Everyday Baroque (2014-2019)

Rajesh Vora’s interest in the everyday sculptural objects that adorn rooftops of homes in the Punjab hinterland began in 2014. This vernacular craft found patronage with the first wave of immigrants, the NRI (Non-resident Indians), who started building homes in their villages back in the late 1970s. Since then this unique phenomenon grew in ambition and imagination to become an integral part of the village landscape. While most homes remain closed during the year, waiting for their owners to return for their annual holiday, these colorful objects remind society of their struggles, achievements and prosperity.

 

Battle tanks, weightlifters, heroes, footballs and footballers, lotuses, animals, the ubiquitous Maruti cars and, most important of them all, airplanes that rise from the rooftops to make a dramatic skyline in an otherwise sedate landscape. Vora’s fascination for these objects became an obsession as he traveled over 6,000 km crisscrossing and backtracking across four districts in Punjab to photograph them. These icons of aspiration are often entwined with the personal histories of their long-distance owners. As a cultural and sociological phenomenon, this idiosyncratic aesthetic stands tall and distinct in the domestic architecture of the region. What unfolds is a colorful narrative sans nostalgia, filled with humor, celebration and remembrance.

Rajesh Vora began his career in Visual Communications and has been photographing for over 30 years. A deep-rooted interest in the environment and disappearing habitats has influenced his photographic practice. Vora worked as a photographer with COLORS magazine for over 15 years and often contributed as a researcher and writer. His concern with urban issues led to myriad collaborations and projects with architects, environmentalists and filmmakers espousing critical views on the social, cultural and political situation in India. Everyday Baroque was first exhibited in 2016 at PHOTOINK (New Delhi) and was reconceived as Everyday Monuments in 2022 for Surrey Art Gallery (Canada).