The CIVIC archive offers a selection of photographic images. They are either products of the photographic process or reproductions of the same. The original photographs in this collection are recent digital documentations of popular visual cultural events, objects and places … Continued »
The various cards that one comes across in this collection are playing cards, wedding cards and lobby cards. Not only are these objects significant for what they show but they have a wider field in terms of what they do … Continued »
Starting with the Ravi Varma press, set up in 1894 and India’s first lithographic press all through to the 21st century, posters depict Hindu, Islamic, Sikh, and Christian imagery, nathdwara collages, political leaders, film stars, interval slides, babies, scenic landscapes and … Continued »
Calendars often mark religious observances for various communities as done with early block printed calendars. This pattern of meshing two dissimilar timelines (Hindu and Gregorian for example) is not seen as conflictual. 1930’s saw the introduction of religious imagery although … Continued »
Both Kalighat and Jain painting circumvent issues often related with painting such as labour intensive uniqueness “works of art”. Instead, they flourish in celebrating the zeitgeist of late 19th century’s industrial age. Mostly dichromatic images, rendered with a few bold strokes, … Continued »
Monthly magazines on Hindu mythology(Kalyan), poetic tropes like courting couples and changing seasons( Kanu desai), Newspaper clippings and magazines on Cinema and photography were thin booklets, cheap to print and thus appeared on a regular schedule, were widely circulated and … Continued »
In the section of books with printed photographs are two illustrated manuals: ‘The people of India: a series of photographic illustrations with descriptive letterpress of races and tribes of Hindustan’ (1868-1875) and ‘Illustrated Historical Album of the Rajas and Taaluqdars of … Continued »
The archive holds a massive collection that spans over a century as it traces commercial histories of the Indian sub-continent. Mass produced and seductive, the labels were meant to captivate and motivate and be familiar to the public and so, … Continued »
Postcards of India were printed in the period of high imperialism (1880′s to 1920’s) and treated as a means of communication as well as souvenirs as they travelled back with European officers. While Indians were cast as manual laborers, beautiful … Continued »