• Beyond Sight Exhibition, Blind With Camera (India)
• Monorama Siddharth Hajra (India)
• Dragging it Up Sri Lankan Style Jayanthi Kuru Utumpala (Sri Lanka)
• Assume Nothing Rebecca Swan (New Zealand)

Beyond Sight Exhibition, Blind With Camera (India)
The exhibition occupies the ground zero of photography and offers insight into “non-retinal photography.” It explores beyond the obvious, liberates art from the point of view of sight, challenges perception and inspires social change. Blind With Camera is a project of the Beyond Sight Foundation, Mumbai, a non-profit organisation promoting the social integration of people with visual impairment, by building capacities and creating resources around ‘non-retinal’ art culture in India. Blind With Camera provides photography trainings to the visually impaired, develops their creative skills, off ers them the opportunity to exhibit their work, advocates for their equal access to art, and works on income-generating opportunities for them. www.blindwithcamera.org
About the photographer Partho Bhowmick started the Blind With Camera project in 2006 and has successfully developed the project into a national exhibition traveling across India. He is the recipient
of the ‘Karmaveer Purakaraar 2009’, a National Award for Social Justice and Citizen Action given by the Indian Confederation of NGOs. Partho’s work has been exhibited at several art galleries in India.
Partho founded the Beyond Sight Foundation in 2009.

Monorama Siddharth Hajra (India)
This work in progress is the photographers attempt to engage with the life of a transgender artist, Monorama, who lives in Calcutta. During spring, Monorama performs in closed community spaces, often the bastis and paras of North Calcutta. She impersonates the goddess Sitala who is believed to provide protection from small pox (and chicken pox). The selection of photographs are from one such performance – before the actual enactment of the performance, during and after. This work was commissioned by Pratyay Gender Trust.
About the photographer Siddhartha Hajra has been a keen photographer focusing particularly on documentary photography. He has worked on issues of mental illness, sexuality and young women, etc. His work has been showcased in national and international human rights publications.

Dragging it Up Sri Lankan Style Jayanthi Kuru Utumpala (Sri Lanka)
Drawing on inspirations from Judith Halberstam, Del Lagrace Volcano and Diane Torr, this experimental series of photographs attempts to question the assumption that biological markers of sex determine gender identity, by portraying the performative element of ‘masculinity’ and ‘maleness’. It also tries to visually create a space for undocumented non-heteronormative women in Sri Lanka who pass as men in their daily lives, at the risk of being ‘discovered’ and arrested for ‘misrepresentation’.
About the photographer Jayanthi works as a Senior Programme Officer at the Women and Media Collective and as the Research Coordinator of the Women’s Support Group. Her work at the WSG involves the coordination of an Asia-wide action research on violence against LBT women in Sri Lanka. She is an avid photographer.

Assume Nothing Rebecca Swan (New Zealand)
Assume Nothing is a journey into the intimacies, nuances and complexities of gender identity. Since 1995 Rebecca Swan has photographed and interviewed 27 people from around the world. All have moved her deeply by their courage in sharing their stories and images so that others will understand who they are. The exhibition was commissioned by The New Dowse public gallery and toured five major galleries and museums in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Human Rights Commission was a partner in the exhibition and over 200,000 people saw it. It’s now exhibited in Barcelona and due to tour Spain.
About the photographer For over 20 years Rebecca has exhibited in major galleries and museums in Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia, Spain, England, Scotland and Germany. She has 3 books published in 11 countries, The Big C 1996, Assume Nothing 2004 and The Good Life 2010. Her art work is held in public and private collections in Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia and USA. Award winning fi lm maker, Kirsty MacDonald, has made two films about her work, Black and White 2006 and Assume Nothing 2009. Both films continue to screen at festivals and have been broadcast all over the world.