URI professor Annu Palakunnathu Matthew on her exhibit ReVision

(L) Black Bear Jr. (Arapahoe,) ca 1900. Photographer F. A. Rinehart, (R) An Indian from India, War Paint, 2001

REVISION(ING) HISTORY THROUGH A LOCAL ARTIST’S LENS

URI professor Annu Palakunnathu Matthew’s ReVision rewrites historical narratives with photography and mixed media

Images can tell stories just as profoundly as words, and Annu Palakunnathu Matthew’s ReVision, a sweeping exhibition of two decades’ worth of the photographer and mixed media artist’s work currently on view at the Newport Art Museum through January 9, shares an expansive narrative of stories left untold.

“We are at a crossroads in terms of re-looking at narratives we take as truth,” she says. “There are other people’s stories that need to be told and we haven’t allowed these voices to speak.”

Matthew came to Rhode Island 23 years ago to teach at URI. She points out the influence her academic career, particularly as director of the URI Center for the Humanities, has on her art. “I am constantly re-looking at histories,” she notes. “I love my students,” she continues. “Many are first in their families to go to college. It’s empowering to teach them.”

Born in the United Kingdom, Matthew’s family returned to India when she was 13. “It’s the story of my life: an insider and an outsider,” she continues. “I have a combination of accents. People don’t know where I am from.”

Original photo courtesy Western History/Genealogy Department, Denver Public Library, Denver, CO.

The UNREMEMBERED: Stories of the Indian Soldiers from World War II, 2021

It’s this perspective that informs much of her work. But nowhere is it more evident than in her photo collection called “Memories of India.” A collection of street photography (“the only ones I’ve done,” she notes), Matthew captures India and its people as seen through this liminal space that she occupies. “[The images] reflect an understanding of the culture, but you rarely see their faces.”

Faces are on full display in “An Indian from India.” Using images of Native Americans taken by early 20th century photographer E.S. Curtis, she juxtaposes each one with a self-portrait that mimics Curtis’ style. “Colonial photography in India is very similar to the photographs taken of the US Indigenous people,” she says, noting that Curtis used outfits and props to exoticize the people he photographed. “Since there is an uneven power structure between photographer and subject, I wanted to turn the camera on myself, to hold hands with the Indigenous, to reverse the gaze.”

For “The Unremembered: The Stories of the Indian Soldiers from WWII,” her most recent work, she shifts her focus to the forgotten Indian soldiers who played a pivotal role in the Allied fight against the Nazis in World War II. Matthews traveled through India, asking people to share their family photos and stories. Those images are etched in crystals, which give the subjects a striking three-dimensional form.

“You see the photographs but they’re ghostly,” she says, reflecting on why she chose the crystal medium. “When the light goes through them, it feels like a memory.” A voiceover piped into the gallery narrates the stories while a Dhodi suspended from the ceiling billows gently behind the crystals, adding to the exhibit’s spectral quality. Inclusion is key for Matthew, who’s shown her work everywhere – from the streets in India to public spaces in Toronto – to ensure her art remains accessible to a wide audience. “I often start with images that people are familiar with: the Indigenous, family photos, movie posters. This is a way in for people who may not feel like art is for them.” ReVision is on display through January 9. NewportArtMuseum.org