India International Centre
and
Embassy of Chile in India
 
present
 
An exhibition of Luis Poirot in India
 
Neruda: Absence and Presence
An exhibition of photographs by Luis Poirot, one of the most prominent visual artists of Chile
and a close friend of Pablo Neruda, Chilean Nobel Laureate
 
Inauguration on Friday, 6^th October 2017 at 7:00 pm
 
On view 7^th to 11^th October 2017, 11 am to 7 pm
at the Art Gallery, IIC Annexe, Lodi Estate, New Delhi 110003
 
About the exhibition
Luis Poirot’s first exhibition in India portrays memories of the Chilean poet from different facets. An approach that emerged in 1969, when the photographer met the poet personally. Subsequently in 1982, when the poet’s widow, Matilde Urrutia returned to Chile, she requested Poirot to photograph and record the house at Isla Negra. The photography project with Luis Poirot eventually led to the publication of a book Neruda, Absence and Presence. A selection of some of the photographs and text in the book will be on view at this exhibition.
 
About the book Neruda, Absence and Presence
 
One of the most widely read poets in the world, Pablo Neruda was a man with legions of friends, he loved and wrote about everything in nature as well as objects of all descriptions. In this book, through Neruda's words, his friends' words, and magnificent photographs, we get a glimpse of his magical world, and ultimately the man himself. Neruda's elegant and lyrical poetry, presented bilingually with superb translations by Alastair Reid, reveals a man of great warmth and complex thought. A passionate acquirer, he collected ships in bottles, shells, postcards, ships' figureheards, sextants, clocks, stones, books, hats, and more. These objects served as extensions of his imagination, the vocabulary of his poems. Luis Poirot's evocative photographs of Neruda, his possessions, and his surroundings provide a dramatic, yet intimate narrative alongside his poetry. Neruda's house in Isla Negra, facing the Pacific Ocean (he collected houses, too, and made them into original, often whimsical, objects in themselves) is where most of Poirot's photographs were taken. We are witness to the manner in which Neruda imbued this house, and all it contained, with his own vitality, style, and large imagination. More than twenty of Neruda's friends, including Julio Cort'ar, Eduardo Galeano, Alastair Reid, Diego Mu's, Roberto Matta, and his wife Matilde Urrutia, offer personal insights and humorous memories of this prolific poet. A striking portrait by Poirot accompanies each testimony. An aura of Neruda prevails throughout this hypnotic journey of words and photographs. Even when the words are not his own, even when the camera is not focused on him, Neruda's presence haunts and inspires