About the exhibition:

Chitramahal: Princely Encounters with Photography and Film

Chitramahal presents the story of early photography and film in the princely states of Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, and Kolhapur. The exhibition illuminates how these states cultivated a distinct visual language to assert their modern aspirations. It includes rare photos, films and other fascinating memorabilia from the early 20th century.

This Foundation Project is implemented by India Foundation for the Arts (IFA) under the Arts Research programme, made possible with support from BNP Paribas India. The exhibition is curated C. Yamini Krishna, Sarah Niazi & Rutuja Deshmukh.

Event Date and Timings:

Exhibition inauguration : Friday, 9 August 2024 at 6pm. 

On view: 10-18 August from 11am - 7pm daily.

Venue: Harkat Studio, Versova, Mumbai

Please note: On buying a ticket for any given date, you can visit the exhibition at anytime between 11am to 7pm on that day.

Curator Profiles:

C. Yamini Krishna works on film history, urban history, Deccan history. She is currently working on her book titled Film City Urbanism in India: Hyderabad from Princely City to Global City.

Sarah Niazi is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Media and Journalism at FLAME University, Pune. Her work maps the entangled history of Bombay cinema’s relationship to the Urdu public sphere in India and explores questions of language, literary culture, performance and gender. 

Rutuja Deshmukh works on film history and patronage . She is currently enrolled at Michigan State University as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. Her work has appeared in various academic journals and other publications.