She is our own, the darling of our hearts, Shantiniketan.

In the shadows of her trees we meet
in the freedom of her open sky.
Our dreams are rocked in her arms.
Her face is a fresh wonder of love every
time we see her,
for she is our own, the darling of our
hearts.

— Rabindranath Tagore

Shantiniketan. On paper, it is a place in West Bengal, in experience it's something so much more. Meaning Abode of Peace, it was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son, Rabindranath Tagore, the famous poet and cultural leader who traversed literature, music and art. It has birthed and been sanctuary to festivals, Nobel Laureates and artistic movements across centuries, also surviving the shadow of colonial rule and engineered famine.

Today it is a university town, brimming with ideas and possibility, as well as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The cultural potency of Shantiniketan is undeniable.

Only a visitor to this magical place, Matt's pictures take ambiguous forms; images that scratch the surface of the energy under Shantiniketan's skin. They are images that are firmly about place but also everything that came before. The presence of history.