Minister for School Education Rajmohan interact with school students at the The Hindu’s Made of Chennai Photo Exhibit in Chennai on Friday.
| Photo Credit: JOTHI RAMALINGAM B
From renowned pianist Louis Kentner in Madras for recitals with violinist Yehudi Menuhin in Madras in 1954 to Boney M performing live in 1997, The Hindu’s Made of Chennai Archival Photo Exhibit titled ‘Madras on Stage’ showcases a wide variety of photographs.Thirupurasundari Sevvel, historian and curator of ‘Madras on Stage’, whose theme is exploring Chennai’s public culture through performances and everyday spaces, says a lot of artists, including those from abroad have come to the city to perform. The exhibit provides some stunning glimpses like the US Navy Band from USS Eversole doing a rock concert in Madras in 1985 and Russian actor G.M. Pechnikov doing a role of Lord Rama in a stage production of Ramayana in 1982.“But it is interesting to see how the dynamics of the stage have transformed in the past decades. Spatial dynamics, formats of performances, and cultural spaces have changed. Earlier, they would also make do with available elements to quickly organise a concert or a performance back then. Whereas now, we mostly see only organised stage set ups,” she said. Photographs of Tamil film artisets standing up for social causes are also on display at the event.Minister for School Education, Tamil Development, and Information and Publicity Rajmohan interacted with the school students who came to see the photo exhibit and said, “Photography is deeply connected with history.” He encouraged the students to take to street photography and explore the world.The photographs were digitally restored, retouched, and quality-enhanced by the PrePress team led by K.G. Gurumurthy. Published - August 15, 2026 12:47 am IST
