GAURI DANCERS | WASWOxWASWO & RAJESH SONI PRESENTED BY LATITUDE 28
Gauri Dancers by Waswo X. Waswo and Rajesh Soni is a series of hand painted photographs presented by Museo Camera and Latitude 28. The exhibition will be on view at the Galerie at Museo Camera Center for Photographic Arts from 17th September to 15th October 2021.
The Gauri Dance of Mewar is a centuries-old performance art tradition that is celebrated among the tribal communities of Rajasthan. The dancers are all men or young boys, who often portray female characters and deities while dressed in traditional feminine clothing. The troupes travel from village to village and perform stories that span the diversity of the region’s cultural history: some are folk tales, others are religious retellings of the Bhagavad Gita or the Puranas. Little is known about the art form outside of Mewar–but rural communities are familiar with the tradition and its various practices. Academic history has largely ignored the Gauri Dance, but details of its evolution and practices have been preserved in the cultural consciousness of its audience. Udaipur-based photographer Waswo X. Waswo delved into the rural landscape of Mewar to learn about the Gauri Dance first-hand, from the rural communities that witness the Gauri Dance every year, and from the performers themselves. The project was documented in a series of digitally shot studio photographs, meticulously hand-painted by artist Rajesh Soni, and were published in the eponymous book Gauri Dancers by Mapin Publishing in 2019. The series has also been showcased in parts by a number of galleries across India. Now for the first time, the collection will be on view in its entirety at Gurugram’s Museo Camera Centre for the Photographic Arts. On view from 17th September to 15th October, 2021, the exhibition invites audiences to discover and engage with an ancient folk art form while also considering the increasing importance of oral narratives in democratising the historical process.
“Waswo and I have been discussing the possibility of exhibiting the series of ‘Gauri Dancers’ for the audience in NCR for more than two years. We are excited to bring it to life finally, at the stunning Galerie Museo at Museo Camera Centre for Photographic Arts in Gurgaon. This will be the biggest contemporary Indian art presentation till date. Artist-photographer Waswo X, Waswo collaborates with Rajesh Soni, a third generation hand colourist based in Udaipur and accompanying the exhibition is the book Gauri Dancers, published by Mapin consisting of photographs by Waswo with text by Sonika Soni and a preface by Pramod Kumar KG. Shot mostly at Waswo’s studio in the village of Varda, these photographs are captured digitally, though the staging itself hearkens back to the days of painted backdrops, arranged sets and natural light. Selected images are printed digitally on matte, fibre-based papers, with archival inks. The Gavri (Gauri, Gavari) Dancers are a phenomenon unique to the confluence of southern Rajasthan and its borders with Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. This predominantly tribal belt has a glorious tradition of oral literature and performing arts, by way of dance and drama. Eschewing the word theatrics leaves us with no other real term to explain the Gavri performance and can be viewed as a liminal interlude between classical proscenium style portrayal and risqué folk ballads that have a dedicated following amongst communities who shun the mainstream and revel in their wondrous world of Gods, world-views and situations. With Gauri Dancers, Latitude 28 with the artists venture into the terrains of mapping the local cultural history of performance not yet explored in academic history and we are so excited with the possibilities.”
– Bhavna Kakar, Founder-Director, Latitude 28
“Museo Camera is an institution which celebrates the historicity of photography and its evolution. Waswo’s body of work stands out on the confluence of digital & analog and beautifully highlights the Indian traditional art of hand-painted photographs. These layered images created by pixels and pigments mark the continuity and timelessness of the art of photography.”
– Aditya Arya, Founding Director, Museo Camera
Image Courtesy: Latitude 28 and Waswo X. Waswo
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