A lot can happen to a city in 40 years. Buildings change, culture changes and sometimes even the essence of the city changes. A photographic project initiated nearly four decades ago by two Germans captures this change and presents it in the form of an exhibition titled “Hyderabad Heritage — Pictorial Essay 1975-2011.”
Hyderabad, once a laid-back city of nawabs and open spaces, is now buzzing with construction, IT companies and a growing population. Hans Winterberg and Thomas Lüttge offer a slice of this ever-changing pie through their pictures that were displayed at Salarjung Museum.
The idea took root back in 1974 when the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority invited Winterberg, then the director of Max Mueller Bhavan in the city, to be part of the heritage committee for saving the decaying monuments of Old Hyderabad. Winterberg proposed a photographic project which would capture the city and its grand monuments for posterity. He invited Munich-based photographer Lüttge to join him in this ambitious project. In 1975, the exhibition of their photographs was opened by the Andhra Pradesh governor and later displayed in several cities across India.
Twenty-one years later, in 1996, Winterberg, together with Lüttge, was invited again, this time by Max Mueller Bhavan, to photograph those very buildings and sites. And now, as part of “Germany and India 2011-2012: Infinite Opportunities”, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of Indo-German diplomatic ties, the photographers have recorded the dramatic changes which the architectural heritage has undergone in view of the growth of this major city.
The photographs, taken in three phases — 1975, 1996 and 2011 —, capture monuments like the Qutb Shahi tombs, Taramati Baradari and Malwala Palace. “The photographs highlight the deteriorating status of Hyderabad’s architectural grandeur, art and heritage structures and the widening gap between urban development and heritage conservation,” says Winterberg.
Expressing his concern, Winterberg adds that “The Hyderabad I knew then is very different from the city it is now. It was more romantic, with vast amounts of spaces, goats grazing and bullock carts. In 1970, we could see Golconda from the tombs. Now, the spaces are completely filled with buildings. When we went back [to take pictures] in the 1990s, we faced real danger from illegal encroachers and liquor brewers who had taken over government land.”
Lüttge adds, “If the heritage of the city dies, an integral characteristic of the city dies with it. We want this exhibition to raise questions and share experiences out of which some action might come.” In four decades, however, the government has not come up with a clear policy, rues Amita Desai, executive director, Goethe-Zentrum (Hyderabad). “We all talk about the city and its growth. But nobody really cares about what the city is losing over the years. We need to find an immediate solution.”
Goethe-Zentrum, along with the Hyderabad chapter of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage and other heritage conservation bodies, has created a document with the help of this photo project which will be tabled before the government in a week.
–Source: business standard