Artist Statement

‘Behrupiyas’ are costumed performers who change character every forty-two days, transforming their costume and mannerisms to do so. 

‘Behrupiyas’ are a cluster of lower caste communities in India who are nomadic in tradition. Under the patronage of a monarch they provided their services as messengers to another kingdom; today, they perform on streets, and collect alms door to door. Their characters are mostly inspired by popular culture, history, religion and politics, drawing on the visual culture of India.

 Vidisha refers to these portraits of the ‘Behrupiyas’ as ‘Pratibimb’, meaning reflection. She explains this as referring to living as if “with an alter ego. It is a reflection of the certainty that co-exists with the uncertainty within me. ‘Sometimes I wear glasses, because I have no grey hair.’”

Artist Bio

Vidisha Saini is a photographer based in New Delhi. She also teaches, researches and writes about photography. Her practice frequently draws on the unseen details of her own life. Furthermore, it encompasses still life studies, landscapes and portraits, which address questions concerning identity, gender, sexuality and culture.

Born into the world of digital photography, she also experiments with toy cameras, alternative processes and radical videos.

Vidisha was awarded the Best Emerging Photographer Award 2008 by the Fashion Design Council of India. In the same year she was a winner of the Ibibo-FTV India nationwide hunt for fashion photographer.

She has participated in several national/international group shows, most recently including ‘Freedom curated by Sunil Gupta for The Nigah Queerfest 2010. She has participated in various projects with organisations including Art & Deal, Blindboys, Camerawork Delhi, FairMail, Khoj International Artist's Association, Lucida, and URBZ.

for further information please see http://vidishasaini.wordpress.com/personal-projects/