Arpita Shah
28 x 35 ins each
Further images
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
Emilia Terracciano, ‘Arpita Shah: Nalini (ongoing)’, 1000 Words, no. 27, 31 January 2018 (online).
Arpita Shah, ‘Nalini’, NOTES: Letters to Photography, no. 5, Autumn/Winter 2018, p. 33.
Emilia Terracciano, ‘Arpita Shah: Nalini’, in 1000 Words: 10 Year Anniversary Print Edition, 2018, p. 156.
Emilia Terracciano, ‘Nalini: Memory of Things’, Street Level Photoworks exhibition minigraph, Glasgow, 2019, unpaginated.
Frank McElhinney, ‘Exhibition Review: Arpita Shah, Nalini, Street Level Photoworks’, Writing on Scottish Photography, 26 February 2019 (online).
John McDougall, ‘Arpita Shah: Nalini’, Photomonitor, 3 April 2019 (online).
Arpita Shah, ‘Arpita Shah’, interview, Anywhere Blvd, 13 May 2019 (online).
Arpita Shah, Nalini: Captions and Additional Words from Arpita Shah, Impressions Gallery exhibition guide, Bradford, 2020, 24 pp., unpaginated, ill. PDF p. 15.
‘Across Borders’, Harper’s Bazaar India, 11th anniversary issue, March 2020, p. 128.
Emilia Terracciano, ‘Arpita Shah’, with photographs by Arpita Shah, Contact Sheet, no. 207, Light Work Annual 2020, July 2020, pp. [4]–11 (text p. 5).
‘Arpita Shah Journeys Through the History of the Women in Her Family’, FotoRoom, [2020] (online).
Clare Samuel (curator and text), ‘She & Her & Me: Arpita Shah, Clea Christakos-Gee, Jennifer Long, Margaret Mitchell’, BlackFlash, no. 37.3, Winter 2021 (online as ‘She & Her & Me’, 8 March 2021).
Arpita Shah, with text by Frank McElhinney, ‘Nalini’, PIX, vol. 18, Passages: a Subcontinental Imaginary, February 2022, pp. 38–47, ill. pp. 42–43.
Killian Fox and Jude Rogers, ‘The Look of Love’, The Observer, The New Review, Love Photography Special, 13 February 2022, pp. 12–[13] (Arpita Shah contribution); online as ‘From the heart: 10 photographers on the theme of love’, The Guardian, 13 February 2022.
Bazaar India, ‘On migration, memory, and loss—artist Arpita Shah documents her family history’, Harper’s Bazaar India, 15 September 2022 (online).
Lodoe Laura, ‘Arpita Shah’s Nalini’, Identity • Connection • Place, Feminist Photography Network, [March 2023] (online).
Arpita Shah, ‘Arpita Shah’, portfolio from Nalini, Mulieris, no. 5, The Degrees Between Us, 2023, p. 152.
Arpita Shah, ‘Nalini’, Art Journal, vol. 84, no. 1, Spring 2025, pp. 7–21, ill. pp. 16–18 (online 12 May 2025).
Arpita Shah, ‘Nalini’, Art Journal Open, 15 May 2025 (online).
Cassandre Thomas, ‘Arpita Shah et la transmission des récits féminins’, Fisheye, 12 September 2025 (online).
Mark Rappolt, review of Arpita Shah: Nalini, ArtReview, October 2026; online as ‘How to Conceal and Reveal with Arpita Shah’, 27 October 2026.
Arpita Shah explains that "The lotus is a sacred flower in Hinduism, it’s been carved in Hindu temples for centuries, used in religious events, Hindu goddesses are often depicted seated on one and it’s a national symbol that is embedded in everyday life and culture in India. The lotus represents femininity, fertility and rebirth, I often reference it in my work and use its symbolism to evoke the female experiences of uprooted-ness, longing and displacement.
The lotus bud looks so distant from its origin of mud and water, floating above it as if detached but there is this strong umbilical-cord-like stem that anchors it down to its roots. From early ancient Indian texts, such as Rg-Veda, the lotus has always been associated with the womb.
There are numerous Indian paintings and scriptures of Lord Vishnu depicted sleeping in the ocean, with a lotus flower sprouting out of his navel – in Hinduism this story represents the birth of Brahma, the creator of the universe. I had this image in my mind when creating this triptych which features my mother (on the right), grandmother (on the left) and sprouting lotus in the centre image." In his WOSP review, Frank McElhinney interprets the emerging lotus as Shah’s symbolic self-portrait, extending the family grouping across three generations.