This lecture presents a wide body of new work being made by photographers and artists as they look back at modernist architecture and planning across the world. A shift from straight architectural photography, artists are engaging with more complex histories of lived modernism, many through photography. Rahman focuses on the demolition of the modern architecture of Delhi, and his two photo installations at the Houston Fotofest and the Gwangju Biennale in Korea are based on the social, historical and political aspects of architectural site, through photography.

Modernism Insight | Public Lecture by Ram Rahman | 2018

The curator Clara Kim’s exhibit ‘Imagined Nations/Modern Utopias’ at the Gwangju Biennale, assembled an array of artists engaging with modernist utopias in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East with widely different approaches. Rahman presents much of the work from this show - which includes photography, film, sculpture, textile and tapestry. He also shows the work of younger Indian photographers who are responding to urbanism now.

Ram Rahman is a photographer and activist. He initially studied physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and later completed a degree in Graphic Design from Yale University School of Art in 1979. His most recent solo shows include, Bioscope: Scenes from an Eventful Life presented by Bodhi Art in 2008 and Visions of India: Photographs by Ram Rahman at the Cleveland Museum of Art in 2002. Amongst the shows Rahman has curated are Heat: Moving Pictures Visions, Phantasms and Nightmares at Bose Pacia in 2003 and Noor Devyani Krishna, A Retrospective at the National Gallery of Modern Art in 2000. Rahman is one of the founding members of the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) in New Delhi, a leader in the resistance to communal and sectarian forces in India through its public cultural action. The artist lives and works in New Delhi.