LOST CHAPTERS OF HISTORY
The first exhibition under ‘ Family Albums’ project brings photographs shot by Colonel K. C. Kohli ( Retd) while he served in Assam Rifles
When Colonel ( now retired) K. C. Kohli shot those pictures in Arunachal Pradesh ( then known as North East Frontier Agency or NEFA) between 1953 and 1957, it was just a personal record of his experiences. They were some memories tucked away in family albums. In today’s time, those pictures might be some of the rarest, if not the only, record of that place in its original form. An exhibition titled “A Doctor in NEFA: A Visual Diary” showcases those pictures as a part of a broader project called “Family Albums” that seeks to digitise family images from across India.
Aditya Arya, Trustee of India Photo Archive Foundation and the man behind the “Family Albums” project, says, “Who amongst us does not possess books and tin trunks filled with photographs in fading autumnal colours of pale brown and sepia? Such collections usually remain, accumulating layers of dust with passing years, too daunting to sort out. It is time to revive those images. Entire histories are locked into those yellowing rectangles and the humblest picture tells its own story.”
He adds, “Recorded here are moments that will never come again, ways of life that have vanished forever, the ancestral joint family homes, the beloved faces of those who nurtured us with love, the weddings, the festivals… And there are depictions of a greater, wider world: graphic tales of valour and adventurous explorations in remote areas where the wondering eye of the camera captures the exotic beauty of man and nature.”
The exhibition showcases some stunning pictures of the tribals in their primitive form as well as some glimpses into the lives of the members of Assam Rifles, and their families, who served in NEFA in the 1950’ s. K. C. Kohli says, “These photographs form a rare visual account of my many experiences during those four years I served in NEFA when it was on the cusp of change, yet retained its original charm and innocence and its traditional tribal life. Those experiences are still vivid in my memory, even after a gap of six decades.”
Talking about how the idea of exhibition was born, Rita Kohli Laven, daughter of the photographer, says, “Aditya Arya had come to London in May 2010 for his exhibition “History in the Making” when he visited our flat and showed us a copy of his recently published picture book The land of the Nagas. As I leafed through the pages, I was reminded of the black and white images of photographs taken by my father when he was based in what was then NEFA. I casually mentioned this to Aditya and proceeded to show him some of the images. Aditya encouraged me to assemble all the pictures and deliver to him to digitise, and simultaneously, with my sister Praveen, to undertake an oral history of this period with my father.” The exhibition is on till October 26 at The
India International Centre Annexe