City lass Arati Kumar-Rao can’t really remember a time when she wasn’t concerned about environmental (freshwater related) issues. In 2014, the photographer-cum-storyteller decided to quit a lucrative corporate job in pursuit of her true calling – and began documenting the slow violence of ecological degradation and climate change on ecosystems and livelihoods along South Asia’s rivers. Three years into it, and she’s all set to feature her first solo exhibition for this year at the Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa to be held in December. The exhibit features installations, which were done over the past three years in criss-crossing the Ganga-Brahmaputra basin — the largest river basin in the world. In a candid chat, she tells us more...
“I was raised to be environmentally conscious, to not take natural resources for granted. So, that kind of an upbringing helped me be more aware of my privileges," begins the independent environmental photographer and writer.Speaking about her work at the fest, Arati enthuses, “My work depicts a slow violence that is being unleashed through environmental degradation on marginalized communities that subsist on farming and fishing. It also brings to the fore how large infrastructure projects affect ecosystems and landscapes, especially our rivers."
This will be her first solo exhibit this year. Arati was part of several group exhibitions all throughout the year. “I’ve been a part of several exhibits this year, such as the Everyday Climate Change effort and the like. The idea is to draw focus on fresh water issues and I see this as a life long project. I’m looking forward to inspire and get inspired at this festival," she states.
The Bengaluru girl, who holds an mba from the Thunderbird School of International Management, MEd from Arizona State University and Msc Physics from the University of Poona did some corporate gigs before diving deep to achieve her dreams. “I’ve worked at Intel, as a strategic marketing and market research manager. But, I guess you end up darting towards what you really want, at some point in time," she smiles. One thing led to the other and she quit in the year 2014, to get things rolling. “I started out by visiting the desserts and it’s been an incredibly exciting and insightful journey."
As she best identifies herself as a storyteller, Arati states, “I am driven by issues that confront us... and I am trying to shine a bright light on them, through my work and often end up using art, photography, videos to narrate and illustrate the same." With travel being a big part of her schedule, Arati considers herself fortunate to be juggling work with passion. “My current body of works demands me to travel and research as much as I can. So, that gives me the opportunity to indulge my passion for travel even while working! That aside, I love doing things slowly - so I try taking a walk or cycling whenever I can."
