Photograph © Serena Chopra
Photograph © Serena Chopra
Photograph © Serena Chopra
Photograph © Serena Chopra
Photograph © Serena Chopra
Photograph © Serena Chopra
Photograph © Serena Chopra
Photograph © Serena Chopra
Photograph © Serena Chopra
Photograph © Serena Chopra
Photograph © Serena Chopra
This is a body of work that touches the lives of survivors of the August 1947 Partition of India and Pakistan.
My mother was from Pakistan and I grew up hearing horror stories of that time.
I was invited by the Partition Museum in Amritsar, Punjab, to do a body of photographs for the outdoor installation in the archways of the heritage Townhall building given over to the Partition Museum by the government. The museum opened in August 2017, on the 70th anniversary of partition.
The images of survivors of that horrific displacement of about 15 million people is a tale that must be remembered.
The nine images I gifted to the museum are a permanent installation. I continue this body of work in memory of my ancestral heritage, and with a great amount of respect and admiration for the courage and resilience of the human spirit.
My photo project includes the diaries where I have requested the survivors to share and write their experiences of 1947 and their feelings today. The work will include photographs of memorabilia that some refugees came away with. Most survivors escaped with nothing but their lives.
20 November
