Festive Bangladesh, a Claudio Cambon Exhibition

From July 29 to August 21, the Centre will be presenting, in collaboration with the International Photo Media Group and the Ville-Marie borough, Claudio Cambon’s exhibition, Festive Bangladesh, winner of the 2013 photo essay contest Man and the Environment. Participants in this annual contest must present a series of 15 photographs depicting how human beings are influenced by their environment, namely by the natural and cultural aspects of their life.

Bangladesh is a country of rich cultural traditions and immense diversity, and its festivals testify to this considerable wealth. They bear witness to the long histories of the many ethnic, religious, and linguistic communities who make up this unique region, and to the ways in which these various groups have influenced each other and borrowed from one another for centuries. Their largely harmonious co-presence and occasional convergence are evidence of a beautiful and intricately woven cultural fabric, now threatened by an alarming trend towards ghettoization.

“I aim to valorize not only what is often celebrated, but also what is sometimes overlooked, or worse, at risk of disappearing”, explains photographer Claudio Cambon.

Exhibit opening : music show and presentation

On July 29 at 12:15, the Centre will host a mini Bangladeshi traditional music show by the group Surdas Ensemble, followed by a short presentation of the exhibit by artist Claudio Cambon, in town especially for the opening. The show will take place in the Hydro-Québec park, located right next to the Centre, and the presentation will be held in the Atrium. 

Duration: 1 hour. Voluntary contributions. Sign up here: www.lamdd.org/rsvp

Claudio Cambon

Claudio Cambon has been a documentary photographer for more than 20 years since obtaining his undergraduate degree from Yale University, where he studied with Richard Benson, Jo Ann Walters and Stephen B. Smith. He also studied briefly at the San Francisco Art Institute with Linda Connor. He has photographed all over the world: in Italy and Germany, where his parents are from and where he has lived for various periods his life; across the American West, where he worked as a hand on cattle ranches; in Bangladesh, where he documented the last voyage, breaking and recycling of an American merchant ship; and in Mexico, where he photographed life in rural areas of the country. In the academic year 2011-2012, he began a long-term project about religious festivals in Bangladesh under the auspices of a Fulbright fellowship.

Claudio has exhibited, lectured, and been published and collected internationally; most recently, his work formed part of the Italy Pavilion at the 2011 Venice Biennale, 81 years after his grandmother and 101 years after his grandfather, both painters, last exhibited there. He divides his time between Bangladesh, the US and across Europe.