Imaginary Edens/Photos of my Father
This work is based on every photograph of Mohini Chandra’s father that she could find in her globally scattered family albums- in Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the USA, the UK and elsewhere.
'Many of them allude to my own childhood experience in the 1970’s, migrating from the UK and living in Australia. My father’s ancestors were taken from India to Fiji as indentured labourers under British colonial rule. Subsequent generations came to own and run highly popular photographic studios in Fiji. '
In Imaginary Edens/Photos of my Father, glimpses of the backdrops from these studios create an imaginary dreamscape, whilst corporeal absence alludes to the diasporic experience of in- between-ness.
http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/15/mumbais-focus-photography-festival-showcases-wome/?_r=0
Imaginary Edens/Photos of my Father in ‘Entangled Pasts’, Royal Academy, London, 2024