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This piece covers the launch of 'Origins', an exhibition celebrating World Cyanotype Day at Sandbox Collective Studio this September. It focuses on how traditional sun-printing techniques are being used by 50 creators to explore their personal beginnings through Prussian blue prints.
Sunlight, iron salts, and water form the basis of cyanotype, one of the earliest photographic processes developed in the nineteenth century. The method relies on a chemical solution that reacts to ultraviolet light, leaving behind Prussian blue prints. Objects placed over treated paper or fabric leave white silhouettes, catching light and shadow directly on the surface. Around the globe, artists gather annually on the last Saturday of September to mark World Cyanotype Day, celebrating a medium that bridges printmaking, chemistry, and visual art.
This September, Bengaluru hosts its dedicated exhibition centred around the craft. Titled Origins, the showcase gathers works from 50 creators responding to a simple theme: the initial spark that prompts a person to start making art. The prompt points toward early influences like a specific location, an individual, a shared memory, or a longstanding moment.
The event marks the launch of Bengaluru Cyano Corporation (BCC), an initiative by Pagal Canvas Backyard set up to support alternative image-making through workshops, exhibitions, and collaborative projects. Organised by BCC and co-curated by Rohini Kejriwal, Greeshma Patel, and Mohit Mahato, the show highlights how different creators approach the same chemical process. The roster features traditional printmakers working alongside practitioners who bring cyanotype into mixed media, text, and textile forms. Participating artists include Aarushi Kapoor, Adrian Lewis, Apoorv Srivastava, Debanjan Das Gupta, Deepika Nandan, Dr. Sayantan Acharya, Komal Tarte, Mark Mathew, Philippe Calia, Raka Banerjee, Shimran Chatterjee, and Vivek Muthuramalingam, among many others.
The exhibition takes place at Sandbox Collective Studio in Thomas Town. Over the years, Sandbox Collective has functioned as an open platform for local performance, theatre, and visual art, making it a familiar hub for independent cultural projects across the city.
In an era dominated by instant digital captures, cyanotype requires patience and tactile involvement. An artist coats paper with ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide, waits for the emulsion to dry, places a subject or negative over it, and steps outside into direct sunlight. The exposure time depends on the sun, the cloud cover, and the time of day. Washing the print in water sets the image, transforming the pale coating into Prussian blue. Because natural light varies from hour to hour, no two exposures turn out identical. The weather itself leaves a footprint on the final image.
Origins opens with an evening preview on September 26, 2026, from 5 PM to 7 PM. The full exhibition remains open to the public from September 27 through September 30, 2026, between 11 AM and 6 PM. For those interested in alternative photography, printmaking, or local art initiatives, the four-day display offers a look at how fifty individual artists interpret a singular historical process.
