ExhibitionTalkFilm screening
Fri 5 July 2024 – Sat 10 August 2024
I Am Who I Am Now: Selections from the Bengali Photo Archive
Image: Two boys dancing at Spitalfields City Farm, 1990s. © Daniele Lamarche
I Am Who I Am Now: Selections from the Bengali Photo Archive offered a unique insight into the everyday life of the Bengali East End of London.
How to Get Here / Access Guide
This exhibition focused on everyday photographs taken of and by Bengali people over the past 50 years. From snapshots of family life to images documenting the power of community spaces, I Am Who I Am Now illuminates the intricate interplay between individual experiences and the broader socio-political landscape in the East End.
The images are drawn from the Bengali Photo Archive, a new collection of personal and family photographs donated by local people. They are shown alongside work by photographers who have documented the working lives, activism and anti-racist struggles of the Bengali community, including Raju Vaidyanathan, Mayar Akash, Anthony Lam, Paul Halliday, Sarah Ainslie, David Hoffman and Paul Trevor.
The title of the show is inspired by photographer Mayar Akash, who reflected, “I am who I am now” because of his transformative experiences in East End youth work settings. The central importance of such community spaces is shown in images of the Federation of Bangladeshi Youth Organisations, and musicians such as Joi Bangla, State of Bangal and Osmani Knights. These groups brought together politics, activism, arts and music to create a new Bengali youth culture in the 1980s.
The stories behind these photographs are brought to life though recent oral history recordings. The archive has also inspired collaboratively-created works, such as photographs embroidered by mothers and daughters, that share powerful and intimate perspectives on the community's histories.
Exhibition screenings
- Fridays - Here to Stay, Here to Fight, Finn Blythe, 2024 (30 mins)
- Saturdays - A Kind of English, Ruhul Amin, 1986 (74 mins)
Explore the Bengali Photo Archive online here
EVENTS
Bengali History Walk by Swadhinata Trust - Sat 13 July, 11-1.30pm.
I Am Who I Am Now: images and representation in the Bengali Photo Archive. Panel discussion, Thurs 1 August.
PARTNERS
I Am Who I Am Now: Selections from the Bengali Photo Archive is co-curated by Julian Ehsan, Four Corners and the Bengali Photo Archive volunteers with the generous support of Swadhinata Trust. The digital images will be permanently housed with partner Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives, ensuring their accessibility and long-term legacy. Four Corners will also host the curated images on its archive website.
The archive project and exhibition were supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Lottery Community Fund, Historic England, Art Fund, Robert Gavron Charitable Trust, The John S Cohen Foundation, Old Possum's Practical Trust and The Austin & Hope Pilkington Trust.
PRESS
Listen to exhibiting photographer Raju Vaidyanathan on the Robert Elms Show
BBC Radio London, 09 June 2024
Listen to Julie Begum of Swadhinata Trust speak to Asad Ahmad BBC Radio London, 01 July 2024