Cultural diary

“The history of both Albert Kahn and our maison reveals common values and a real passion for exploring the world,” says Yves Carcelle,Chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton. “The company has pioneered luxury in India by opening stores in New Delhi,Mumbai and Bangalore. It was thus natural for us to produce this exhibition.”

The 100 images which will be displayed at the exhibition are part of Kahn’s ‘Archives of the Planet’ which he assembled from 1909 to 1931 stored at his former residence at Boulogne-Billancourt in Paris. The collection boasts of more than 72,000 original auto chromes and 180,000 meters of film reels accumulated by sending photographers to 50 countries in Europe and Asia.

While Passet focused on everyday Indian life,Dumas had been invited by Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala for his golden jubilee in 1927. He then travelled with the

Maharaja to some princely states until February 1928.

Between the two photographers,their images are a potpourri of the regal with the mundane,the princes with the paupers— guaranteed to take you on a rollicking ride around the early 20th -century Indian landscape.

Along with the images,made hazy by the ravages of time but having lost none of their cache of charm,is the video footage which includes a North-Western Indian coronation ceremony and one of Tagore in Kahn’s residence in London. But the piece de resistance might well be the Louis Vuitton special commissions which will be exhibited along with the images like the special trunk for photography accessories created by Georges and Gaston-Louis Vuitton in Vuittonite red canvas in 1929.

The fashion label’s association with India runs deep. “Three years ago we paid homage to the culture of the country by dedicating an exhibition of Indian artists’ work at our Espace Culturel Louis Vuitton in Paris,” says Flemming Fallesen,events director of Louis Vuitton. Some of the special orders of the maharajas are exhibited at the Musee Louis Vuitton in Asnieres,such as the elegant ‘Tea Case’ belonging to the Maharaja of Baroda.

It is with a lot of difficulty that these auto chrome images have been preserved. “They are likely to have deteriorated during prolonged exposure to light,” says Fallesen. “They must be handled carefully with gloves. The fatty deposits and acids left by fingerprints promote alterations.”

But the effort might well be worth it for within their fragile folds these films store a powerhouse of Indian history. A master poet surrounded by the ethereal beauty of a Parisian garden. An emaciated palace guard squatting on the scorching marble floors of a palace courtyard in Kapurthala. A Maharaja sharing a cosy tete-a-tete with a British viceroy.