COLONIAL VIEWS OF INDIA EXHIBITION CURATOR TALK

Wed 7 Oct 2026, 2-3pm

This talk takes place in person in the Headley Lecture Theatre and online via Zoom

Tickets are £10. Booking is essential

Tickets coming soon

With Mallica Kumbera Landrus, exhibition curator and Professor and Keeper of Eastern Art, Curator of Indian, Himalayan and Southeast Asian Art

Join Mallica for a talk about the Colonial Views of India: Photographs by Eugene Clutterbuck Impey exhibition, which offers a rare glimpse of 19th-century India captured through the lens of British colonial officer Eugene Clutterbuck Impey (1830–1904).

A member of the East India Company, Impey arrived in India in 1851 and took part in military actions during the Indian Uprising of 1857. After the British Crown took control in 1858 following the Uprising, he worked as a political agent until returning to Britain in 1878. He spent the rest of his years in Oxford.

Seated girl, 1858-1865

Sepia photo of Qutub tower

Impey’s photographs reflect British imperial interests, showcasing portraits of colonial officers and Indians, as well as staged scenes of daily life, clothing, religious sites, animals, and landscapes.

These images often reinforced stereotypes with the aim to justify colonial efforts. Photography, which gained popularity after its debut in 1839, was used to highlight cultural differences. From the mid-1800s British officials documented various social groups in India, often categorising people by ethnicity.

This is the first exhibition to focus on photographs and negatives in the Ashmolean, and as such features previously unseen photographs of India by Impey.

The in-person tour takes place in the Headley Lecture Theatre and the online talk is via Zoom

Tickets are £10. Booking is essential

Tickets coming soon

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