Photo Show Naseeb: Trafficked by Sonal Kantaria opens at Next Level Projects London

© Sonal Kantaria, Asha, photo courtesy of the photographer

The Roaming Eye (tRE) has away from internet and wi-fi connections and has instead been experiencing just being, and waiting for serendipity to highlight work. While in Sri Lanka tRE attended a fantastic talk at the Colombo Art Biennale with Bangladeshi photographer, activist and curator Shahidul Alam in conversation with Sanjana Hattotuwa editor of Ground Views – an independent  citizen journalism website based in Sri Lanka. More of the talk in a later post, but tRE urges readers to  expand your horizons globally and take a look at the websites linked to above. Ground Views is a stellar example of citizen journalism at its best.

Back to the photo show. An email arrived from London regarding a photo show Naseeb: Trafficked by Sonal Kantaria about “forced prostitution and the trafficking of girls from India and Bangladesh”. On show are a series of 12 Polaroids, two of which are shown here, documenting “young Indian and Bangladeshi women who have been kidnapped, tricked or sold by their families into forced prostitution, later rescued or escaped and now currently living in protected accommodation in Mumbai.

“Naseeb means ‘fate’ or ‘luck’ in Hindi.

“The protective homes managed by the Rescue Foundation form the backdrop to Sonal Kantaria’s series of portraits, a short video work featuring the perspectives of those trafficked women, and a map piece illustrating some of the now well-known trafficking routes in South Asia. In doing so, the work brings into sharp focus the gender, economic and class disenfranchisement resulting in Indian and Bangladeshi women being forced into the flesh trade.” From the press release.

The show opened to the public yesterday at Next Level Projects in London and runs until 25 March. The Roaming Eye has yet to see the show but will go next week when back on UK soil.