30 Years After Discovery, Evanston Couple Still "Following the Box"
WDCB's Gary Zidek sits down with Alan Teller and Jerri Zbiral, the husband-and-wife team behind the FOLLOWING THE BOX exhibit.
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"The thing is the box was just there. And we had no idea who took (the photos). We had no information included in the box. It still remains a mystery to this day." - Alan Teller taking about finding "the box" at an estate sale in the late 1980's.
Alan Teller and Jerri Zbiral, the curators of FOLLOWING THE BOX
Alan Teller and Jerri Zbiral are the co-curators of FOLLOWING THE BOX. The exhibit features a collection of works created by contemporary Indian artists inspired by a box of photos that date back to 1945.
One of the photos in the box
Teller and Zbiral bought a box of photos at an estate sale in 1988. The photos offer a candid look at rural Indian life in the mid 40's.
They were amazed by the photos and began wondering who took them (and why).
Life happened, Teller and Zbiral actually put the photos away for an extended time. But they never forgot about the pictures …
Around 2014, the couple was awarded a Fulbright grant to continue researching the origins of the photographs and create a new cross-cultural art project. They traveled to India to work on it.
A look at some of the pieces in FOLLOWING THE BOX. On the table is book made by Amritah Sen
Teller and Zbiral assembled a group of Bengali artists to create new works inspired by the photos they uncovered back in 1988. The FOLLOWING THE BOX exhibition was born.
The participating artists came back with a diverse array of works.
Sunandini Banerjee, UNTITLED
Sarbajit Sen, UNTITLED
Alakananda Nag, multimedia installation
Chhatrapati Dutta, BOX WITH NO BOUNDARIES
Teller and Zbiral also contributed their own pieces to the exhibit.
Alan Teller, WHERE THE MIND IS WITHOUT FEAR AND THE HEAD IS HELD HIGH
Jerri Zbiral, WHAT,WHERE, WHEN, HOW, WHO AND WHY?
