Aqua Salis

Recently, long-term Aurovilian Lisbeth presented an exhibition of her photos in Pitanga, her second exhibition in Auroville (the first had been in collaboration with Ribhu, her son). The title of the exhibition was ‘Aqua Salis’ and it featured the oceans, seas and shores of Micronesia, the Pacific, Atlantic, Mediterranean, as well as the local Bay of Bengal. There were also portraits of young Aurovilians.

As she put it in her exhibition introduction, “I am passionate about leaving solid ground, that topmost layer of the Earth’s skin, and looking back to the shore with all its frantic human activity. I enjoy experiencing the wideness of an open ocean, the solitude of a lagoon, or discovering its treasures beneath the surface. Pondering the luminous quality of the sun sparkling on the waves - the bronze day-glow or pastel sunsets - or discovering a seascape in a lampshade gives me a feeling of timelessness…I am drawn to the edges of land and sea, to the every-changing fragile coastlines and, sadly, the human interventions that are changing them beyond recovery.”

The exhibition was much appreciated. Whether it is the fine grain of a sand-dune, or the intricate patterns of waves upon a beach, or the faces of Micronesians, or young mangrove trees growing in a World War Two wreck, Lisbeth’s sensitive camera eye illuminates the detail and invites us to contemplate it.