Celebrating the Festival of Italian Culture in India 2021, the consulate general of Italy in Calcutta in collaboration with the National Library is hosting the first phase of a photography exhibition titled From Kolkata To Italy — Of places in Dialogue. On the evening of March 26, the consul general of Italy in Calcutta, Gianluca Rubagotti, in the presence of esteemed guests inaugurated the exhibition.The first phase of the exhibition, focused on “places”, has been curated by bringing together pre-existing pictures of different cities of Italy as captured through the lenses of Italian photographers Alessandro Rosani and Rossana Coslovi and a pre-existing set of pictures of Calcutta captured in the panoramic view by city-based photographer Rajib De.

“When Gianluca Rubagotti sent me the photographs of Rajib, I was immediately enraptured by their authenticity and at the same time by their poeticality. The daily life of places unfolding between history and modernity immortalised in evocative and scenic black-and-whites. With the thought I went back to the black-and-white photos of my father, shots from his archive of several decades. And also to those of the Photographic Circle of Trieste to which Rosani and Coslovi belong. I was thrilled to find points of convergence between two different worlds, Calcutta and various Italian cities, which seem to communicate with each other through beauty, everyday life, architecture and landscape,” said Francesca Rosani, curator of the exhibition.

The exhibition being hosted in the large white-washed rooms of the Belvedere House at the National Library with a colour-play of brown and golden, displays the pictures under eight categories titled Rhythm and Reflection, Sky and Mist, Wind and Leaves, Paths and Journey, City and Continuity, Time and Heritage, Corporal and Eternal, and Memory and Oblivion. The black-and-white pictures in the diptych format placed one above the other hung with a string on either side is a unique display suggesting the “dialogue” between the pictures and showing their interconnectedness. “When I looked at the set of curated pictures first, it took me back to the time I was living in Italy and how I always felt connected to Calcutta. This exhibition has a similar feeling. Each picture felt like they were having a dialogue and that is why they are subtitled “places in dialogue”. There is an entire narrative happening through the eight sets, which I would like to call dialogue. The curation was based on pre-existing pictures of both the places, that appeared closer to each other, and that is why we selected this format for display. The moment you separate them, people see each one on its own and it holds no meaning,” said Sonia Guha, exhibition designer.

Familiar and unfamiliar places of both Italy and Calcutta are captured suggesting a connected perception and are given a meaningful dimension, woven beautifully into an unifying whole through the curation, telling a tale associated with the eight segregated categories. Nature, ancient and modern architecture, sculpture, and habitation of Italian cities like Milan, Florence, Trieste, Naples and Venice are juxtaposed with the Calcutta pictures connecting on similar subjects of places like Maidan, New Town, Garia, Hatibagan and Wellington. They are presented through a play of light and shadow reflecting the mind, culture, history, heritage, reliquiae of past glory and glimpses of contemporary life.

“The idea was to try to create a bridge between the culturally diverse city of Calcutta and Italy. We wanted to create a sub-section in which the theme would unify the different photographs through a journey. All the photographs are in black-and-white. I think it is an original way of displaying them. The Calcutta photographs are taken with a wide angle. It is placed on top of one another so that the eye can more easily relate and link the two. We know Rajib has done a lot of research on the city and so we tried to find somebody in Italy who would have done the same. No photograph was forcefully taken to fit into a scheme. But it was a dialogue between two sets of pre-existing archived photographs. So it was a big work for the curator to try to match and give a sort of an idea to each couple of photographs. This is important because this is the first big event at present to celebrate the year of the Italian culture in India 2021, which is supported by both the governments. Everything is being taken care of in terms of Covid protocol, there is a route you have to follow, social distancing is being maintained,” said Gianluca Rubagotti, consul general of Italy in Calcutta.

The second phase of the exhibition will display pictures of the three photographers capturing the two diverse places of Calcutta and Italy emphasising on its people.

Photographer Rajib De whose photographs were on display, said, “The photographs in this exhibition are from an independent project I started back in 2008. The camera format is very different. I used the panoramic format, and it is captured in film camera not the digital camera. My initial project was on Calcutta and how the cities are evolving. The landscapes and architecture are different but there is a relationship. Last year, I did another project on Hampi and New Town capturing the ancient and modern cities respectively. Photographs from both these projects have been curated into this theme for this exhibition organised by the Italian consul general.”

Pictures: Rashbehari Das

Ajay Pratap Singh (left), director general, RRRLF and additional mission director, NML, along with Gianluca Rubagotti inaugurated the exhibition

Designers Ratul and Komal Sood

Sonia Guha, who designed the exhibition

Director Sudeshna Roy with Toopsi Ray

Italian consul general Gianluca Rubagotti welcomed guests and guided them around the exhibition

Virginie Corteval, consul general of France

Nick Low, British Deputy High Commission in Calcutta

Rajib De, whose photographs were on display

The halls displaying the photographs of the the three photographers in diptych format

More about the exhibition

What: From Kolkata to Italy
Where: Belvedere House at National Library, Alipore
On till: April 16, 10am to 5pm (Monday to Friday)sh