Open Show is a free monthly event that provides photographers, filmmakers and multimedia producers the chance to present their work in high-profile spaces.
OPEN SHOW FORMAT – Up to five curated presenters have 10 minutes each to introduce one project. Both ongoing and completed work is accepted. We welcome diverse topics ranging from documentary to fine art.
The first chapter of the Bangalore edition of Open Show happened on Feb 24th, 2011 @ Jaaga (15 Rhenius Street, Shanti Nagar, Opposite Hockey Stadium Main Entrance, Between Foodworld & TV 9) http://www.jaaga.in/ and I was apparently there today evening and spent some quality time watching and appreciating some really good work on Documentary or Story Telling style photography carried out by few of the presenters.
There were some really interesting and impressive presentations from the list which went on-air today which included
Mayur Channagere, Abhishek Sundaram, Roy Sinai, Ryan Lobo and Arya Rothe.
The show started off with a brief of the Openshow by Madhu followed by the first presentation by Ryan Lobo (a very well known name now in the field of documentary film making from Bangalore). Ryan showcased his work which he had done as a part of his filming project in the war-struck region of Liberia and especially his work documenting life and beyond of General Butt Naked. Long Q&A sessions and eventually it lead to the next presentation of Mayur ( a techie turned professional photographer ) who presented his Part I of the 3 part series called depicting “Everyday Heros”, where he put together a collection of his work from an orphanage and the person who runs the org and the complete story behind. This was then followed by Abhishek who is apparently new in photography but has went on to build up a small but meaningful collection of images from the Bayalukuppe Monastery in Coorg documenting the life of the young monks. Roy (who is apparently also the co-producer of OpenShow in Bangalore) pitched with his beautiful Dyptich Juxtaposed work on Rangam an old school type theater and the clash of whats inside vs whats outside presentation of the world of theater. Probably as they say – keep the best for the last, Arya Rothe a student from Srishti School of Art came up with a beautifully created piece of film that she has shot in Kutchh documenting the story of the knifemaker. The way in which the whole documentary was shot and presented was really mature and profession and didn’t show any sign of that being the first work of the artist. The video raised a lot of eyebrows about the content which looked mysterious with regard to the subject’s family to both the person who shot it and to the viewers and eventually lot of questions did remain un-answered.
The show did have a very good turnout and Jaaga apparently turned out too less a space to house them but eventually it didn’t disappoint either. The turnout appeared to be very good which included people from various age groups and also many city based photographers along with some foreign nationals who showed interest in the event and took stayed glued to their seats during the entire course of the event as viewers.
A quick shout out and announcement about the next OpenShow event ( apparently one in April 2nd followed by one in mid May ) marked the end of what could be described as a pretty well organized and something different kind of event or get together. It indeed brings in lot of like minded people at one platform to not only showcase the work they are doing but also discuss and share ideas.
Poonam Parihar and Roy Sinai who are the Bangalore co-producers for the event had done a really commendable job considering that its the first time such an event happened in the city. And I would def look foward for more of such events to happen and provide an opportunity for budding photographer, amateur film makers and alike to showcase their talent.
For people who are interested in knowing more or participating in the future events, look no further and head directly to > http://www.openshow.org/submissions/