Lucerne University showcasing '50 years of National Institute of Design'
The Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts introduces its collaboration with the National Institute of Design, India’s most prestigious design institute with an exhibition of “50 years of NID”. [dated 2012]
The Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts introduces its collaboration with the National Institute of Design, India’s most prestigious design institute with an exhibition of “50 years of NID” on the occasion of their annual Bachelor and Master graduation show in Lucerne.
Note from Prof M.A. Ursula Bachman Associate Dean Head of Interdisciplinary and International Programmes, The Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts:
"The collaboration between the NID and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts dates ten years back. Various and repeated contacts between faculty showed the way and led to mutual regard and esteem. In February 2011 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by both institutions with the aim to expand their partnership and grant continuous student and staff exchange and implement a close collaboration on various fields of research. With the aim to close the bonds of this partnership, both parties agreed to evaluate the progress of the collaboration and take a regular look at past achievements and projects.
Today, our department is proud to introduce this collaboration with India’s most prestigious Design Institute to a broader Swiss audience with an exhibition of “50 years of NID” on the occasion of our annual Bachelor and Master graduation show in Lucerne. Two of our professors, Mr Rolf Bächler and Mr Pierre Thomé, who were invited by Pro Helvetia, visited the NID during this academic year and undertook first preparations for this show. The following departments of the NID will be included: - Animation/Film/GD - Illustration - Textile Design/Object Design Furthermore projects involving Indian crafts, including craft documentation and research as well as the NIDs legacy in changing the very living conditions of craft people all over India. On display will be materials, objects, textiles, business ideas and the presentations of mutual research achievements The further goals of our partnership focus on the development of common research projects in the fields of object and textile design and illustration and will hopefully lead to new business ideas and opportunities."
Prof M.A. Ursula Bachman
Associate Dean Head of Interdisciplinary and International Programmes
February 13, 2012
Babur in London to premiere in Zurich
Babur in London, a new contemporary chamber opera presented by The Opera Group in collaboration with Pro Helvetia and British Council will premiere in Zurich on 28 March 2012, and tour Switzerland in March/April. [dated March 2012]
Babur in London, a new contemporary chamber opera presented by The Opera Group in collaboration with Pro Helvetia and British Council will premiere in Zurich on 28 March 2012, and tour Switzerland in March/April. Featuring opera singers from the UK and India, and six musicians from the ensemble fuer neue musik Zurich in Switzerland, Babur in London is an exciting international collaboration. The Opera Group in collaboration with Pro Helvetia and the British Council present Babur in London The ghost of Babur, here, lost in the UK? He’s a long way from home.
Music: Edward Rushton
Words: Jeet Thayil
Director: John Fulljames
In a London suburb, four young men and women are preparing an act of violence. They are disturbed by a visit from the ghost of Babur, first Emperor of the Mughal Dynasty: a sophisticated artist and ruthless warrior, who praises God in poetry as he recounts his glorious deeds. As their mission draws closer, Babur urges his companions to escape the violent cycle of history and look to a more hopeful future. Babur in London is a brand new contemporary chamber opera exploring the complexities of faith and multiculturalism, through a haunting story of lives and love cut short by anger, persecution, and revenge. Startling, resonant and at times wickedly funny, Babur in London explores a dialogue of religion, politics and cultural identity in modern day society. Featuring five opera singers from the UK and India, and six musicians from the Ensemble fur Neue Musik Zurich in Switzerland, Babur in London is a genuine international collaboration, the talents of three countries working together to achieve one coherent vision.
Touring in 2012 Babur in London will premiere in Zurich on 28 March 2012, and tour Switzerland in March/April. It will then tour to seven cities in the UK, including the prestigious Cheltenham Music Festival, in June/July 2012.
Babur in London is set to tour India on the following dates:
16/17 November - Chennai (as part of The Hindu Music Festival)
20/21 November - Kolkata
23/24 November - Bangalore (part of The Hindu Music Festival)
27/28 November - Delhi
30 November / 1 December - Mumbai
About the creative team
Edward Rushton is a British composer now living in Zurich, and is one of the leading operatic composers of his generation. His acclaimed contemporary operas include Birds. Barks. Bones, The Shops and The Young Man with the Carnation.
Jeet Thayil is one of India’s most widely acclaimed contemporary poets writing in English, having published four collections of poetry. In 2011 he published Narcopolis, his first novel. Jeet lives in Delhi.
John Fulljames co-founded The Opera Group and was its Artistic Director from 1997 to 2011: he is now Associate Director of Opera at The Royal Opera House. He is widely known for bringing together emerging and established talents to develop new work which pushes boundaries in content and artistic form.
For Edith Piaf
Organised by the Embassy of Switzerland, on occasion of the week of the Francophonie, <<For Edith Piaf>> is a musical journey in the France of the Thirties and Fifties through Edith Piaf’s songs. [date 2012]
On occasion of the week of the Francophonie, the Embassy of Switzerland presents For Edith Piaf, a musical journey in the France of the Thirties and Fifties through Edith Piaf’s songs.
Direction: Pino Di Buduo
With: Nathalie Mentha
Duration: 60 minutes
Programme:
Pudducherry
Date: Sunday, 11th March 2012
Venue: Tantidhara International Theatre Festival, Pudducherry
Ahmedabad
Date: Saturday, 17th March 2012, 8.00 pm
Venue: Gujarati Sahitya Kala Parishad auditorium, Ahmedabad; Entry free
Date: Sunday, 18th March 2012
Ahmedabad Theatre Workshop: Voice and Movement with Fanatika Theatre Club
Kolkota
Date: Tuesday, 20th March 2012, 6.30 pm
Venue: Rabindranath Tagore Centre, ICCR Ho Chi Minh Sarani, Kolkata
New Delhi
Date: Saturday, 22nd March 2012, 7.00 pm
Venue: M.L. Bhartia Auditorium Alliance Française de Delhi, 72, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi, Entry Free
Brief
The performance is a musical journey in the France of the Thirties and Fifties through Edith Piaf‟s songs. Stories of lives in the environment of the French gangsters, stories of women in love, stories of passions, of dreams, of memories. It is the tale of a period, 1939, a historical moment highly alive through all Europe. It is the period of Jacques Prévert‟s poetry, of Cartier-Bresson‟s photography, of Jean Cocteau‟s theatre tales, of the coming of the Second World War which destroys so many families, of the songs for Charlie Chaplin‟s films, of the images of the characters of De Sica‟s film “Roma Città Aperta”, of the Frech Resistance, of the struggle for life, for love. The performance theme, the soul which ties the stories, and maybe more Edith Piaf‟s soul seems to be: “don‟t ever stop believing in love, whatever happens”. Performances: Salvador de Bahia; Rieti; Fara Sabina (RI); Abbiategrasso (MI); Bari; Bergamo; Roma; Caserta.
Nathalie Mentha
Nathalie Mentha was born in Geneva. After completing school, she joined the Theatre School of the Swiss Clown Dimitri. From 1979 Nathalie Mentha lives in Italy and works with the Potlach Theatre. She has worked in the productions like “The Dry Tree‟s Dances”, “Pearls Fishermen”, “Before the Fest is over” , “Sailors‟ Dreams” , “Joan of the Spirits”, “Opera Tango‟s Emigrants”, “The Conductors”, “Images Page 3 of 6 Parade”, “Turandot”, “Shakespeare Project”, “Mediterranean Myths”, “Imaginary Ambassadors”, “Felliniana”, “Viva la Vita”, “To Edith Piaf”, “Hotel Europa”, “20.000 Leagues under the seas”. With the Potlach Theater Nathalie Mentha also works as a pedagogue in schools and universities and has synthesised her experience in two work demonstrations: Memories, Sand Tales. She conducts workshops on Voice and Space, Fights of Clowns, Street Theater, Marco Polo project. Since 1991 she has been participating in the conception and organisation of INVISIBLE CITIES (Intercultural and interdisciplinary project with local associations and professional artists from every part of the world) directed by Pino Di Buduo .
Organised by the Embassy of Switzerland in partnership with Tantidhara International Theatre Festival, Pudducherry Alliances Françaises in Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Delhi Fanatika Theatre Club, Ahmedabad Titagarh Wagons Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata
Swiss film ‘Familientreffen’ at the Fanatika Theatre Film Festival
Pro Helvetia New Delhi in collaboration with Alliance Française d’Ahmedabad present the Swiss documentary Familientreffen (Family Reunion) at the 1st Fanatika Theatre Documentary Film Festival. [dated February 2012]
Pro Helvetia New Delhi in collaboration with Alliance Française d’Ahmedabad present the Swiss documentary film Familientreffen (Family Reunion) at the 1st Fanatika Theatre Documentary Film Festival. The festival has been organised by the Fanatika Theatre Club which is the confluence of Alliance Francaise and Gujarati Sahitya Parishad.
The Film : FAMILY REUNION
Swiss documentary ‘Familientreffen’
at the Fanatika Theatre Documentary Film Festival, Ahmedabad
Language: German with English subtitles
Festival dates: 3-5 February 2012
Venue: Gujarati Sahitya Parishad, Ahmedabad
Date: Saturday 4 February at 7:00 pm
Entry: Open to public
Documentary, Switzerland 2009 / 60 minutes / 52 minutes, digital video, colour.
As carpets are rolled and furniture covered, a grand hotel in the Swiss alps ushers in the off season. Melancholy song floods the empty halls as director Christoph Marthaler and his theatrical family rob the hotel of its sleep with endless choir practices – for six long weeks, right up until opening night. But one person is missing from the rehearsals: Jürg Kienberger, scion of the hotel family and veteran musician-member of Marthaler’s ensemble, is recovering from an operation on his knees, killing time with a one-man show at the rehab clinic. Aloof from the goings-on, Kienberger reflects with subtle irony on the evolution of a Marthaler production, airing the secret of the cult phenomenon without giving it away. Meanwhile, the troupe are raising ghosts from 100 years of the hotel’s history. Both jovial and saturnine, the quirky loners are united when they sing. The film escorts its viewers to a feast of music and poetry, and invites them to join a theatrical family.
Credits
Writer and director: Sarah Derendinger
Cinematography: Matthias Kälin, Sarah Derendinger
Producers Stella Händler, Claudia Frei
Director: Christoph Marthaler
Narrator: Jürg Kienberger
Actors and Musicians: Claudia Carigiet, Raphael Clamer, Jan Czajkowski, Bendix Dethleffsen, Olivia Grigolli, Rosemary Hardy, Christoph Homberger, Ueli Jäggi, Josef Ostendorf, Sasha Rau, Nic Rosat, Bettina Stucky, Graham Valentine.
Director’s statement
In Family Reunion I go in search of Marthaler’s secret. At the same time, however, I am careful not to explain that secret, but simply to display it, and to let the viewers get as close as possible to his process - to let them become members of the «Marthaler family». When I heard that Christoph Marthaler and his theatre troupe were working on a performance at the Hotel Waldhaus in Sils Maria during the off season, I was seized by the urge to capture their rehearsals on film. I also learned that Jürg Kienberger, a key member of the Marthaler family as well as a scion of the hotel dynasty, was unable to take part in the preparations, which allowed me to use him, from his position at a remove from events, as a narrator in my film. The biggest hurdle, I believed, would be getting Christoph Marthaler on board, because he had famously never before permitted an outsider to attend his rehearsals. So I was amazed when the celebrated director immediately and enthusiastic agreed to my request! His sole condition was that I film the rehearsals as camerawoman myself; and since I actually do have the requisite experience, I was able to agree to this stipulation, not with reluctance, but in anticipation of a welcome challenge.
In Family Reunion, spectators sense the spirit of complete openness in which the Marthaler family enters the blank space of the creative process. It’s wonderfully exciting to observe the evolution of a new Marthaler theatrical production – despite the glacial pace at which it proceeds – and to notice the way the many songs they use help the members to bear the emptiness out of which a finished work is born. I am delighted to be able to take all those who watch my film on a timeless musical journey into the splendid isolation of Sils Maria.
Organiser and Partner: Alliance Française d’Ahmedabad
SIGMASIX to participate at UNBOX and Baajaa Gaajaa 2012
Geneva based SIGMASIX to conduct a workshop at the UNBOX Festival in New Delhi and will collaborate with Dhamaal, featuring Indian percussionists, at the Baajaa Gaajaa. [dated 2012]
Geneva based SIGMASIX, a company that experiments in the fields of visual creation, will conduct a workshop at the UNBOX Festival in New Delhi and will collaborate with Dhamaal, featuring Indian percussionists, at the Baajaa Gaajaa 2012 Festival in Pune.
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UnBox Festival: workshop by Swiss company SIGMASIX Pro Helvetia New Delhi in collaboration with Unbox Festival has invited Eric Morzier and Florian Pittet from the Swiss company SIGMASIX to conduct workshops and perform at the festival. SIGMASIX is a Geneva based company whose aim is to experiment in the fields of visual creation. They make music videos and custom experimental installations for customers large and small.
PROGRAMME
Presentation at Conference: Friday 3 February 2012 at 12 noon
Venue: British Council, 17 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi Entry: By registration / please contact register@unboxfestival.com
Workshop: Friday 3 February 2012 from 4:00 – 6:00pm
Venue: British Council, 17 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi
Entry: By registration / please contact register@unboxfestival.com
Performance: Sunday 5 February 2012
Venue: Shroom, The Crescent Mall, Lado Sarai, Mehrauli, New Delhi
Entry: Festival rules apply
The UnBox Festival celebrates interdisciplinary processes and experiences that shape contemporary thought and action. It is a response to the emergence of a new subculture: one that straddles the spirit of innovation and invites the engagement of all senses. UnBox manifests itself as a blend of different events - including a conference, workshops, exhibitions and performances - designed in sync with one another, to stimulate thought, debate and action.
Organiser and Partner: Unbox Festival unboxfestival.com
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SIGMASIX to collaborate with Dhamaal at Baajaa Gaajaa Festival, Pune
Pro Helvetia New Delhi in collaboration with Baajaa Gaajaa Music Festival has invited Eric Morzier from the Swiss company SIGMASIX to collaborate with Dhamaal during the festival. SIGMASIX is a Geneva based company whose aim is to experiment in the fields of visual creation. They make music videos and custom experimental installations for customers large and small.
Date: 10 – 12 February 2012
The Baajaa Gaajaa Music Festival at Ishanya, Pune The Baajaa Gaajaa Music Conclave at Vivanta by Taj – Blue Diamond, Pune. Entry: Open to Public
Baajaa Gaajaa is an annual music festival curated by Indian musicians Shubha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan. During the festival Eric Morzier of SIGMA6 will collaborate and rehearse with Indian percussionists from all parts of India from 6-10 February. The final piece will be presented at Baaja Gaaja on 12 February 2012. DHAMAAL is a celebration of drumming traditions from India and other musical cultures. Folk drummers from various parts of the country collaborate with other percussionists, vocalists and guitarists, to weave a tapestry of rhythm. Organiser and Partner: Baajaa Gaajaa Festival - baajaagaajaa.com
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SIGMASIX
SIGMASIX is a Geneva based company whose aim is to experiment in the fields of visual creation. They make music videos and custom experimental installations for customers large and small. They see the future like a playground, trying new technologies and new ways of mixing different kind of media. SIGMASIX is Eric Morzier and Florian Pittet.
For more information visit: http://www.sigma6.ch/
LAYOUT - A location based collaborative construction
LAYOUT - A location based collaborative construction [dated February 2012]
Pro Helvetia New Delhi is delighted to be associated with the project L A Y O U T, a location based collaborative construction and to present Swiss artist Navid Tschopp, who is currently on a residency in India. The project is being presented in collaboration with W+K Exp.
Artists involved in this collaborative project are: Navid Tschopp, M Pravat, Sayantan Maitra Boka and Susanta Mandal
Venue : C - 198, Neb Sarai, Next to IGNOU, New Delhi - 68.
Opening on Sunday, January the 22nd, 2012, 4 pm onward
On view until 10 February 2012.
The construction will be accessible 24 hours a day.
Artist: Navid Tschopp
Art Form: Visual Arts Residency date: 1 January- 10 March 2012
Navid’s field of work lies between the orient and the occident and contains the many layers between image and action. His research is about identity in the field of transcultural images and in context art. He is interested in the Indian pictorial world, on which the Persian art history is based. The aim of his work is to create a ‘third space’ between orient and occident / European and eastern culture where a new concept of identity based on learning from each other can grow. Navid wants to focus his study on the Parsi community that resides in India.
