Oct 03 2026 to Oct 04 2026 11 a.m.

Book/Buy

Where

Museum of Art & Photography (MAP)

Kasturba Road, Bengaluru 560001

Event Description

This photograph from India, 1930 shows a group of satyagrahis interlocking their arms, as the force of a colonial police officer attempts to break apart this protest. We do not know where this photograph was specifically taken or what protest they were a part of; and yet the strength of a collective gathering is evident. Several images such as this reflect the mass nature of the Indian independence movement. People from different walks of life, even with differing ideologies and social positions, united for the common cause of independence. 

Imagine the moments before and after this photograph was taken. What brought these people together? How did they hear about this protest? Did they anticipate the violent repression that they eventually faced? What happened to them after this moment, were they injured or arrested? Did they continue to protest despite the violence, or was the call to gather amplified by it? Are these photographs just a memory of the past or do they hold a mirror to a reality of the present? Is this photograph bound by time or does it continue to inform and inspire?

Photographs such as these and other archival documents implore us to look beyond the iconic and popular imagery of the independence movement. They also give us an opportunity to engage with the idea of gatherings, their particular contexts in Indian history and beyond.

In this two-day workshop, Acts of Gathering, visual artist Uzma Mohsin will take participants through photographs, documents, and other visual material from the Gandhi Collection. Participants will engage with Mohsin’s own work on photographs, archives, and public histories. They will think through the idea of political gatherings and develop a response to the material in the collection.

Uzma Mohsin
Uzma Mohsin uses photography to critically engage with public histories, fostering a conversation about home and belonging. Her current research focuses on developing a digital repository of photographic material centred on the town of Aligarh—a site of Muslim social and educational reform in 19th-century northern India.  She has contributed an essay to the anthology ‘Framing Portraits, Binding Albums: Family photographs in India’, edited by Shilpi Goswami and Suryanandini Narain (2025), on this ongoing project.

Her recent group exhibitions include Before It Happens, Palazzo Re Rebauddengo, Turin, Italy (ongoing); Disobedient Subjects, Bombay 1930-1931: Images from the K.L. Nursey Album, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Sangrahalya, Mumbai (2026) and India. Of Glimmers and Getaways, Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea, (2025) Milan, Italy.

She received the Alkazi Foundation Grant for Documentary Photography (2017) and is based between New Delhi and Aligarh.