The Indian Empire, Multiple Realities: Selections from the Portvale Collection

This ambitious exhibition, shaped by a promised gift of works from the Portvale Collection, introduces the competing narratives that emerged following the first European encounters with India.

The imaging of India coincided with the development of new, multiple printing techniques such as lithography and, from the 1850s, photography. These new media enabled Indians and foreigners alike to enjoy landscapes, temples and portraits, produced locally according to varying regional traditions.

The formal British rule of India, established in 1858, was to last until Indian independence in 1947. During this period, photography was adopted with great enthusiasm by Indians and British, amateurs and professionals. There survive countless albums belonging to Indians and to those foreigners resident in India from the late 19th to the early 20th century. A sample of these albums in the exhibition presents the breadth of subjects covered: formal portraits, tea parties, balls, hunts and landscapes.

Admission Free.

Photo: Unknown subject, India, c1880s. Silver gelatin photograph. Portvale Collection