Searching for Sivagami
Hannah Modigh
Kult Books
English
Leporello in printed and foiled hard covers
Edition of 700
88 page
155 × 210 mm
2024
ISBN 9789198760750
When Hannah Modigh was three years old, her family moved to India for about four years. While her parents were working, a woman named Sivagami took care of her and her sisters. For a time, Sivagami became part of their family, but without the right to demand anything. She was dependent on the Modighs, just as they were on her. When the Modigh family moved back to Sweden, Sivagami cried. As a child, Hannah thought her tears were because they were leaving, but perhaps they reflected her own uncertain future.
In her work Searching for Sivagami, Hannah Modigh returns to India, trying to find Sivagami after 30 years. This emotional and physical journey led Hannah to trace streets and places through memories and sensory experiences. She sought out women who resemble Sivagami, not so much in appearance but in their struggles, sharing similar backgrounds and lives. Hannah visited places she might have been or passed through, including the area where she used to live and the beaches they visited together. By photographing other women to represent Sivagami and herself, Modigh reflects on the loss she felt and searches for traces of a relationship.
(Source: https://kultbooks.com/books/searching-for-sivagami)
About the Artist
Hannah Modigh was born in Stockholm in 1980 and spent her childhood in India and Österlen, Sweden. She studied photography in Copenhagen, Biskops Arnö and the Royal College of Art in Stockholm. Her work has won multiple awards, including the TT’s Great Photography Prize and the Lars Tunbjörk Prize. Modigh’s photography is characterised by a sense of fine detail and intimate portraits. She has created seven photobooks: Hillbilly Heroin, Honey, Sunday mornin’ comin’ down, Hurricane season, The Milky Way, Delta, and Archive of longing. Modigh’s work has been exhibited throughout Europe and the USA. Her work is represented at Moderna Museet in Sweden, which is one of Europe’s leading museums for modern and contemporary art.
https://www.hannahmodigh.com
(Source: https://www.hannahmodigh.com/aboutcv)
About the Publisher
Kult Books is an independent publishing project for photography and other lens-based visual arts founded by Janne Riikonen in Stockholm, Sweden. Kult Books publishes monographs and artist books that embrace a personal artistic vision and visual language. The publications are created in close collaboration with the artists, the physical form designed to support the concept of the work.
(Source: https://kultbooks.com)
