The Chennai Photo Biennale 2019, showcasing the work of 50 artists from 13 countries, kicked off on Friday at the Senate House in Madras University.
K. Pandiarajan, Minister for Tamil Official Language and Culture, who inaugurated the event, said the biennale as a concept revolved around the idea of spectacularisation of everyday life and making every day look spectacular. “Venice started it and eventually many cities ran it, as it is critical to showcase artistic talent. Photography has a great history in Tamil Nadu and we have many photographers who have turned into photo artists,” he said.
This year’s event — organised by the Chennai Photo Biennale Foundation and the Goethe Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan in association with The Hindu — will see photographs, installations and media projections. There will be workshops, film screenings, artist talks and skill development programmes in photography in a host of public spaces. The Hindu’s archival images have been displayed at the Senate House.
An alternative world
N. Pushpamala, artistic director of Chennai Photo Biennale 2019, said this year’s concept was ‘Fauna of Mirrors’, an old Chinese myth that talks of an alternative world that exists behind mirrors, inhabitated by unknown creatures. “The concept here is to think in a philosophical and poetic way about photography today. Chennai has grand colonial buildings and we have worked with the architecture of these buildings. There are six major venues and nine major shows and each place has its own theme,” she said.
Mukund Padmanabhan, Editor, The Hindu , said such events had great potential to engage different sections of the community and educate students. “If we want to put Chennai on the [photographic] map, then different stakeholders like media and the government have to come forward,” he said.
Varun Gupta, founder of Chennai Photo Biennale, P. Duraisamy, vice-chancellor of the Madras University and Helmut Schippert, director of Goethe Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan were among those who spoke at the event.
