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A lot of things that appear like a matter of course to you from your own culture can cause surprise and amazement with visitors from abroad. What are the specifics of your own cultural area that you often don’t even notice any more?

The German Photographer Helena Schätzle and her Indian collegue Sudharak Olwe tried to record this surprise in photographs. For several month they visited each other’s countries with an open mind being receptive to unfamiliar surroundings and impressions. This journey culminated in the exhibition ‘Coloured Worlds’ that will be held at Cymroza Art Gallery (Mumbai) from 4th to 17th September 2009. The pictures exhibited are a result of these journeys into strange lands and convey a sense of astonishment about the alien, the unfamiliar features that each one encountered.

Coloured Worlds

The photographs reveal that both photographers spent considerable time in their respective foreign lands. They approached their subjects carefully over a period of several months. And although they observed things precisely, they captured with spontaneity only that which appeared remarkable to them.

The Indian photographer felt overwhelmed by the sense of symmetry and structure, the grey tones and emptiness that he encountered in Germany. On the other hand, the German photographer was confronted with colour, abundance and chaos that leapt at her at every occasion. What would appear ordinary to Helena Schätzle in her country became something special to Sudharak Olwe from India and vice versa. Although their work is displayed jointly, the exhibition does not remain mired in glaring contradictions – neither glossing over the existing differences, nor artificially highlighting them. The different perspectives lend a touch of the unknown to the familiar and allow rediscovering the familiar in the unfamiliar.

From two varoius points of view the exhibition shows two very different worlds. Whether in Stuttgart or in Mumbai, the viewer gets one more opportunity to discover India and Germany - two worlds in colours.

As a part of the 40th anniversary of the twinning cities Stuttgart and Mumbai the exhibition was held in the mayor’s building in Stuttgart.

In cooperation with Cymroza Art Gallery, Mumbai.

Opening: Friday, September 4, 6:00 pm.