Annu Palakunnathu Matthew - The Unremembered - An Artist's Talk

To accompany the exhibition currently on show, New Stories, Women in Photography, India, please join us in the Lee Miller Gallery for an artist's talk by Annu Palakunnathu Matthew - The Unremembered.

In her visual presentation, artist Annu Palakunnathu Matthew will spotlight the overlooked history of 2.5 million Indians who "volunteered" for the British in World War II. Despite their significant contributions across Europe, Africa, and Asia, these efforts remain largely unrecognized.

Through her work, THE UNREMEMBERED, photographer Annu Palakunnathu Matthew reimagines family photographs to bring this history and their stories to life. Her recent work, featured in the Lee Miller Gallery exhibition, explores the experiences of Italian families who sheltered escaped Indian POWs during the war. Matthew feels that showing her work, which is laden with associated human stories, at the home of World War II photographer Lee Miller, enhances the poignancy of her presentation, which aims to illuminate forgotten narratives and deepen our understanding of 20th-century world events.

ANNU PALAKUNNATHU MATTHEW's (b. Stourport-on-Severn, United Kingdom; lives in Rhode Island, USA) photo-based work draws on old photographs to re-examine historical narratives in the US and South Asia. Though trained as a photographer, her work increasingly uses the ever-expanding digital toolbox and has moved into installations. The result is a blend of still and moving imagery that shifts the viewer's perspective to question established and marginalized histories. Her presentation will focus on her work on the overlooked history of the 2.5 million Indians who "volunteered" for the British during World War II. Their contributions across Europe, Africa, and Asia remain largely unacknowledged.

Matthew's recent solo exhibitions include the Royal Ontario Museum, Canada, Nuit Blanche Toronto, Contemporarea 2025, and sepiaEYE, NYC. Matthew has also exhibited her work at the RISD Museum, MFA Boston, MFA Houston, Victoria & Albert Museum, 2018 Kochi-Muziris Biennale, 2018 Fotofest Biennial, as well as at the Smithsonian.

In 2022, Minor Matters Books and sepiaEYE published her monograph, "The Answers Take Time.”

Annu Palakunnathu Matthew is a Professor of Art at the University of Rhode Island. She was also the Director of the Center for the Humanities from 2014-2019 and the 2015-17 Silvia Chandley Professor in Peace Studies and Non-violence. Matthew is represented by sepiaEYE, NYC.

www.annumatthew.com

Featured Image: Shepherdʼs Hut – To evade capture by the Germans, Indian soldiers often took refuge in remote shepherds’ huts by Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, Courtesy of the Artist & sepiaEYE, NYC.

We’d like to thank David Haberstich for making this event possible.