"Kashmir has been at the centre of disputes between India, Pakistan, and China
since the partition of India and dissolution of the British Raj in 1947. Each
country has laid claim to the land despite the persistent struggles for
selfdetermination of those who inhabit the region. Snow documents Sohrab Hura’s
repeated visits to the Indianadministered region of Kashmir over a fiveyear
period, recording its passage through the three distinct phases of its winter:
Chillai Kalan (harsh cold), Chillai Khurd (small cold), and Chillai Bache (baby
cold). Hura’s images trace the progression of these phases, with snowmelt
evoking the wearing down of illusions and continual changes of the contested
state. Across photographs of Kashmir’s landscapes and communities, picturesque
imagery often gives way to residual markers of conflict and violence. Kashmir
has been promoted as a paradisical tourist destination to Indian nationals, and
above all as a place they can experience snow. All the while it has remained one
of the most heavily militarised regions in the world. This dichotomy between
beauty and brutality serves as Hura’s inspiration for the project, which is the
first in a pair of twin publications exploring the social, economic, and
political landscapes of Kashmir, in Snow, and Barwani, Madhya Pradesh, in a
forthcoming volume, through the extremity of their seasons."
