The David Collection’s new special exhibition provides a hitherto unknown first-hand impression of 19th-century India, primarily — but not exclusively — seen with the eyes of western photographers. Through original vintage photographs, the viewer is taken back to photography’s birth and earliest childhood and up to around 1900.
Under Indian Skies 19th-Century Photographs from a Private Collection
November 23, 2018
The first photographs from India
The David Collection’s new special exhibition provides a hitherto unknown first-hand impression of 19th-century India, primarily — but not exclusively — seen with the eyes of western photographers. Through original vintage photographs, the viewer is taken back to photography’s birth and earliest childhood and up to around 1900.
Photography had made a breakthrough in British-dominated India in the early 1850s. With its magnificent architecture, exotic landscapes, and many different peoples and cultures, India offered fantastic motifs: splendid Islamic palaces, mosques, and sepulchral monuments. Princes, maharajas, ministers, and warriors in all their glory. But also an abundance of life among the common people, with everyone from stonemasons to snake charmers as well as elephants bathing in the Ganges.
Motifs of a completely different type that can be seen in the exhibition are those of the shattered palaces and dead warriors that spoke admonishingly of the rebellion against British rule in 1857-1858. The rebellion broke out after Muslim and Hindu soldiers had been forced by the British to use cartridges supposedly greased with fat from pigs and cows. These are some of history’s earliest war photographs, which in Europe served as the basis for newspaper illustrations.
The photographs were often taken under difficult working conditions. The heavy photo equipment had to be transported to distant regions along impassible roads, and its chemicals dried out in the tropical heat. The exposure time could be very long, and processing the negatives and the positives was often arduous.
Experiments were made with the new media by both visiting and local photo pioneers. The exhibition bears witness to the exchanges and competition between amateurs and the professional photographers whose studios popped up in innumerable places in India in the years up to 1900. The photographs also show how the new medium developed in the tension field between documentation and creative art form.
The over 80 works in the exhibition comprise photographs and photo albums, all of which were lent by the same private collection. The exhibition catalogue was written by the British photo historian John Falconer, who for many years was responsible for the photograph collections in the British Library’s Indian and Oriental departments. The author is one of the world’s leading specialists in this field and his catalogue provides a detailed and lively account of the photographers’ India in the 19th century and their photographic techniques.
The catalogue is available in both Danish and English editions and can be purchased in the museum shop for DKK 200. Read the press release from Strandberg Publishing for the publication here.
Photos of the exhibition can be downloaded from the website here.
A press conference will be arranged on November 22nd from 10.15 to 11.30, when curators Joachim Meyer and Peter Wandel will give a tour of the exhibition and answer questions. For an invitation and to sign up for the press conference, send an e-mail to [email protected].
The David Collection
Kronprinsessegade 30
1306 Copenhagen K
Tel. +45 33 73 49 49
www.davidmus.dk
More press
2/2/2025
Curator of Art from the islamic World
Application deadline: 2 February 2025 at 10:00 PM (GMT+1)
The David Collection is looking for a skilled and dedicated curator to join the curatorial team responsible for managing our distinguished collection of art from the Islamic world. If you are passionate about the arts and cultures of the Islamic world and enthusiastic about engaging audiences through exhibitions, publications and research activities, we encourage you to apply.
About the museum
The David Collection is a private museum located in central Copenhagen which houses one of the world’s finest collections of art from the Islamic world as well as an exquisite collection of early modern Danish art and European art from the 17th-19th centuries. The museum was founded by the Danish lawyer and avid art collector Christian Ludvig David (1878–1960) and is today owned and operated by the C. L. David Foundation.
Since the 1960s, the collection of art from the Islamic world has continually expanded through new acquisitions, and today it comprises more than 3,000 works of art from across the Islamic world, created between the 7th and 19th centuries. The collection covers a broad range of categories, including miniature painting, calligraphy, ceramics, textiles, metalwork, glass and woodcarving. In addition to being showcased in an extensive permanent display across two floors, these works of art are also presented through temporary thematic exhibitions and explored in detail in the scholarly Journal of The David Collection.
About the position
The David Collection is a small but dedicated institution with a flat organisational structure that encourages initiative as well as collaboration across departments and fields of expertise.
As a curator you will join two curatorial colleagues and our director in caring for the art historical management of the Islamic collection. You will also be working closely with our curator of Danish and European art, our conservator, registrar and librarian as well as our department of communication and technical staff.
Responsibilities and duties
· Maintaining and developing the permanent Islamic exhibition.
· Organising thematic exhibitions.
· Writing informative and engaging texts about Islamic art, spanning from objects labels to articles for exhibition catalogues and academic journals.
· Producing content for our website and digital platforms.
· Conducting research related to possible new acquisitions.
· Studying and cataloguing new acquisitions and organising their integration into the permanent exhibition.
· Participating in the training of new student assistants for The David Collection’s educational programme.
· Responding to correspondence related to the collection and assisting visiting colleagues and researchers.
· Editing and contributing to the scholarly Journal of The David Collection.
· Giving lectures as part of our event programme David’s Bazar.
Prerequisites:
· A Ph.D. degree within a relevant field of study, e.g. Islamic Art history, Islamic Archaeology, Islamic studies or Islamic History.
· Reading proficiency in at least one of the following languages: Arabic, Persian or Ottoman Turkish.
· High proficiency in English as a written and spoken language.
· Proficiency in Danish or willingness to learn Danish within the first two years of employment.
· Work experience from related institutions (preferable).
What we offer
You will become a part of a highly motivated team dedicated to caring for an outstanding collection of fine art in the heart of Copenhagen. As a curator you will be able to work directly with the objects of the Islamic collection and make use of our rich research library to expand your knowledge of the field. You will also be encouraged to share this knowledge through publications as well as through public lectures.
Application and further details:
Start of employment: as soon as possible.
The position is a full-time permanent position of 37 hours per week with fixed working hours. Salary and conditions in accordance with the collective agreement for academics in Danish state employment. The position also includes pension and employee benefits.
The position is based at The David Collection in Copenhagen. You will therefore be expected to be located within daily commuting distance of the museum.
Application (in English or Danish), resumé, a list of publications and contact information for two references should be submitted in the form of a single document in .doc or .pdf-format sent to [email protected] with ‘Curator of art from the Islamic World’ in the subject heading. The deadline for submission is 2 February 2025, at 10:00 PM (GMT+1).
We expect to hold the first round of interviews in-person at The David Collection in February of 2025
If you have questions about the position, please contact Director Joachim Meyer at [email protected] or by calling +45 33 73 49 49. Additional information can also be found on our website www.davidmus.dk
1/2/2025
Bibliotekar søges
Davids Samling er et privat, fondsejet museum beliggende i hjertet af København, som huser en af verdens fineste samlinger af kunst fra den islamiske verden såvel som nyere dansk og ældre europæisk kunst og kunsthåndværk. I relation hertil rummer museet også et bibliotek og arkivsamlinger.
Biblioteket, der bestyres af en enkelt bibliotekar, er et specialbibliotek for islamisk kunst (ca. 11.000 titler), men der er også mindre emnegrupper relateret til museets øvrige samlinger. Det er et præcensbibliotek fordelt over flere rum og etager og uden adgang for brugere udefra. Biblioteket rummer litteratur på dansk, engelsk, tysk, fransk, spansk, noget italiensk, græsk, russisk, tyrkisk og mindre på arabisk, persisk m.m.
Om dig
Du er en positiv person, der ud over kærlighed til bøger også interesserer dig for ældre kunst og kultur – og gerne for den islamiske verden. Du har bibliotekserfaring og har måske arbejdet på en kulturinstitution. Du er empatisk og er vant til at indgå i et arbejdsmiljø med mange fagligheder.
Du vil i biblioteket komme til at beskæftige dig med
- - Indsamling/bestilling via gennemgang af boghandler- og forlagslister, katalogisering og systemplacering af litteratur inden for museets emneområder samt bistå de ansatte i deres søgning.
- - Evt. forbedring af den anvendte systematik samt organisering og nyopstilling af bogsamlingen.
- - Registrering i museets database af publiceringer af museets genstande.
- - Registrering af museets forskelligartede arkivmateriale.
- - Indlægning i database af de digitale etikettetekster (på dansk og engelsk).
- - Korrekturlæsning af museets tekster og publikationer, på både dansk og engelsk.
- - Vikar som ”postmester” på museumsmailen. Evt. andet, museumsfagligt arbejde.
Vi forventer, at du er
- - Bibliotekar D.B. eller Cand.scient.bibl. eller har anden relevant uddannelse.
- - at du har sproglig viden om dansk, engelsk, helst også tysk og fransk. Kendskab til visse andre sprog vil også være en fordel.er god til korrekturlæsning på dansk og engelsk.
- - kan katalogisere i bibliotekssystemet Reindex.
- - kan arbejde selvstændigt og sammen med andre.
- - er fleksibel i forhold til arbejdsopgavernes skiftende karakter.
- - er i rimelig god fysisk form, da arbejdet involverer nogen gang på trapper.
Om os
Som bibliotekar bliver du en del af en spændende og dynamisk arbejdsplads, hvor der er ressourcer til at tænke ambitiøst og langsigtet. Du kommer til at arbejde tæt sammen med engagerede kolleger, som alle nærer stor kærlighed til museet og samlingerne. Hverdagen hos os er kendetegnet ved godt humør og høje ambitioner udfoldet i smukke omgivelser. Vi er en mindre organisation, og vi løfter i flok.
Ansættelsesvilkår
Stillingen er en fuldtidsstilling, som forventes besat pr. 1. marts 2025. Løn efter kompetencer og erfaring.
Ansøgningsfrist 2. januar 2025 kl. 12.
Første samtale forventes afholdt d. 21. og 22. januar
Ansøgning, cv og relevante bilag stiles til [email protected], i emnefeltet: Bibliotekar.
Har du spørgsmål, er du velkommen til inden 20.12 at ringe eller skrive til Nana Kloster Lund: 33734949, eller [email protected].
4/19/2024
Mere end Ord. Kalligrafi fra den islamiske verden.
Fra den 24. maj kan du gå på opdagelse i den islamiske kalligrafi som kunstart og dens historie, når Davids Samling åbner dørene til særudstillingen ”Mere end ord – kalligrafi fra den islamiske verden”. Og titlen skal tages helt bogstaveligt, for ordene og de smukke bogstaver antager flere betydninger.
4/27/2023
Samlerens Valg
Fra den 12. maj viser Davids Samling en udstilling med nyere dansk kunst, primært købt af C.L. David selv.