Pablo Bartholomew brings his experience of visiting the Naga region to Kolkata through a series of photographs

Award-winning photographer Pablo Bartholomew is hosting his photography exhibition The Nagas at the Birla Academy of Art and Culture. Curated by Uma Ray, the exhibition is complete with a photo map of travels by Pablo, photographs put together depicting the various facets of life including portraits, farming and livelihood, celebrations, art, textiles, sculptures, and more. It also includes Dr. Geraldine Forbes’ research on the archives of Samuel Alden Perrine’s travels through the region and Dr. Anurag Kanoria and The Great Eastern Homes, Byculla’s Naga objects from their collection.

Stemming from the fact that Pablo’s father, Richard Bartholomew had made a journey through the North East he mentions when asked about what he remembers of the tales, “We were very young. Sometimes parents get into a confessional moment. You try to put a child to sleep so you tell them stories about their lives. Both my parents told us stories. My mother came from Pakistan. She was also a partition refugee. These stories one remembers in some vague manner. However, one is interested in knowing about one’s background. I was able to find records of my grandparents and father at the British Library. So, these are the earliest stories but I have acted more on my father’s side.”

Talking about the people of the North East and his memories, he states, “They are welcoming people. There are a lot of misunderstandings and prejudice against them, especially in northern India. In Bengal, people have a lot more connect. I do have scary memories because we navigated through the underground movements there. The forces were much more suspicious of you. Many times we were stopped and in an aggressive manner. But out of the good ones, it’s just being with the people, eating, drinking, trying to understand each other and the festivities. The area was so immersive that I kept going back”.

Before signing off, he mentioned the audio-visual part of the exhibition. “The audio–visual is about a grand-aunt who I traced back to Edinburgh. I interviewed her and she talked about her 30-day walk going through the Naga areas.”

The exhibition is on till December 15, 2024