of Indian Independence and the creation of Modern India, Ffotogallery is delighted to present the UK premiere of Kanu’s Gandhi, a new exhibition of rare and intimate photographs of Mahatma Gandhi by his grandnephew and personal chronicler, Kanu Gandhi.
Kanu Gandhi came to live with Mahatma Gandhi in the Sevagram Ashram and became his lifelong follower. Gandhi allowed Kanu to photograph him on the condition that no flash would be used and he would never be asked to pose. Though some of Kanu Gandhi’s images have been reproduced in books on Mahatma Gandhi, his work went largely uncredited and is now being presented for the first time in the UK as one body of work acknowledged for its historical and artistic importance. Culled from a long forgotten archive, the meticulously researched, painstakingly restored and exquisitely curated by Prashant Panjiar and Sanjeev Saith, Kanu’s Gandhi reveals rare and intimate photographs of the Mahatma during the last ten years of his life.
As David Drake, Ffotogallery’s Director, explains:
“Mahatma Gandhi’s influence on ordinary people and world leaders alike is immense, and his commitment to changing the world through non-violent means is a timely reminder for us all that there is always hope for a better life even in the darkest of times. Ffotogallery is honoured to be presenting this wonderful exhibition on the 70th anniversary of Indian Independence, and to acknowledge Wales’ special relationship with India. We were delighted to learn that the Hindu Council of Wales will be unveiling a new statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Cardiff later this year”
The exhibition is part of Dreamtigers, a year long project which brings together Ffotogallery, the national agency for photography in Wales, and the Nazar Foundation/Delhi Photo Festival. The project uses photography and lens-based media to examine both the ‘real India’ and the equally present and significant other – an Imagined India which in recent years has significantly evolved and transformed itself in the public sphere and in the minds of Indians. Dreamtigers is one of eleven projects in Wales supported by the British Council and Wales Arts International under the UK-India Year of Culture 2017.
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