Madhabendu Hensh

This Foundation Project implemented by IFA under Productions will focus on creation of a photobook in the Bankri dialect, titled Saru Suta Bel Phuler Mala (Thread-like Jasmine Garland) which is taken from a popular tusu song. This project is a form of protest for the Project coordinator who is trying to create the first photobook in Bankri dialect to represent a region, its people, and their language which rarely finds representation in the mainstream public discourse. Madhabendu Hensh is the Project Coordinator of this project. 

Madhabendu Hensh is an engineer-turned documentary photographer from Bankura, a small town in West Bengal. He has travelled extensively across India, undertaking documentary assignments in still photography and film for various non-governmental organisations. In addition to his documentary practice, Hensh has established himself as a distinctive wedding photographer, working across a wide spectrum—from high-end, glossy ceremonies to rural and rustic weddings that are intentionally free from conventional glamour. Alongside his commercial work, he sustains a personal practice focused on everyday life, local festivals, and social realities, particularly within the underrepresented regions of Bankura and Purulia districts. In 2014, he left a successful career in information technology to pursue visual art full-time. Given his expertise, he is best placed to be the Project Coordinator of this Foundation Project of IFA.

For this project Madhabendu wants to create a photobook representing the life, the people and culture in the remote and rural regions of Bankura and Purulia in West Bengal. His project is a form of commentary, a form of protest on what is considered Photography itself. In his career as a wedding photographer, he has often been asked questions about his subjects, which were from lower class-castes – their attires, their behaviour, their food habits. The assumption of what ‘art’ looks like, and who can be photographed are some of the questions and introspections from which this project has emerged. 

The project sits at the intersection of the personal and the political, approached through a poetic sensibility. Madhabendu wants to write about the village of his childhood —to recall and record the scent of the shimul tree from his old neighbourhood, and to tell the story of the bright, gifted boy from his class who had to become a vegetable seller due to the lack of opportunities. He wants to photograph these places and the memories they hold, and accompany them with poetry and prose written in Bankri dialect. Coming from a weaver family, where he was always discouraged to take up the craft, Madhabendu attempts to shed light on what art can look like from the perspective of artisans and craft persons in this project. 

Photobooks are largely inaccessible to people from lower economic backgrounds and Madhabendu intends to produce this photobook at a very low price, which would allow his words to reach a wider audience with ease. Secondly, there might not be any photobooks available in Bankri dialect at all, this book would be the first of its kind, and thirdly, this project is an act of protest for him, carried out on his own terms, in his own voice, and in his own language, that is rarely represented in the news or public discourse.

The outcome of this project will be a first of its kind photobook in Bankri representing the life of the people of rural Bankura and Purulia. The Project Coordinator's deliverables to IFA along with the final report will be documentation materials from the project, and the photobook.

This project suitably addresses the framework of IFA’s Arts Practice Programme in the manner in which it intends to create a photobook that represents lesser-known places, its people and their social realities. 

IFA will ensure that the implementation of this project happens in a timely manner and funds expended are accounted for. IFA will also review the progress of the project at midterm and document it through an Implementation Memorandum. After the project is finished and all deliverables are submitted, IFA will put together a Final Evaluation to share with Trustees. 

This project is supported by Tata Trusts.