Pirelli: The Cal 2027 will be a tribute to India, Raghu Rai and Sundsbo the authors

The Pirelli Calendar 2027 will be dedicated to India. For the first time in its history, The Cal will feature the work of two different photographers: Sølve Sundsbø, the Norwegian photographer who was already the author of the Pirelli Calendar 2026, and Indian master Raghu Rai whose recent death caused deep sorrow among those who knew him and worked with him and his family. In the last three months, Raghu Rai, says a note released by the Pirelli group, had dedicated himself to developing the Calendar project through an original series of photographs that reflect his roots and his vision of India. Pirelli and the Rai family have thus decided to complete the part of the Calendar created by the great Indian photographer. And this task will be carried out by his daughter, Avani Rai, herself an internationally renowned photographer. Avani said she was honoured to become part of the project, realising her father's intentions. "My father's work for Pirelli was meant to be a homage to India, combining his vision of a life with a more contemporary representation of its people and its diversity, something that always fascinated him deeply. I could not bear the idea of the project remaining unfinished," commented Avani Rai, adding: "Bringing him to life is something deeply personal for me, as if I were entering his gaze and the way he saw India through his camera. Photography was his gift to me - not just as a craft, but as an angle of observation - and that is how we found a silent and deep connection. Carrying out this project is a way to stay close to him, to keep a part of him alive inside me".

Sølve Sundsbø, already the author of Cal 2026, will provide a different perspective on Calendar 2027. The sensitivity and innovative aesthetics of the Norwegian photographer's work, together with Avani Rai's personal experience and his intimate knowledge of his father's work, the note emphasises, will offer two points of view on a country as extraordinary as India. "It is a great honour to be invited once again to be part of the Pirelli Calendar. I am very happy to do this together with Avani Rai, paying homage to the legacy of his father. It is an extraordinary opportunity to explore India. We will both do our best to celebrate the country and the memory of Raghu Rai through this collaboration," explained Sølve Sundsbø.