Photography exhibitions

John Mandeen passed away just over a year ago. John was a photographer who worked for many years with the Ashram Press, but he also extensively documented life in Auroville from the early 1980s, including important stages in the construction of the Matrimandir.

On the occasion of the 90th Birthday of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the Pavilion of Tibetan Culture presented an exhibition on “Dalai Lama and Auroville—Three Memorable Visits (1973, 1993 & 2009)”.

The Dominique Darr Grant was launched this year to enable young photographers to exhib at Centre d’Art. The first such exhibition, with the theme “The Sun, the Moon and the Truth, three things cannot be long hidden”, opened on 15 August and featured the work of five young Aurovilians—Anantini, Simran, Aadi, Balaji, Arati and Bhavyo.

It’s easy to overlook the bark of a tree – especially here in Auroville, where trees are everywhere and we pass them daily, often without stopping to truly see.

Over the past three years, Auroville Today has reported extensively about the changes brought about by the new Governing Board and its Secretary, in collaboration with Aurovilians who were frustrated by the pace of Auroville’s development.

Last December, there was a photographic exhibition in the Tibetan Pavilion which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the second caravan in Auroville.

What do you get when you mix a seasoned photographer, theatrical flair, and nearly four decades of festive mischief? HAPPY NEW YEAR by Marco Saroldi – part photo exhibit, part autobiography, and entirely the cheekiest holiday tradition around.

Auroville’s Centre d’Art in Citadines hosted two photography exhibitions concurrently in October, with photographs by Auroville’s Eric Chacra and Chennai-based photographer Arun.

Between 20th January and 1st March, Paulette put on a photographic exhibition at the Town Hall on the theme of ‘Milano’s futuristic architecture: regeneration of the Porta Nuova district’.

Flashback to 30 years ago: A 10 year old Auroville child comes across a haiku in a book of poems that describes the moss temple of Japan. It sounds so beautiful and the little girl imagines that this must be a place in a fairytale where everything is possible …

Paulette has been a particularly energetic contributor to the 50th anniversary celebrations. She has put up two photographic exhibitions and released a book.

The Mother once described Sri Aurobindo as having “a face from eternity”. That same quality of deep spiritual timelessness pervades many of the photographs in Aurovilian Olivier Barot’s photo exhibition that premiered on 4th August in the new Kalinka Gallery in Pondicherry.

Two and a half years ago, Ireno Guerci presented a photo exhibition in the Unity Pavilion on ‘Matrimandir and the Park of Unity’. The photos were a selection from the many thousand photos that he has taken over the past 30 years of a place that is very close to his heart.

In January, Paulette mounted an exhibition of old photos, which she had painstakingly restored, in the Town Hall. Most of the photographers are unknown.

The Unity Pavilion recently hosted a new photographic exhibition by Ireno entitled ‘Water Being’. The exhibition, which was partly funded by Stichting de Zaaier, displayed work from an ongoing project to document aquatic-bodywork at Quiet Healing Centre.