Archiving Oral Histories in Photographs: In Conversation with Diwas Raja Kc

In a series of upcoming posts, we will be in conversation with various contributors to the recently concluded exhibition Growing Like A Tree. Curated by photographer Sohrab Hura at the Ishara Art Foundation in Dubai, this exhibition presented an annotated network of contemporary lens-based practices in the region of South Asia and beyond. Instead of being definitive or historical, the tone of the exhibition—reflected in handwritten notes on the walls and arrows connecting the works—highlighted interpersonal, geographical and institutional relationships between the projects and the artists that were a part of it.

One such project featured in this exhibition, titled “Underground Biographies,” presented a narrative of the lives of two women—Sushila Shrestha and Shanta Manavi. Shrestha and Manavi were a part of the underground Communist Party in Nepal (which is the current ruling party) when the royal family of Nepal was in direct control of the government between the 1960s and the 1990s. Displayed in the form of a timeline, the project opens up their stories through photographs, letters and other documents from their lives. These photographs and documents are a part of the larger Feminist Memory Project by Nepal Picture Library (NPL).

In this interview with Diwas Raja Kc, the head of Research and Archives at Nepal Picture Library, we delve into a discussion around the Nepal Picture Library’s archival methodology. Raja refers to it as a combination of oral history and photo elicitation—a method of interview that uses visual images to generate verbal discourse.

^{(Featured Image: Installation view of "Underground Biographies" as part of Growing Like A Tree at the Ishara Art Foundation. Photograph by Ismail Noor/Seeing Things. Dubai, 2021. Image courtesy of the artists and Ishara Art Foundation.)}

Interview with Anisha Baid, 18 February 2021

To read more about Diwas Raja Kc’s work, please click here and here.