Marking a year since the covid-19 pandemic forced most of us to stay at home across the globe, the Danish Cultural Institute unveiled a virtual photo exhibition, earlier this month, showcasing people’s experience.
((Danish Cultural Institute))
Besides India, the Institute asked people from Russia and Denmark to submit photos on what home meant to them since the pandemic, and whether the idea of home changed during this unusual year, the Institute states. The open source project received 450 contributions.
(Danish Cultural Institute)
The curators say they embarked on the project as they were curious about the objects, scenes and tableaus that held significance for people during this period.
(Danish Cultural Institute)
From India, the project received 120 submissions that depicted pets, plants, outdoor, food, being with family, etc. Thomas Sehested, director, Danish Cultural Institute in India, believes these photos showed sentiments on two different levels. On one hand, people have recorded details of the daily objects they surround themselves with.
(Danish Cultural Institute)
On the other hand, the photos indicate the sentiments of hope and looking ahead.
(Danish Cultural Institute)
“Some of the photos have a kind of eerie feel to them – they somehow come across with sentiments of loneliness and perhaps, uncertainty. Just for some of them though,” he adds. According to the Institute, the home is the starting point for our lives both physically and metaphysically.
(Danish Cultural Institute)
What happens when the intimate relation to our home is challenged by external circumstances beyond our control and influence? What do we reach for, what do we long for, what do we dream of when the normal role of a home is challenged? Ultimately, these are snapshots of moments in world history. the Institute explains.
(Danish Cultural Institute)