07 January,2010 07:28 AM IST | | Shweta Shiware
Rabindranath Tagore's friend Albert Kahn commissioned a project to capture daily life in India, and that of Maharajahs at the start of the 20th century. Parisian luxury brand Louis Vuitton brings an exhibition of these exquisite autochromes to Mumbai
Maya Talwar (actress Rani Mukerji's character in Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna) exuded subtle sensuality while she carried a chic Louis Vuitton handbag in a couple of frames. A fidgety Rohit Patel (Saif Ali Khan in Kal Ho Na Ho) paraded through the streets of New York, an LV briefcase strung across his shoulder.
Rabindranath Tagore in the rose garden at the Albert Kahn Gardens.
Autochrome 9x12 cm, Auguste Lu00e9on, June 1921
While Hindi film characters may have re-introduced Indians to the iconic Parisian brand, LV in fact, has a historical connection with India since 1854. The Maharajah of Holkar, the Prince and Princess Pudokota, the Maharajah Bahadur of Jammu and Kashmir, and Jagatjit Singh, Maharajah of Kapurthala were among LV's famous Indian clients at the beginning of the 20th Century.
Around the same time, French philanthropist Albert Kahn had his dear friend Rabindranath Tagore over at his four hectare wooden garden at Boulogne-Billancourt in the Parisian region. It's here that Kahn captured the "authentic citizen of the world" in his poetic postures. Born in 1860 in the Alsace region of France, Kahn commissioned two French photographers, Stephane Passet and Roger Dumas, to capture the grandeur of maharajahs and daily Indian life. Kahn's Archives of the Planet makes a census, in colour photographs and black and white films, of human culture.
Through images gathered by Kahn and the richness of his archives, LV pays homage to India, a historical and mythical destination for travellers all over the world, in an exhibition titled, The Albert Kahn Collectionu00a0-- Journeys to India.
Put together in collaboration with Bonjour India, the exhibit opens today at National Gallery of Modern Art where photographs are displayed across three large, well-defined areas. The compilation appears to be a living iconic memoir, combining Albert Kahn's ideal of cultural diversity in Archives of the Planet with the magic that this famous Malletier has possessed for over 150 years.
The Albert Kahn Collectionu00a0-- Journeys to India will be on view till end of January. At NGMA, Chouji Jehangir Public Hall, next to Regal Cinema, MGu00a0 Road.
The history of both, Albert Kahn and our Maison reveals common values and a real passion for exploring the world. Since the beginning, like the travellers whose trunks he made and packed, Louis Vuitton was eager to explore the world. A few years later, another man, Albert Kahn was also convinced by the benefit of exploring the world, which encouraged respect and peaceful relations between people.u00a0
u2013 Yves Carcelle, Chairman and CEO Louis Vuitton.
