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Exhibition: Chasing a Dying River: Ghat 24 Yamuna, Delhi, India — Opens

February 5, 2023

February 5–August 31, 2023
Gladys Marcus Library, Fifth Floor

New Delhi, the capital of India, is ranked as one of the most polluted cities in the world. The city is also home to a passing river, the Yamuna, one of the two most sacred rivers in Vedic literature for thousands of years. Besides being the doorway to deep spirituality, the rivers Yamuna and the Ganges have also played a significant role in modern India’s political history, religious culture, and economy.

Although the river originates from the glacier 20,000 feet above sea level and travels a total length of 855 miles, these images focus on Ghat 24, one of the 32 contiguous historic stairways on the Yamuna river in Delhi. These images provide a glimpse of daily life, including a significant crematorium, a modern highway, a cantilevered subway system, and TikTok creators on this severely polluted river. They also give us a glimpse of human contradictions of deep spirituality and environmental indifference towards a river celebrated since ancient times. Unfortunately, the mega city is now the primary source of pollution in the river Yamuna.

Artists
Praveen K. Chaudhry, PhD, is a professor in the Social Sciences and Global Fashion Management departments. Souzeina Mushtaq, PhD, is an assistant professor (visiting) of Communication and Media Studies at the School of Journalism at the University of Wisconsin, River Falls. Together they have been working on multiple projects, including photographing the nomads and weavers of the Taurus Mountains in Turkey, the Changtang plateau in Tibet, Ladakh, and the Kashmir Valley. While on pandemic lockdown in New York they created a new work, “New York City: Pandemic, Resilience, and Hope.” The pair have exhibited their work several times at FIT, as well as at galleries in Mexico, India, and the United States. They have also shown in various virtual exhibitions.

Curator
Gabrielle Lauricella is the campus exhibitions coordinator for The Museum at FIT. In addition to curating this work, she has worked closely with the artists on several of their previous projects.

Graphic
Nanja Andriananjason, History of Art

Project Advisor
Kyunghee Pyun, PhD, Associate Professor, History of Art

Watch a video preview of the exhibition below.

This exhibition is sponsored and supported by the Presidential Scholars Program, Dean for the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Department of Social Sciences, Ethics and Sustainability Minor, the Department of Global Fashion Management, and the Office of the International Programs.

This exhibition is on view inside the Gladys Marcus Library; you need an FIT ID or visitor pass to access the library. 

Details

Date:
February 5, 2023
Event Category:
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Venue

Gladys Marcus Library, Fifth Floor
Fashion Institute of Technology, 227 West 27th Street
New York City, NY 10001 United States
Phone
(212) 217-4400
View Venue Website

Organizer

Praveen Chaudhry
Phone
212 217.4924
Email
praveen_chaudhry@fitnyc.edu