Arpan Mukherjee

Arpan Mukherjee is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department in the Department of Graphic Art (Printmaking) at Kala Bhavan, Visva Bharati. He is an interdisciplinary artist and a pioneer in reviving historical photographic processes as an integral part of contemporary practices. For the last two decades, he has extensively researched and documented 19th-century methods and materials to explore the possibilities of ‘alternative photography’, developing mediums like gum dichromate, salt print, wet plate collodion, homemade silver gelatine emulation, etc., according to Indian climatic conditions. Using his research, documentation and experimentation as a tool for his artistic expression, Professor Mukherjee pushes the limits of contemporary photography. He has participated in several international and national exhibitions and workshops and has delivered lectures and conducted workshops on photographic printmaking and its histories. Most recently, in 2023, he researched and made modern albumen and salt print copies of 19th-century archaeological photographs in collaboration with the British Library and CSMVS, Mumbai. He also co-founded Studio Goppo, a photography research studio in Santiniketan.

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