Mahatma Gandhi, one of the 20th centuries most revered figures of human history and the inspiration of India, the world's largest democracy arrive in Whangarei this month in a touching and deeply personal exhibition of photographs and intimate tokens of a life of extraordinary proportions.
The exhibition consists of black and white images taken by award winning Bombay photographer D.R.D Wadia during the 1940's. D.R.D Wadia and his wife Piroja were - like many others at that time - involved in the Independence Movement and knew Gandhi personally. At the time the photographs were taken the Wadias lived a few minutes away from where Gandhi conducted various meetings. The photographs thus represent a personal perspective on the public life of one of the world's most inspiring political leaders.
The collection includes portraits and formal images of Gandhi with his friends, followers and with Nehru, Jinnah and other major political leaders of the Indian Independence Movement. The photographs portray Gandhi equally at home in quiet villages, mass public gatherings and formal political meetings.
The exhibition also offers a remarkable collection of original ephemera belonging to Dr Aditya Malik, grandson of the photographer and Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies at Canterbury University. Items include cotton samples and a handkerchief woven by Gandhi during one of his many periods of imprisonment. Also including handwritten letters from Gandhi and Prime Minister Nehru to the photographer's wife, a commemorative Gandhi glass work by Lalique, and several other items including a three hour DVD of historical film footage.
Gandhi: A Photographic Exhibition was opened by Rt Hon David Lange at Canterbury Museum late in 2002. The exhibition proved to be very popular, in part because of strong interest in the Gandhi phenomenon and its topicality. The Whangarei Art Museum plans involving local Indian communities with events and public programmes and schools with an engaging education resource.
The exhibition could become a forum where alternatives to violence and war are openly debated, a critical issue of our time.
Exhibition developed and supported by the Canterbury South Trust and the estate and family of Zarine Malik and Aditya Malik.
Toured by Exhibition Services Ltd

-The Another Ones
photo - chemical drawings by local artist Grant Beran.

There's a quality in a good translation that you can never capture with the original -
The Another Ones is my own visual response to the Whangarei Art Museum collection and to living in Whangarei; highlighting for the viewer how some of the art work collapses the distinction between historical and contemporary.
My own response to these works will be in the form of photo-chemical drawings. Photography is French for painting with light and this is what I'm doing, drawing and painting using photographic chemicals on light sensitive photo paper. I will be exhibiting these pictures alongside some of the originals that inspired them so that the viewer can see these pieces from the collection in a fresh and relevant way.
Artists Statement