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Have added all what I know through captions and color coding.

Images of my Great Aunt bordered in YELLOW
Images of people known to me in BLUE
Images in context to people I could relate with her through the archives in PURPLE
Material possessions found in the trunk in GREEN
Images out of context in WHITE

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Since her passing, the only possession she left behind was a worn out trunk soundly placed underneath her bed, what seemed to enclose a lifetime of memories and a reflection of a woman I barely knew.

This is an attempt to weave her-story, a woman who is known to have defied all societal expectations in her time, a memoir of her being.

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A nail cutter gifted to my great aunt by her brother on a visit to Nepal, an overseas trip whilst serving for the the Indian Govt, as told to me by my mother.

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Stamp of my Great Uncle on the reverse of a photograph of my late Grandfather. [My late grandfather's cousin who photographed avidly, a detail I stumbled upon]

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Receipt of her first bicycle purchase, stories of which my mother tells me she would often reminisce

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My late Grandfather photographed on his wedding day with a 'relative' (assumption)

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My Great Aunt photographed with my late Grandmother on her wedding day

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Mother photographed on a visit to her grandmother at Ambala, Haryana.

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The first image of my mother photographed after her birth, sent by post to my Great Aunt.

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Photograph of my mother sent via post. Image dated: 08.10.72

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My late grandfather photographed by his cousin Jagjit Singh. Dated 29.11.64

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Great Great Grandmother

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Sunil Shah - This year's theme and programme explained.

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Sunil Shah - This year's theme and programme explained.

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Activating our Archive 2021: Protest & Play

Activating our Archives for 2021 places focus on protest and play as ways in which personal expression can help us move through life. Into a second year of Covid, with a world still in the grip of turmoil and tragedy, we have had to adapt our lives to what has been termed a new normal. The conditions of Covid and the restrictions to our freedoms and movements, have heightened a sense of the biopolitics at play across societies and this has further highlighted the injustices that people face. This has been reflected in the growing number of public protests we’ve witnessed in the past year, but also revealed a serious need for retreat and a search for individual freedom and joy. So, in addition to becoming more politically active we’ve also become in desperate need to seek forms of expression, especially through play and playfulness. These seemingly opposite activities are in fact, two sides of the same coin when we appreciate a pronounced need to assert our individuality and presence in the world. These outpourings of expression and emotion are vital as our collective, contained and monitored selves, release and reclaim our feelings in order to feel free again.

Edward Colston statue: British protesters dismount statue of slave trader, toss it in harbor | ABC7 - YouTube

The Flemings Vs TikTok Dance - YouTube

This year in Activating our Archives, through the dual themes of protest and play, we will ask participants to explore their feelings and their personal lives using photographs, film, digital images and archives. The programme this year responds to ideas that emerge from the work of Samson Kambalu, an artist who will be part of Modern Art Oxford’s exhibition programme in summer 2021. In a series of workshops, through presentations, discussions, group and individual creative projects, we will examine the role of the image in activism, protest, subversion and resistance and also look at how images create a sense of playfulness, fun and humour. Through social media and digital culture today, images have been increasingly used in absurd and humorous ways despite the serious nature of events that have unfolded around us. Platforms such as Tik Tok and Instagram help us forge a sense of perspective through memes and through short edited videos and we will explore how these images contrast in amongst the flow of images through news media and television. Through the open call, participants will be led through a six-week programme creating their own forms of protest and expressions of play with the culmination of an event held at Fusion Arts after the last workshop to screen and display the results. In addition to this, participants will be invited to contribute to the #activatingourarchives hashtag and be featured through the Modern Art Oxford blog posts and Instagram takeovers.