Shyam Benegal inaugurates photography exhibition on sustainable development

Noted film director and screenwriter Shyam Benegal has inaugurated "Habitat Photosphere", a photography exhibition based on the theme of sustainable development.

A first-of-its-kind theme based photography festival focusing on the grand narrative of sustainable development with subjects like climate change, migration, impact of uncontrolled development at the centre of it, the exhibition began on Thursday evening and will continue till the end of December.

"We are constantly creating imbalances in nature ever since industrial revolution. Ultimately it is the question of balance and that is something that all of us should try and achieve," said Benegal.

Congratulating the organisers, Benegal added: "I think what has happened here is that you have brought art in the public space, this is the greatest achievement.

"One should not just keep art in some sort of an elitist setting but also try and bring it in the public space. It is something that I deeply believe in," added the 82-year-old director.

The ambitious project has been curated by Alka Pande.

"We are addressing the major concern of sustainable development of environment. It is going to be an ongoing event because it is necessary to create new ways of looking at art and that is what we have attempted to do," said Alka Pande.

One of the main exhibitions during the festival is titled 'Panchtattvas: The Road Ahead' which showcases photographs and photo-based installations created by the four awardees of the Photosphere grant -- Harikrishna Katragadda, Monica Tiwari, Shraddha Borawake and K. R Sunil, each having been mentored in this creative process by practicing photographers, Parthiv Shah, Bandeep Singh, Prabir Purkayastha and Aditya Arya, respectively.

Also scheduled to take place are a series of interactive and educative workshops being conducted by renowned photographers throughout the month, along with curated walks, talks and film festival among others.

The events is being held in both the indoor and outdoor spaces at India Habitat Centre and also at Jor Bagh and Mandi House metro stations.

--IANS

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