Between Power & Freedom: Spiritual Fascism in the age of Populism

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Photographer and social documentary maker Sohrab Hura is joined by the artist Sajan Mani to explore if and how India has embraced the Far Right.

This live discussion will be chaired by artist-educator Kajal Nisha Patel. Kajal will take us through this exploration of power and freedom, and help us to understand what is meant by the term ‘spiritual fascism’. The artist will discuss modern India along with themes relating to the artists' respective practices including Sajan's 'Political Yoga' project.

Artists & Partners

Sohrab Hura

Sohrab Hura (b.1981) in a small town called Chinsurah in West Bengal, India. He grew up with many varied career ambitions but eventually settled on photography, after completing his Masters in Economics at the Delhi School of Economics.

His first projects, The River (a series that explores three cities along the river Ganges and its tributary) and Land of a Thousand Struggles (which followed a grassroots movement in rural India that led to an important social security act), were made simultaneously in 2005-06. Hura’s work has been shown in exhibitions around the world. He is currently based in New Delhi, India. He joined Magnum Photos as a nominee in 2014 and became an associate in 2018.

Sajan Mani

Sajan Mani is an intersectional artist hailing from a family of rubber tappers in a remote village in the northern part of Keralam, South India. His work voices the issues of marginalized and oppressed peoples of India, via the “Black Dalit body” of the artist. Mani’s performance practice insists upon embodied presence, confronting pain, shame, fear, and power. Several of Mani’s performances employ the element of water to address ecological issues particularly related to the backwaters of Kerala, as well as to the common theme of migration.

Kajal Patel

Kajal Nisha Patel (b.1979), is a visual artist, working between the UK and India. Having previously specialised in storytelling through documentary photography and filmmaking, her evolving practice now includes Indian textiles and other found objects. She shifts between representation and abstraction while spanning across disciplines, social groups and contexts. She uses art and social practice to initiate dialogues between different communities. In 2008, Kajal founded Lightseekers, a collaborative social practice, using art and storytelling to engage with complex social issues. Lightseekers encourages intergenerational, cross-cultural dialogue and space is created for sub-alternate narratives.