Arpita Shah
Krishna Milk depot (from the series "Nalini"), 2017
Archival pigment inkjet print
59.4 x 41.9 cms
23 3/8 x 16 1/2 ins
23 3/8 x 16 1/2 ins
Series: Nalini
271845
Provenance
Arpita ShahExhibitions
9 February–7 April 2019: Nalini, Street Level
Photoworks, Glasgow.
12 October–16 November 2019: Nalini, An Lanntair, Stornoway, Isle of
Lewis, part of Purvai.
17 January–17 March 2020: Nalini, Impressions Gallery, Bradford.
6 October 2020–11 April 2021: Towner International, Towner Eastbourne (group
exhibition).
12 April–July 2024: Nalini, Duff House, Banff; Street Level Photoworks
with Historic Environment Scotland. Closing date differs between sources (14 or
21 July); exact date unconfirmed.
13 June–4 October 2026: Nalini, Firstsite, Colchester.
Publications
Literature
'Nalini portfolio', NOTES, issue 5. 26 February 2019.
Spanning India, East Africa and the UK, Nalini explores the connected histories of Arpita Shah, her mother and her grandmother. Bringing contemporary portraits and still lifes together with family photographs...
Spanning India, East Africa and the UK, Nalini explores the connected histories of Arpita Shah, her mother and her grandmother. Bringing contemporary portraits and still lifes together with family photographs and heirloom objects, the series traces the effects of migration, distance and loss across generations. Shah’s search through family archives and visits to places connected with her maternal ancestors led to new discoveries about their lives and relationships. The title is her grandmother’s name and the Sanskrit word for lotus. Flowers recur as offerings to the women in her family: the lotus symbolises femininity, fertility and rebirth, while bougainvillea connects memories of India and East Africa. Photographs of bodies, possessions and places bring these family histories together.
This photograph isolates a rough, broken fragment of brick against a plain, pale background. The brick, collected in 2017, is from the remains of the Krishna Dairy Farm building in Nairobi, which Shah's family owned in the 1930s. Frank McElhinney recounts in WOSP and PIX that Shah and her mother initially struggled to locate the dairy because the road names had changed after Kenyan independence. A chance connection enabled them to find the site, and Shah took a fragment from its wall as a tangible record of the journey.
This photograph isolates a rough, broken fragment of brick against a plain, pale background. The brick, collected in 2017, is from the remains of the Krishna Dairy Farm building in Nairobi, which Shah's family owned in the 1930s. Frank McElhinney recounts in WOSP and PIX that Shah and her mother initially struggled to locate the dairy because the road names had changed after Kenyan independence. A chance connection enabled them to find the site, and Shah took a fragment from its wall as a tangible record of the journey.