06 Sep 2012

Amar Kanwar at Fotomuseum Winterthur

AMAR KANWAR – Evidence
08.09.2012 – 18.11.2012

Two pivotal events in 1984 impacted Amar Kanwar's early years as a student. One was the orchestrated killings of Sikhs in Delhi after Indira Gandhi's assassination on 31 October 1984. The other was the Bhopal disaster on 3 December of the same year, when toxic gas escaped from a pesticide plant owned by the American company Union Carbide, killing several thousand people and injuring hundreds of thousands more.

In his films, Amar Kanwar (*1964) addresses social, political and societal issues surrounding the Indian subcontinent, the conflict between India and Pakistan, the abuse and rape of women, and the struggle for democracy. His videos examine social and economic inequalities as he moves through conflict zones, documenting arenas of power, violence, and the abuse of nature. To this he contrasts the courage of the individual, the strength of groups, and the energy of poetry. Every main theme is entangled in side themes, augmented by simple yet significant side stages, dissected, and repeatedly questioned. His intense films reveal his search for profound certainties of life, of society, of experience—persisting 'evidence' which is encountered and felt.

In 2012 Amar Kanwar participated in Documenta for the third consecutive year. The exhibition at Fotomuseum Winterthur presents his major video works, installed throughout seven rooms.

Curator: Urs Stahel

A book accompanying the exhibition will be published by Steidl Verlag.

OPENING: Friday 7 September 2012, 6 till 9 p.m.

ARTIST TALK with Amar Kanwar on Sunday, 9 September at 11.30 a.m.

We greatly thank the main sponsor of the exhibition and book, the George Foundation.
In addition, we are grateful to the BTS Group, the Parrotia Stiftung and the Dr. Werner Greminger-Stiftung for their valuable support.