Mahakumbh of Photography

From the trials and tribulations faced by Bangladeshi migrants to Italy to the global menace of human trafficking, from modern sea bathing culture in Netherlands to the hidden world of one of the world's most endearing creatures – pandas, powerful narratives from 40 countries will form part of India's Maha Kumbh of photography.

The Kolkata International Photography Festival (KIPF) 2019 will be inaugrated at the Indian Museum today (February 27) and will go on until March 6.

The gigantic festival that boasts of photographs dating back to the 1940s to present day, will bring together over 250 photographers showcasing nearly 1500 photographs across 10 iconic venues. Shows will take place in almost all of the city's top institutions like the Victoria Memorial, Indian Museum as well as galleries like Harrington Street Arts Centre and Kolkata Centre for Creativity (KCC). Other venues include Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Maya Art Space, Nandan and Kolkata Information Centre.

Interestingly, KIPF also boasts of being the first ever photography festival that will showcase work from every single continent of the world including the final frontier – Antarctica.

A singularly rare cache of photographs, taken by two of Bengal's greatest achievers – Sudipta Sengupta who was the first Indian woman to set foot on Antarctica, and Satyarup Siddhanta who recently became the only Indian to ever climb Antarctica's tallest volcanic summit – will showcase life in the heart of frozen kingdom.

Festival's founding director Madhuchhanda Sen, who also owns and runs the iconic Maya Art Space said, "We are immensely proud to be able to showcase such a large variety of work from the far corners of the globe. The repertoire we are putting up will make KIPF 2019 a must attend festival for the world's who's who. This will be the first time that a photography festival of such a massive scale – both in terms of content and scale of participants will take place in India".

Festival director Kounteya Sinha, world renowned photographer who is also known as the modern master of visual story-telling said, "Imagine getting to see Raghu Rai's unseen Kolkata photographed over 40 years, along with the rare photographs clicked by Satyajit Ray himself that have languished in their family vaults. The festival will showcase the best of their collection."

"India has a very rich tradition of photography dating back to centuries. Erstwhile royal families hold a treasure trove of unknown and unseen works that have long languished in their vaults. However, families such as these are now keen for the world to see those treasures. What you will see at the festival is both traditional rare photo works and the best of contemporary photography from the modern masters," he added.

KIPF has also been very clear about its intention to show some of India's greatest work to the world during the festival. Works of renowned artists including Prashant Panjiar, Ram Rahman, Rohit Vohra, Dhritiman Mukherjee, and others will be displayed.

One of the major highlights of the festival will be a string of incredible public installations by Bengal's greatest installation artists like Partha Dasgupta, Sushanta Paul, Bhabotosh Sutar and Pradip Das.

Talking about the festival, India's renowned art critic and historian Uma Nair who is part of KIPF's illustrious advisory board said, "KIPF is going to be a watershed moment for the contemporary practice of photography in India. In an age where communication is instant, and we see a melding of East and West like never before, KIPF will transcend boundaries and celebrate the beauty of the common man."

Nair will herself curate some of the collections. She is also on the advisory board of the festival along with stalwarts like Jogen Chowdhury (world renowned artist), Sandip Ray (multiple award-winning filmmaker), Gautam De (director, Indian Council of Cultural Relations), Nemai Ghosh (iconic photographer), filmmaker Goutam Ghosh and Ganesh Holoi (eminent Indian painter).

Rarely seen portfolio of India's most awarded photographer S Paul will also form part of the festival.Never before has any festival had access to Paul's intricate and private works.

Arguably, Kolkata's most revered old man of photography - Nemai Ghosh who is most known for working with Satyajit Ray as his photo biographer for over two decades, starting with Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne till Ray's last film Agantuk will showcase a body of work across his life – not just on Bengal but also his tryst with Bollywood.