The exhibition ‘Kashmir’ is just the beginning of a much greater initiative led by Emaho magazine founder Manik Katyal to bring Kashmiri photography to the world and to elevate the genre locally.

“Kashmir is a place, which is known globally for its political situation for the last 25 years and all the cultural aspects, the art scene, the folk scene, have completely been ignored. I want to communicate that Kashmir has so much more to offer and that’s why I am taking this exhibition to the Chiang Mai Documentary Arts Festival, which will attract a much more global audience than if I am doing this exhibition in Delhi or anywhere in India.” says Katyal.

The exhibition, which comprises more than 50 photographs as well as multi-media works, is the brainchild of Katyal, who only 24 years old has become a driving force in the promotion of photography. He has teamed with Yumi Goto, of Reminders Project Tokyo, to co-curate ‘Kashmir’ which juxtaposes the work of internationally renowned photographers with local Kashmiri photographers.

‘Kashmir’ spans generations, an intentional choice by Goto and Katyal, with works from the early 1990s onwards. Katyal says he chose to work with Goto as “I wanted an international curator that was non-biased because I am someone who knows things locally. To have two curators, one who knows the local scene and one who is only focusing on different bodies of work, that combination turned out to be pretty interesting”.

The exhibition features a strong selection of images, but Katyal says he would have liked to feature photographs from the 1990s also, when there were a number of local photographers shooting for the international news agencies in Kashmir, but permission to use archival images was refused. For future initiatives Katyal is hoping the agencies that were unprepared to allow photographs to be used this time will acquiesce, as he believes it is vital to include local content and give greater ownership to the Kashmir photographic community.

While the exhibition is designed to bring greater international exposure to the region, it also has another purpose, to stimulate the local photographic scene. Katyal is determined to elevate the level of professionalism in photography in Kashmir. He wants to see local photographers develop their skills, particularly in visual storytelling, so they can capture their own communities and tell their own stories. By mounting the exhibition Katyal hopes that locals will be inspired by the fact that there is an avenue to air their work on the international stage.

“In India there is a lot of activity in the photographic world - lectures, workshops, exhibitions - held around the country, but Kashmir is a place where in a lot of areas even Internet access is not available. So our local photographers are not exposed to other ideas and they don’t have the freedom to explore the medium. They are just stuck in their zone shooting without anyone guiding them.”

He says this lack of guidance was noticeable in the submissions for the exhibition that were received from local photographers, the vast majority of which were of protest and violence. “These young and upcoming photographers don’t have any education in terms of how to work on their long term projects, or the construction of a story. But they are really passionate about photography and so I hope that we can run workshops in the future that will help them to realize their potential and start documenting other aspects of life in Kashmir”.

And he is hoping his magazine, Emaho, will be able to raise funds through a grant to sponsor a young person in their photographic education. “If we could get money to sponsor someone deserving, every year, that is the goal”.

Emaho is Sanskrit for “something that is marvelous, full of life. It is a Eureka moment. If something is good you say, Emaho,” he explains. “Slowly and steadily we have been making progress and globally people are recognizing our efforts and appreciating our work”.

At present Emaho doesn’t have funding for itself, let alone other activities, and Katyal and his two co-workers put in long hours on what is clearly a labor of love. He laughs about the lack of money. “Funding? Zero. I haven’t earned a single penny in the last one and a half years. Last year we did an exhibition in Singapore and we promoted around 50 photographers’ works and we didn’t get a single penny for that either”.

His story is not dissimilar to many other online publications, but he is confident that as the reputation of the magazine grows funding will follow. In the meantime he is prepared to put in long hours, and invest his own funds, to promote Kashmir beyond its borders.

Alison Stieven-Taylor

‘Kashmir’
8-14 February 2013
Chiang Mai Documentary Arts Festival
Thailand

Curators:
Yumi Goto (Founder of Reminders Project)
Manik Katyal (Founder and editor in chief - Emaho Magazine)

Exhibiting Photographers:
John Vink
Robert Nickelsberg
Ami Vitale
Sami Siva
Showkat Nanda
Danish Ismail
Michele Borzoni
Andy Sypra
Faheem Quadri
Yannick Cornier