The Delhi Photo Festival opened its doors on October 30th in a new location: the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, located at the heart of India’s capital. Presentation of the new edition of the festival and encounter with its director Prashant Panjiar.
What’s new in the 2015 edition ?
P. Panjiar: « First of all, the location. After having organized the 2011 and 2013 editions at the Habitat Centre, we are occupying this year the indoor and outdoor spaces of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, which has forced us to rethink the way artworks are hung and installed.
We have also invited architects, artists, and designers to imagine the setting for some of the exhibitions, like Jérémie Lenoir’s exhibition which is designed by a major figure in the Indian art scene, Vivan Sundaram.
Our objective is to offer an ever-richer event that includes meetings, portfolio reviews, workshops, and partnerships with Delhi galleries brought up to date for the event… The festival has grown over the years and become more diverse. »
What are your aspirations for this festival, in India and on an international level ?
P. Panjiar: « The creation of this festival in 2011 was based on the realization that India had no photography community. Indian photographers and professionals were busy promoting their work abroad, and seemed not to care about building a community at home. We took matters into our own hands with the Delhi Photo Festival, and started a real platform to foster meetings and exchanges among Indian photographers. Other festivals in India followed suit: Focus Mumbai, Pondy Photo, two new festivals in Goa in 2015, and two others in Shillong and Hyderabad slated to launch in 2016. This proves that there was a real gap to be filled.
We also have an international ambition. To make our mark, our goal is to have the Delhi Photo Festival offer coherent and distinctive approaches to photography in terms of how it views the world around us. »
Delhi Photo Festival
Inde
