Social History / Martin Parr Foundation
Debut solo photographic exhibition from Kavi Pujara documents Indian migration to Leicester
Self-taught photographer Kavi Pujara will be launching his first solo exhibition: This Golden Mile at Martin Parr Foundation on October 6.
The Leicester-born BBC film editor, who was the recipient of a Martin Parr Foundation photographic bursary in 2020, has long been involved in making personal documentary projects.
This exhibition will coincide with the release of a photobook of This Golden Mile. Two of the featured portraits have also been selected for the prestigious Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize 2022 at the National Portrait Gallery.
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Pujara’s inspiration for this collection came from his birthplace of Leicester. where he grew up in the shadow of racism during the 1970s.
Growing up very close to the Golden Mile, which he calls “the last mile of a long journey to Britain”, he would visit the area frequently, most often to see his grandmother.
Bhukan Singh and Gurmeet Kaur, 2021 – photo: Kavi Pujara
Boy with the Union flag, Hildyard Road, 2021 – photo: Kavi Pujara
Haresh and Hashik, Syston Street, 2021 – photo: Kavi Pujara
But at the age of 18, his experiences prompted him to leave the city, moving to London and never looking back.
He returned with his young family 30 years later, shortly before the UK Brexit vote in 2016, and against a backdrop of stiffening immigration laws.
“For over 50 years, families around this Golden Mile have had a shared experience of migrating to Leicester and have re-articulated their South Asian identity to exist within an English context,” reflects Pujara.
Front room, Halkin Street, 2021 – photo: Kavi Pujara
Macdonald Road, 2018 – photo: Kavi Pujara
Kitchen, Marjorie Street, 2022 – photo: Kavi Pujara
“These experiences bond this community, and they bond them to me. I made this book to give voice to that bond, and I also hope it will contribute to the conversation around immigration to Britain.£
In photographing the residents of the area, Pujara found himself confronting and reconnecting with his past, three decades after moving away from it.
“We have a multicultural society because Britain is the product of a multicultural empire,” he says.
“Communities like this are not an erosion of British values or its culture, but a vital artery in our intertwined and tangled colonial histories.”
Sewing machine, Moria Street, 2021 – photo: Kavi Pujara
Chandni with flowers, Community Garden, 2021 – photo: Kavi Pujara
Talitha, Ross Walk, 2019 – photo: Kavi Pujara
Kavi Pujara: This Golden Mile is at Martin Parr Foundation from October 6-December 18, with an opening party on October 7 and a talk and book signing on October 8 as part of the BOP Festival. Gallery opening times are Thursday to Sunday, 10.30am-5.30pm; closed Monday to Wednesday. Entry to the exhibiton is free. For more information, visit www.martinparrfoundation.org.
The photobook of the project is published by Setanta Books in October, and is available for preorder now.
All photos: Kavi Pujara
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