The 4th annual Carnival of e-Creativity (CeC 2009)
Swiss artist Manuel Schmalstieg, Chloe Cramer, Boris Kish and Mark Lee to attend The 4th annual Carnival of e-Creativity (CeC 2009). [dated February 2009]
The 4th annual Carnival of e-Creativity (CeC 2009) is scheduled to be held from February 27 to March 1, 2009, in Sattal Estate, close to Bhimtal. The carnival is scheduled to have participation of e-Creative practitioners from around India and the world. Swiss artist Manuel Schmalstieg, Chloe Cramer, Boris Kish and Mark Lee will be representing Switzerland at the CeC 2009.
Presentation details:
Marc Lee Upon creating network-oriented interactive installations; experimenting with information and communication technologies, and projects that locate and critically discuss economic, political, cultural and creative 'issue-clusters' that are essential for communication processes in digital networks. To also present works of recently realized interactive installations, including an overview of his current work on the Pro Helvetia Residency in Bengaluru, in which he will try to make visible the inspirations from his stay in India.
Manuel Schmalstieg, Chloe Cramer & Boris Kish
On Aether9, a collaborative art project initiated during a workshop at the Mapping Festival (2007) in Geneva, Switzerland, to explore the field of realtime video transmission. Developed by an international group of visual artists and collectives working in about a dozen different locations (disseminated throughout Europe, North and South America, the Middle East) and communicating primarily through the Internet, Æther9 intends to become a functional framework for collaborative video performance.
Performance details:
Manuel Schmalstieg, Chloe Cramer & Boris Kish Saturday 28 February - N3krozoft Ltd featuring aether9 Live audiovisual performance by Manuel Schmalstieg, Chloe Cramer & Boris Kish. Realtime interaction with the global aether9 collective.
For more information on CeC 2009 click here
Compagnie Philippe Saire to perform in India
Compagnie Philippe Saire to present - Could I just draw your attention to the brevity of life? in Bangalore and Delhi. [dated February 2009]
Pro Helvetia – Swiss Arts Council presents a contemporary dance performance by Compagnie Philippe Saire Could I just draw your attention to the brevity of life? Choreography Philippe Saire
Bangalore: (as part of the Attakkalari Biennial) Thursday 12 February at 7:30 pm and Friday 13 February at 4:30 pm at Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Bangalore
Delhi:
Monday 16 February at 7:00 pm at Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi
For the Delhi performance entry passes will be available at - Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council ( tel: 41825812 ) - Embassy of Switzerland, Nyaya Marg, Chanakyapuri - The Full Circle Book Shop, 5 B, Khan Market - The Full Circle Book Shop, N Block Market, Greater Kailash I - Café Turtle, 8 Nizamuddin East Market
Dancers: Philippe Chosson, Anne Delahaye, Pablo Esbert Lilienfeld, Sun - Hye Hur, Gilles Viandier and David Zagari Philippe Saire, one of the most significant Swiss choreographers brings Could I just draw your attention to the brevity of life? – a piece choreographed for six dancers in 2006 to audiences in Delhi and Bangalore.
Philippe Saire’s choreography has earned him prestigious awards like the Young Creator Prize from the Vaud Foundation for Artistic Promotion and Creation in 1988 and the Grand Prize from the same foundation in 1998 and the Swiss Prize for Dance and Choreography in 2004. He is credited with more than forty choreography projects, including Cartographies, a continually renewed initiative combining dance, architecture and video. The Philippe Saire Company has given almost 1000 performances in more than 160 cities across Europe, Africa, Asia and America.
The piece: In contrast to previous Philippe Saire creations, Could I just draw your attention to the brevity of life? performs a delicate upheaval of the normal conventions of entertainment and plays on them in a light yet precise way. Using festive imagery, accessible and colourful, this new creation has been conceived as a shrewd review of our thirst for distraction that reveals itself in layers in order to reach and unravel the mechanisms of that fascinating driving and universal force of our lives. And in answer to the question posed in the title, a surprise finale, a sort of reminder of the fragility of this universe. A free piece, as free as it can be.
Credits
Light Laurent Junod
Sound Christophe Bollondi
Artistic Advisor Massimo Furlan
Costumes Isa Boucharlat
Production Assistant Muriel Imbach
Stage Manager Yann Serez
Tour Manager Sonia Blot
Photographer Mario del Curto
Feedback:
Astad Deboo: Philippe Saire showed the Indian audiences through his excellent company, not only impeccable dancers but also with a whole new insight to lighting wizardry.
Astaad Deboo a noted Indian choreographer has been conferred with the Padma Shri for his contribution to Modern Dance in India.
Visual artist Anne Lorenz
Swiss visual artist Anne Lorenz presents works that were developed during her residency in Bangalore at Sumukha Gallery. [dated January 2009]
Swiss visual artist Anne Lorenz presents works that were developed and realised during her four months stay in Bangalore at Sumukha Gallery on Tuesday 27 January.
Recent video works by Anne Lorenz
Over the last ten to fifteen years Anne Lorenz has built up a diverse body of work, brought together by a common line of investigation: her profound interest in the way we behave and its relation to our psyche. On the one hand her investigations into body language reveal a commonality of human existence, expressed in physical rhythms and motions that are shared world wide, the at times banal routines that provide choreography for daily life around the globe. On the other she uncovers small differences in physical behaviour that point to the cruelness of individuality, suggest a dislocation between the interior self and the public self, and embody expressions of solitude and insecurity.
When studying Fine Art in Germany, Spain and the UK she focussed on object-based and installation work. After graduating in 1996 the installations became increasingly site-specific and, where earlier work had suggested the presence of people and hinted at narrative, her work soon broadened to include performers and time-based elements. Interested by the disciplines of directing, stage-design and costume Lorenz worked in this capacity on several dance and music-theatre productions. This experience was reflected in a series of film and performance works, under her artistic direction, which employed a mixture of trained and untrained performers. Currently she is concentrating on creating multi-channel video works, which are realised in close collaboration with local people and inspired by the physical and sociological make up of the locations.
She loves me she loves me not 2008/2009 3-channel Video Projection with sound, DV Measurements: variable Duration: 25 min. Artistic Direction: Anne Lorenz Casting & Crew: Aspect Professionals, Nithin Muralidharan Cinematography: Nagesh Raj Sound: Yashas Shetty Voice: Anne Lorenz Video Consultancy: Bison Singh Oeil Exterieur: Barnaby Drabble
A visitor to Bangalore, the artist Anne Lorenz brings with her a particular practice of seeing. Her newly produced three-screen video projection She loves me, she loves me not is in equal parts a document of what has caught her eye in the city and a meditation on her own vulnerability. The artist describes her experience by observing the city’s rhythms, not explicitly those one associates with a public urban space, but rather those conditioned by the private space of the body, its capabilities and its needs. She observes the socialised body, linked to others by its activities and understands the city as a web of these relations.
In this work she carefully depicts people at work, asleep, eating, or praying and explores in these sequences the meditative quality of repetitive movement, and with this the line between comfort and discomfort. As in former works she restages things that she has observed in her new environment, drawing attention to the patterns of everyday life that, at first sight, appear unremarkable. Precisely this attention to normality and its presentation in the gallery space, produces a secondary impulse in the work which moves away from the descriptive and towards the narrative; constituting an unresolved story in which the actors, the artist and the viewers play equal roles.
The artist maintains that the work is neither about the people depicted in the images, nor about her experiences but about the viewer. She opens up a dialogue, through her observations on the activities of others, asking how we feel about ourselves, how comforted or pained we are by everyday life, and how delicate or vulnerable we feel in our socialised bodies and the cities that they populate.
In her hands (an interview with Madhu Nataraj) 2009 Videowork with sound, HDV/DV Measurements: variable Duration: 7 min. Artistic Direction: Anne Lorenz £Performance: Madhu Nataraj Cinematography: B. R. Viswanath Video Consultancy: Bison Singh Oeil Exterieur: Barnaby Drabble
Driven by her interest in the way we communicate through our body, both intentionally and unconsciously, Lorenz has frequently made work in collaboration with dancers and choreographers, exploring movement and improvisation through the medium of video. In her Hands: an interview with Madhu Nataraj is the first in a proposed series of short portraits, for which she adopts the traditional format of the filmed interview. In the work she poses questions to her friend, the Bangalore based Kathak and contemporary dancer and choreographer Madhu Nataraj.
Environmental Art Project by Rahel Hegnauer
Leading Swiss environmental artist Rahel Hegnauer participates in the Mumbai Festival. [dated January 2009]
Leading Swiss environmental artist Rahel Hegnauer returns to India as part of the Festival's focus on the city and the need for positive change. Contributing to the Festival Umbrella activity at Khar Danda, Rahel will work with local architectural students on a temporary art installation to be displayed as part of local Festival activity between 27 and 31 January. The art installation will relate to the local community, a community that is diverse and vibrant.
January 2009 at Khar Danda, Mumbai
Details of Project:
A 2-week art intervention at a Koli village, Khar Danda, Mumbai. Final presentation on 27th and 28th January 2009 on the site, jettey, Khar Danda.
The project was realised during the Mumbai Festival in January 2009 as a collaborative project with Rahel Hegnauer (visual artist, Zurich, Switzerland) Vijaya Kumar S. (documentary film maker, Bangalore, India) 2nd year students of Rizvi Architecture College, Bandra, Mumbai and with the support of villagers of Khar Danda, especially the corporated fishing society. The objectiveof the project was to have a glimpse at an area (Koli village) which is gradually being encroached upon by the gentrification. Our aims were to research the life of a fishermen's community which is encircled by a megalopolis and to point out the fact that the accumulated waste along the seashore can no longer be ignored. The project consisted of 3 elements: - a site specific installation at the jettey (harbour at Khar Danda)
- 2 film essays
- (edition of) a newspaper
On 27th and 28th January the place became a temporary installation where the 3 elements of the project were presented together.
A site specific installation
The installation site was at the back of a tea-gambler-house at the jettey. This site is normally covered with litter, men use it to urinate and children to play marbles. On this site a platform was built around 3 decaying boats. It was designed on 3 different levels and in a sloping manner making it look like waves. This platform changed the site from a neglected to a (however only temporary) maintained and formed site. The platform could easily be mounted by everybody and enabled the visitor to see either inside the boats or to climb further up onto the boats. The platform invited people to use the site as a place to sit, chat or play. The place around the platform had been cleaned by the project group.
(Edition of a) newspaper The newspaper assembles different issues related to the history of Khar Danda, the life of the fishermen's community, the architectural structure of the buildings and the future of the fishermen and their community. The newspaper was written in Marathi, the local language. 1000 copies of the newspaper were printed, displayed on the site and distributed among the villagers.
Concept/idea of project (newspaper, film and installation) and site: Rahel Hegnauer
Structure and communication of project: Vijaya Kumar S.
Concept/idea, directing, editing of film: Vijaya Kumar S.
Concept, realisation of newspaper: Gauri Abhyankkar, Yogesh Govardhane
Design of platform: Rahel Hegnauer
Assistant to film and installation: Heena Shaik, Aliasgar Poonawala, Huzefa Bhal, Jiger Mehta, Ishan Vora.
With the friendly support of the corporated fishing society.
Mumbai, 2009
For the First Time – ‘La Premiere Fois’
Théâtre en Flammes presents, For the First Time – ‘La Premiere Fois’ - a piece in English & French by 5 Swiss & 4 Indian actors and directed by Denis Maillefer. [dated January 2009]
Théâtre en Flammes presents For the First Time – ‘La Premiere Fois’ - a piece in English and French by 5 Swiss and 4 Indian actors
Directed by Denis Maillefer
Delhi: As part of the 11th Bharat Rang Mahotsav On Monday 12 January 2009 at 7:30 pm At Kamani Auditorium, 1 Copernicus Marg, New Delhi – 110001 Tickets available from NSD from 3 January onwards
Gurgaon: On Saturday 17 January 2009 at 4:30 pm and 7:30 pm At Epicentre, Apparel House Open to all.
Cast: (5 Swiss and 4 Indians) Valeria Bertolotto, Jean-Luc Borgeat, Frédéric Ozier, Julia Perazzini and Lucie Zelger Mandakini Goswami, Harish Khanna, Manjushree Kulkarni and Rajesh Tailang
For the First Time is an experiment in a natural style of acting akin to an incident in real time. It is about moments from our everyday lives -- those first times in life, simple and moving, egocentric, self-obsessed and universal. For the First Time highlights actors, the force of their interpretative talent, their individual personalities, which contribute to the uniqueness of each performance.
La première fois/For the First Time tries to retell the first-time experiences of ordinary men and women. The piece is like a group of soloists who have to come together to play like an orchestra. They are alone, yet together and speak about intimacy. We could find it funny, or not, terrible, or not, moving, or not. It is about simple life and enormous feelings : ours, yours, happening everyday.
La Premiere Fois is not the presentation of any specific group or organization. The performance aims at integrating experiences of actors and artistes from different cultures into a singular interactive space that allows a sharing and exploration of moments that comprise the everyday lives of the human experience. In India - For The First Time will be recreated with four Indian and five Swiss actors.
At each performance, the actors appear on stage in an unpredictable order, nothing having been predetermined. They address the public telling stories from their past, each time starting with the words « the first time… ». Little by little, this can become a chorus where words can overlap and voices can mix. Some memories may be recounted in snatches or little by little as the show goes on. Others may never end. These stories, true or imagined, may evoke nothing extraordinary, but they tell us about those little events that constitute our lives, revealing in the process myriad images, sensations and emotions.
For more information on Théâtre en Flammes, Lausanne visit www.theatre-en-flammes.ch
LUPE - the exhibition
A glimpse into the works of graphic novelists from Switzerland and India at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. [dated December 2008]
LUPE - a glimpse into the work of graphic novelists - 4 each from Switzerland and India - to be published jointly in German and English by Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council, Edition Moderne and Phantomville in 2009.
On view from 1 - 10 December 2008 at Central Court, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
Curator: Sarnath Banerjee
Designer: Vishal K Dar
Supported by the Visual Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre.
Graphic Novelists:
Andrea Caprez, Andreas Gefe, Ashish Padlekar, Christophe Badoux, Christoph Schuler, Kati Rickenbach, Orijit Sen, Samit Basu, Sekhar Mukherjee and Vishwajyoti Ghosh
Curator's note: LUPE
In the early spring of 2007, Pro Helvetia and Phantomville, conceived a project that involved creating a conversation between comic book artists living in Switzerland and India. In the following months a dialogue developed through words and pictures, often in the absence of one another. Five Swiss comics creators were invited to visit Delhi and an equal number of Indian practitioners were sent to Zurich. What followed were a dozen or so magnificently crafted graphic essays that gently threatened to break age-old cultural stereotypes and, in a few cases, even enhanced them.
These graphic novellas portray a strong sense of the times we live in and sometimes offer surprisingly deep insights into the contemporary urban lore of both countries. In many cases, the authors see things with the objectivity of an outsider, revealing aspects or layers of the culture-scape not perceived by the insiders. They also display an uncanny skill in understanding each other's local context and avoiding stating the obvious.
The eight panels here are images picked from the narratives that were developed by these artists. The stories will be compiled in a single volume that will be published by Phantomville early next year.
I would like to acknowledge Chandrika Grover Ralleigh and Anindya Roy who were involved in project conceptualising the project along with me and most of all, Pooja Varma, Sangeeta Rana and Mary Therese Kurkalang who co-ordinated it over nearly two years. Vishal Dar designed this exhibition with his characteristic lightness of touch and sophisticated vision.
Sarnath Banerjee
2008
Journal for Art, Sex and Mathematics
The Visual Arts Gallery and Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Arts Council present the exhibition 'Journal for Art, Sex and Mathematics' [dated December 2008]
The Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre and Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Arts Council, New Delhi present the exhibition Journal for Art, Sex and Mathematics a project by Barbara Ellmerer, Yves Netzhammer and Nils Röller
Preview on 1 Dec 2008 at 6:00 pm. Exhibition on 2 and 3 December 2008 at The Experimental Art Gallery, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. daily
Images and texts explore the special approach of art towards mathematics, natural science and sex/gender. The approach is itself interdisciplinary and takes form of digital dialog. Texts respond to images, which are themselves following other images or texts from natural sciences, literature and philosophy. Visual artists Barbara Ellmerer and writer Nils Röller are now contributing to the Journal from their residencies at New Delhis Sanksriti Kendra.
Prof. Dr. Nils Röller, ZHdK - Zurich University of the Arts, Department for Media Arts presents:
A lecture on ABC of Media Theory Wednesday 3 December at 4:00 pm Palm Court Conference Room, India Habitat Centre
A workshop on 'Time Machines' - Workshop on Media Arts Thursday 4 December from 10 am to 4:00 pm Palm Court Conference Room, India Habitat Centre The workshop explores the special situation of todays Media Arts in Switzerland.
Barbara Ellmerer is a swiss-austrian painter and drawer, educated at the Academy of Art and Design in Zürich and at theUniversity of Arts in Berlin. She has shown her work in museums and galleries in Switzerland, Austria, Germany, the United States, Thailand and Peru. She is listed in encyclopedias like -ALLGEMEINES KÜNSTLERLEXIKON, The Visual Artists of all Times and all Nations, Vol. 33 Munich: K.G. SAUR; Lexikon Schweizerisches Institut für Kunstwissenschaften, SIK, www.sikart.ch Recent book: Blue Spanish Sky with a text by Dr. Ulli Seegers. Zürich: Niggli, www.ellmerer.com
Nils Röller is Professor for Media Theory at the Academy of Art in Zürich. He teaches and writes on the impact of modern technology on artistic production. Recent publications in English are : „Scientia Media - Simulation between different cultures of knowledge“; „Thinking with Instruments: The Example of Kant’s Compass”; „Tentative instruments - artistic methods and the crisis of linearity”. For details see: www.romanform.ch.
Yves Netzhammer is living and working in Zürich. His works are shown worldwide. Latest shows include: Furniture of Proportions, SFMOMA 2008, Subjectivation of Repetition, Venice Biennale 2007 and Kassel 2007. Publications are: Yves Netzhammer (1997): Was sich erzählen lässt wird verbessert werden, Verlag Ricco Bilger, Zürich.Yves Netzhammer (1999): Wenn man etwas gegen seine Eigenschaften benützt, muss man dafür einen anderen Namen finden, Museum zu Allerheiligen, Schaffhausen; Dietmar Dath und Anne Philippi (2002): Dornbracht Culture Projects: Statements IV: Yves Netzhammer, Opiate, Mouse on Mars, To Rococo Rot: Bd 4 , Dornbracht, Iserlohn.
Biel-Benaras-Bhubaneswar’ - a musical journey
A collaborative performance by Swiss musician Hans Koch and Odissi Dancer Rekha Tandon. [dated December 2008]
A collaborative performance by Swiss musician Hans Koch and Odissi Dancer Rekha Tandon.
Thursday 4 December 2008 at 7:00 pm at Shri Satya Sai Auditorium 8 Pragati Vihar, Lodhi Road, New Delhi In collaboration with the Delhi International Arts Festival
From Biel to Benaras, a journey from order to chaos, from the familiar to the unfamiliar: new thoughts, new ideas, even new dreams…
From Benaras to Bhubaneswar, a further journey, to explore what is unknown and yet shared, a meeting point… A new pulse, a new rhythm of life; perhaps a new way to Be.
Musician Hans Koch leaves behind his ordered urban life in Switzerland to experience the chaotic moods of Benaras, before venturing further east to Orissa. Here he meets Odissi dancer Rekha Tandon who shows him further facets of traditional and contemporary India...
Artists
Hans Koch Bass clarinet/Video
Rekha Tandon Dancer/Choreographer
Michael Weston Audio-visual design/Lighting
Audiovisuals
Singers Sela Bieri, Siba Prasad Rath
Narration Michael Weston, Rekha Tandon
Percussion Sura Maharana
Hans Koch
Hans Koch quit his career as a recognised classical clarinetist to become one of the most innovative improvising reed-players in Europe. He has been working with everyone from Cecil Taylor to Fred Frith since the eighties. As a composer he has shaped the sound of Koch-Schütz-Studer as well as worked for radio-plays and film. Since the nineties he has been working with electronics as an extension of the saxes/clarinets as well as with sampling/sequencing/Laptop. As a reed-player he is always working on his very own vocabulary and sound, which makes him a very unique voice on the actual scene.
Rekha Tandon
Rekha Tandon started her professional career in the arts in 1980 by performing Indian classical Odissi dance, which she has continued to do extensively in different parts of the world. Always pursuing academics simultaneously, she graduated with a BA in architecture from the School of Planning and Architecture in 1985, an MA in History of Art from the National Museum, New Delhi in 1995, and a PhD from Laban, London in Dance Studies in 2005.
Michael Weston
Michael Weston began his professional life in the pop world of London in the 1980’s, before moving on to writing music for both film and television. In India he has promoted and documented Orissan adivasi culture, particularly the music, as well as creating the music and soundscapes for the productions of Dance Routes.
Rekha Tandon and Michael Weston have worked together since 1997 when they founded Dance Routes as a forum for research and experimentation in Odissi. Their vision has been to make this Indian classical dance form more accessible to contemporary audiences worldwide, without compromising its traditional spiritual integrity. Choreographic works have included pieces created for both performance and film using multicultural literary and musical resources.
Pro Helvetia – the Swiss Arts Council facilitated a residency for Rekha Tandon at the Villa Straeuli at Winterthur, Switzerland in May and June 2008. An Odissi dancer, choreographer and scholar, Rekha’s mission is to conserve and present tradition with a contemporary aesthetic. Her innovative productions are created from research of the classical, folk and tribal performing arts of India.
ZOOM Jazz Quintet and ZOOM trio tour India
Lucas Niggli Zoom to tour India with Indian percussionist Karthik Mani and Sarah Büchi. [dated December 2008]
When Karthik S, a young and established percussionist from Bangalore, India met the immensely talented and well-known Swiss percussionist Lucas Niggli in Zurich in September 2007, the atmosphere reverberated with the sounds of percussion instruments that hailed from across continents. Keen to take their music to new and unexplored spaces after a very fruitful and productive collaboration, Lucas and Karthik will now play with other members of the ZOOM trio and Sarah Büchi (vocals) in front of a Bangalore and New Delhi audience.
The collaborative efforts of Lucas Niggli Zoom and Karthik Mani are a fruitful culmination of the residency and reiterate the objective of Pro Helvetia New Delhi to support artists seeking dialogue with other cultures in an effort to forge closer ties.
Lucas Niggli ZOOM featuring the trio Lucas Niggli, Philipp Schaufelberger (guitar) and Nils Wogram (trombone) will start their tour of India by playing at Gurgaon, a Delhi suburban town followed by playing at Blue Frog in Mumbai. The trio formation has played into the consciousness of a public interested in innovative jazz.
Lucas Niggli - drums, percussion
Karthik Mani (Karthik Subramanya), percussionist / drummer
Nils Wogram - trombone
Philipp Schaufelberger – guitar
Sarah Büchi, vocals
ZOOM Jazz Quintet Featuring Lucas Niggli, Karthik Mani, Sarah Büchi, Philipp Schaufelberger and Nils Wogram
Bangalore
Date: Thursday 4 December 2008 Venue: Alliance Françoise, Bangalore Time: 7:30pm
New Delhi
Date: Friday 5 December 2008 Venue: Sai Auditorium, New Delhi as part of the Delhi International Arts Festival Time: 7:00pm
Lucas Niggli ZOOM trio Featuring the trio Lucas Niggli, Philipp Schaufelberger and Nils Wogram
Gurgaon Date: Thursday 27 November 2008 Venue: Epicentre, Gurgaon Time: 7:30pm
Mumbai (cancelled) Date: Sunday 30 November 2008 Venue: Blue Frog, Mumbai
Stück mit Flügel - Anna Huber to perform in India
The Swiss dancer choreographer Anna Huber is scheduled to tour three Indian cities introducing her distinctive art form to audiences in Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. [dated December 2008]
International audiences know Anna Huber for her inimitable and unique style of choreography. The dancer choreographer is scheduled to tour three Indian cities introducing her distinctive art form to audiences in Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai.
In a Stück mit Flügel, Anna Huber works for the first time with existing compositions and develops a sensitive weave of sound and movement in cooperation with the pianist, Susanne Huber. The performance oscillates between restlessness and stillness, between destabilization and the search for orientation. Being on one‘s way in different spaces of time. The fleeting nature of contemporary dance confronts the structured compositions of György Ligeti, György Kurtág and Franz Liszt and contrasts with the electronic.
New Delhi: Tuesday 2 December 2008 at 7:00 pm at Kamani Auditorium, 1 Copernicus Marg, New Delhi
Kolkata: Saturday 6 & Sunday 7 December 2008 at 6:30 pm at Rabindranath Tagore Centre, ICCR, 9 A Ho Chi Minh Sarani, Kolkata
Chennai: Thursday 11 December 2008 at 7:00 pm at Sir Mutha Venkatasubba Rao Concert Hall, Shenstone Park, 13/ 1 Harrington Road, Chennai
concept/choreography/dance - Anna Huber
piano/musical concept - Susanne Huber
music - György Kurtág, György Ligeti, Franz Liszt
electronic music - Martin Schütz
light design - Thilo Reuther
costume - Inge Zysk props - Brezihouse Proz
Shiva Nataraja - the cosmic dancer
An exhibition presented by Museum Rietberg featuring some hundred works of art from around the world.
Museum Rietburg presents Shiva Nataraja - the cosmic dancer, an exhibition that features some hundred works of art, selected from among the prized possessions of leading museums in Europe, North America and India as well as from the Museum's Rietberg's own collection.
Exhibition dates: 16 November 2008 to 1 March 2009
At the centre of the show are Southern Indian bronzes and stone sculptures from the Chola dynasty ( 9 - 13 century), as well as precious paintings and wooden sculptures created in later periods.
Parallel events:
Malavika Sarukkai, internationally acclaimed for her Bharat Natyam dance style that is traditional as well as innovative, will perform at the onset of the exhibition.
The ‘Chartres’ composition' by Paul Giger
Pro Helvetia - the Swiss Arts Council presents a solo violin concert by Swiss musician and composer, Paul Giger in Chennai, Kolkata and Delhi. [dated November 2008]
“Music is an earthly reflection of spiritual worlds and realities.” - Paul Giger
Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council presents a solo violin concert by Swiss musician and composer Paul Giger. The Chartres composition is a fascinating musical pilgrimage inspired by the secrets and magic of the Cathedral of Chartres.
Chennai: Wednesday 12 November 2008 At The Ballroom, Taj Connemara Time: 7:00 pm In partnership with The Hindu Music Festival
Kolkata: Friday 14 November 2008 At Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata Time: 6:30 pm In partnership with Max Mueller Bhavan Kolkata and Spic Macay
Delhi: Wednesday 19 November 2008 At The Cathedral Church of the Redemption Time: 6:30 pm In partnership with The Cathedral Church of the Redemption, Delhi Music Society and Spic Macay
The 'Chartres' composition
Paul Giger’s fascinating musical pilgrimage has been inspired by the secrets and the magic of the Cathedral of Chartres where his work was the outcome of an intensive dialogue. The famous gothic Cathedral of Chartres in France stands as a symbol of the “spiritual development” of the human being. In seven stages the composition describes the pilgrim’s path through the Cathedral: from the crypt through the labyrinth and the crossing into the sanctum sanctorum.
This physical path, trodden by the faithful for centuries, symbolises the inner, spiritual transition from the earthbound individual to fulfilled spirituality. The musical material emerges from a diversity of traditions ranging from classical to jazz, from European to Asian sounds. Improvised passages alternate with composed passages. Virtuosity contrasted with the meditative immersion into the “key note” of the sanctuary.
The Chartres programme
Paul Giger tries to follow - in a spatial context - the “choreography” of the different movements together with the places in which they are played, as they exist in the Cathedral of Chartres: three parts in the crypt and three in the upper church, followed by silence.
Paul Giger – musician and composer
After finishing school in Switzerland Giger travelled to India. In India the vision of his life as a musician brought the decision of studying classical western music (under Professor Peter Mezger and Ulrich Lehmann) in which he graduated with degrees in teaching and as a soloist for the violin. From 1980 to 1983 Giger was concertmaster of the St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra. He has freelanced as a soloist since 1983 and has collaborated on projects with numerous musicians. Giger has released six CDs under the Munich ECM label. His repertoire of violin literature ranges from baroque to contemporary music and improvisation. Besides composing for the violin and violino d`amore, Paul Giger also composes choral, orchestral and chamber music.
For more information on Paul Giger visit: www.paul-giger.ch
The Promising Artist Award 2008
ART India, Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre and Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council present the Promising Artist Award 2008. [dated November 2008]
ART India, and the Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre with the support of Pro Helvetia- Swiss Arts Council and Blue Potteries and Raymond Weil jointly present the fourth Promising Artist Award 2008
Open to suitably qualified Indian nationals working as painters, sculptors, installation artists and graphic artists, the aim of the Award is to encourage and support committed contemporary Indian artists.
The winner of The Promising Artist Award 2008 will be awarded: - a certificate of merit - a cash prize of INR 3,00,000/- - an opportunity to showcase their work at the Visual Arts Gallery, India Habitat Centre, Delhi and - an opportunity to avail a two month residency in Switzerland to commemorate 60 years of Indo-Swiss friendship.
For more details on the Award and the terms and conditions visit www.artindiamag.com
Gratis Diaries...
A theatre director, a multi-media artist and an artist-in-residence at Rote Fabrik, Amitesh Grover captures the different moods of his residency. [dated October 2008]
A theatre director, a multi-media artist and an artist-in-residence at Rote Fabrik, Amitesh Grover captures the different moods of his residency. Bridging the yawning gap between an overbearing traditional performance past and a nascent urban performing sensibility, Amitesh represents the new generation of Indian theatre artists in the best possible way.
Describing the residency as a truly international experience, Amitesh recounts engaging in inter-cultural discourses with art practitioners from around the globe. Collaborations, exchanges, dialogues are what the future holds for Amitesh as he is scheduled to be in Zurich until December 2008.
" I was greeted by a nippy Zurich summer on a lazy morning of 12th July. Making my way into the city before it had woken up, I was struck by how crisp it was. Welcome to Europe, I chuckled. I was escorted to my studio the same day, which nests within a stark, bold red brick building abandoned by a textile factory early last century. Titled Rote Fabrik (Red Factory), it is spattered by graffiti that, at first impression seems to be slovenly but playful - a respite from city’s exacting landscape – only to reveal to a careful eye how each animated corner carries a nifty anecdote about authority, religion, sex and just about everything else. A capacious double-pillared hall with two majestic windows opening onto Zurich lake, the first floor studio bearing my name on its door was divine for artistic indulgence.
I conducted two Open-Days soon after. Over 50 Artists – visual, sound and performing – and curators attended the evenings in which I showcased my past work. Intriguing interactions followed the presentation; one artist couldn’t help being beguiled by the ‘theatricality’ of contemporary Performance Art in India. Its what helps us young artists bridge the yawning gap between an overbearing traditional performance past and a nascent urban performing sensibility, I explained. She smiled.
Theatrespektakel began mid-august amidst great fervour. An over-arching festival embracing all performing arts (and not just theatre) boasted of stunning shows from Brazil, Indonesia, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Germany, India and Switzerland. Being part of jury (and consequently, having free entry to all shows; half the article’s title should begin to make sense by now!) was less daunting than I imagined. We were a quadruple-nation cultural quintette – South Africa, Egypt, India, Switzerland (Swiss and French part; a miracle we emerged from our award discussions smiling!). It was heart-warming to discover how, despite our apparent differences, anxieties soon melted away as we candidly confessed what we loved and hated, often to my surprise, the same things in the same order! Perhaps goes to show how the language of art can render distances futile.
I also attended a Residents’ Meet at Villa Strauli, Winterthur. It proved to be a fabulous opportunity to meet other artists-in-residence in Switzerland from around the world. Rainer Duvell, sculptor and architect from Berlin, conducted a workshop on perception after which we visited the studios in the lovely villa, once home to Winterthur’s soap-manufacture giant!
Over the past weeks, I have met many talented artists for the work I wish to develop here. Laura Klaus (a dancer from Argentina), Cornelia Luethi (a dancer from Switzerland), Martin Wigger (sound artist from Switzerland), Stephan Komitsch (video artist from Germany) and Sophia Stepf (Dramaturg working in inter-cultural discourse from Germany) are few among others with whom I will be striking a collaboration in the coming weeks. We have ‘Present - Episode I’ planned for a show mid-October and ‘Absent – Episode II’ planned for a show late November in my studio." Amitesh Grover Lettenholzstrasse#2 Zurich Switzerland 8038
Artist: Amitesh Grover
Art Form: Theatre
Theatre director and a multi-media artist, Amitesh is a visiting faculty member at the National School of Drama. A Charles Wallace scholar, he completed his postgraduation in Visual Language of Performance from the Wimbledon College of Art, University of Arts London.
Residency partner organisation: Rote Fabrik
Residency duration: 12 July - 12 Dec 2008
Alice Boner Gallery, Benaras Hindu University
Showcasing the works and life of Alice Boner, a Swiss artist and scholar, the Alice Boner Gallery, Varanasi reopens to public. [dated September 2008]
Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council cordially invites you to view the new Alice Boner Gallery, Kala Bhavan, Benaras Hindu University on Friday 26 September 2008 at 10:00am.
Alice Boner
Dr Alice Boner (1889-1981) a Swiss artist and scholar gravitated towards this great cultural and religious centre, and in 1935, she chose to settle here in a modest house on Assi Ghat, on the banks of the river Ganges. Her experiences of the city and its life, recorded in her diaries, reflect her journey in search of the ‘beyond’, a realm of artistic freedom, deeper experience and consciousness. Once in India, she turned to art studies and studied principles of Indian art and architecture. She came to be known as one of the outstanding scholars and interpreters of Indian sculpture and temple architecture. Her research led her - to not only the significant discovery of the principles of composition in Indian sculpture, but also to a search for the meaning of its content.
Her creative exploration of the “language of form” in Indian sculpture and temple architecture led Alice Boner to move from live practice to the interpretation of Indian art. Seeking confirmation of her own theoretical discoveries in the Sastras and comparing them with the extant monuments in all their dimensions, she combined the interpretive, visual method with the textual and traditional approach. Her understanding and research is reflected in the ‘Principles of Composition in Hindu sculpture’, which is her unique contribution to the study of Indian art. Alice Boner’s pioneering research on Indian art has been widely acclaimed throughout the world.
For her unique contribution to the understanding of Indian art, she was awarded the Padma Bhushan, an Indian civilian award that is awarded to recognise distinguished service of a high order to the nation, in any field, by the President of India in 1974. She was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Zürich.
Alice Boner Foundation, Varanasi
The house of Alice Boner in Varanasi is supported by Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Arts Council. Writers, scholars, artists, dancers and musicians from India and abroad are invited for a creative stay and are provided a residency with basic, but comfortable facilities. This old and atmospheric house on the bank of the Ganga accommodates also the Alice Boner Institute with its library for research on Indian arts. Through its academic activities and exhibitions, the Institute furthers Alice Boner’s own research and also perpetuates her memory.
Centenaire - Alain Daniélou (1907 - 1994)
'Indian art and music: a critical survey of Alain Danielou's Contribution' [dated September 2008]
Alain Danielou India Committee and The Indian Music Society along with Pro Helvetia and a host of other partners present 'Indian art and music: a critical survey of Alain Danielou's Contribution'
24 - 26 September: Varanasi - Alice Boner Institute
27 September: Delhi – India International Centre
Programme: An international seminar A Photo Exhibition Music Concerts Inauguration of the new Alice Boner Gallery Film Screenings
For programme details click here
Photo credit: Jacques Cloarec Copyrights Alain Danièlou Centre
Alain Daniélou (1907-1994): scholar of Indian languages and religions, painter, dancer, musician, and photographer, linguist and musicologist, is the author of over forty books on Indian religion, music and culture translated in a dozen of languages. Daniélou lived in Santiniketan and participated in the educational programmes of Rabindranath Tagore, where he orchestrated the Indian national anthem and the national song. Daniélou studied Sanskrit and Hinduism with pandits in Varanasi and Indian classical music with Shivendranath Basu, he learnt to play the rudraveena. With Omkarnath Thakur he set up the Department of Musicology at Benares Hindu University.
From l954-56 he headed the Library at Adyar and from there moved to the Institut Français d’Indologie at Pondicherry. In the 1950s he recorded music all over the world which was published by UNESCO in their Atlas of World Music. Danielou was an honorary member of the International Music Council and founded the Institutes of Comparative Music in Berlin in 1963 and Venice in 1970. In 991 he was elected fellow of the Sangeet Natak Akademy and Emeritus Professor by the Senate of Berlin. Daniélou was an Officer of the Légion d'Honneur, Officer of the Ordre National du Mérite, and Commander of Arts and Letters. In 1981, he received the Unesco/CIM prize for music, in 1987 the "Kathmandu" medal from Unesco.
Laurent Aubert to lecture at Jawaharlal Nehru University
Laurent Aubert, curator of the Geneva Ethnographic Museum to lecture at Jawaharlal Nehru University on his book. [dated September 2008]
Pro Helvetia New Delhi presents a lecture by Laurent Aubert on his book 'The Music of the Other - New Challenges for Ethnomusicology in a Global Age'
Venue: Commitee Room. Centre for the Study of Social Systems Jawaharlal Nehru University
Date: Monday 22nd September at 3 pm
Lecture heading: 'The Music of the other - New challenges for Ethnomusicology in a Global Age'
The lecture is open to public
Laurent Aubert, doctor in anthropology, is curator at the Geneva Ethnographic Museum and director of the Ateliers d’ethnomusicologie (Ethnomusicology Workshops), an institute dedicated to the dissemination of world music, founded in 1983.
Besides field research, particularly in India, he also works on questions related to music and migration. He is the Secretary General of Archives internationales de musique populaire (Int. Archives of Folk Music, AIMP) and editor of its CD collection, founder of Cahiers d’ethnomusicologie (formerly Cahiers de musiques traditionnelles, since 1988), and author of many articles and CDs, as well as several books, including Les feux de la déesse (2004) et Musiques migrantes (2005) and The Music of the Other (2007).
Lecture presentations in India by Freitag brothers
Lecture/presentations by Markus and Daniel Freitag on 'some waste, a sewing machine and one idea’ - how FREITAG became a worldwide known brand. [dated September 2008]
Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council presents lecture/presentations by Markus and Daniel Freitag on ‘some waste, a sewing machine and one idea’ - how FREITAG became a worldwide known brand.
At Max Mueller Bhavan/ Goethe-Institut, Bangalore Date: Saturday, 6 September 2008 Time: 4: 00 pm Open to public
At Srishti School of Art Design & Technology, Bangalore Date: 8, 9 & 10 September 2008 Time: 10:00 am For Design students only
At National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi Date: Friday, 12 September 2008 Time: 10:30 am For Design students only
Freitag – the international brand
It was 1993 when Markus and Daniel Freitag, both brothers and graphic designers, were in need of a bag. Zurich locals ride bicycles and they get rained on a lot. So the Freitag Brothers wanted a functional, tough, and water-resistant bag to carry their designs. Inspired by the colourful traffic on the highway extension in front of their apartment, they sewed together a messenger bag from an old truck tarp, took seat belts for straps and used a spare bicycle inner tube to keep the edges from fraying. Quite unintentionally, the brothers landed a hit. Today FREITAG products are sold and copied all around the globe. Since the original messenger, Markus and Daniel have put out more than 40 different products, with more in the pipeline and even more up their sleeves. Nevertheless, FREITAG products are still produced in Switzerland, next to that same highway extension.
In the presentation Markus and Daniel Freitag will present the company history and point out the success-factors, how they managed to grow a "student-project" into a "known" Brand.
Facts & figures about FREITAG
Headquarter: FREITAG lab. ag / Maag works, Zurich, Switzerland
Founding year: 1993
Founders & Owners: Markus and Daniel Freitag
Workforce: about 60 employees in Zurich, Davos, and Hamburg
No. of shops: 3 own flagship-stores (Hamburg, Davos, Zurich), over 350 point of sales worldwide Material use: 200 tons of truck tarps = line of trucks 50 km long; 75,000 bicycle inner tubes; 25,000 seatbelts No. of models: over 40 items For more information on Freitag visit: www.freitag.ch
The presentation is being held within the context of the ongoing exhibition CRISS + CROSS design from Switzerland 1860 – 2007 Curated by Ariana Pradal, Köbi Gantenbein & Roland Eberle Exhibition on view from 6 - 20 September 2008 10:30 am - 6:30 pm (Mon - Sat) 10:30 am - 5:00 pm (Sun)
Venue: Goethe-Institut Bangalore /Max Mueller Bhavan The CRISS + CROSS exhibition and the Freitag lectures in Bangalore and Delhi are supported by: Pro Helvetia – the Swiss Arts Council Goethe-Institut Bangalore, Max Mueller Bhavan, BangaloreSrishti School of Art, Design and Technology Bangalore National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi
Tree trunks and fly-overs
A photographic intervention by Swiss artist Rahel Hegnauer who was in Bangalore on a residency programme. [dated September 2008]
Rahel Hegnauer, a visual artist from Zurich was in Bangalore on the artist-in-residence programme. As a culmination of her residency, Rahel put together an exhibition titled 'tree trunks and fly-overs - a photographic intervention.'
Rahel has studied at the Department of Environmental Art, Glasgow School of Art, Scotland. Following which, Rahel did her postgraduate studies in Art in Public Sphere (Master of Art) in Lucerne, Switzerland.
Extract from the report:
The trees are victims of the ever fast growing, developing town. It is as if they have been taken over by the attributes of a busy city. They lie as dead bodies along the construction sites of the fly-overs with their roots exposed to the air. The fate of the trees is one visual example among many others to prove how an alien element - the fly-over, can disconnect or interrupt a homogenous system (the daily life in a communal area).
The photographic exhibition was followed by talks by: A N Yelappa Reddy, conservationist and environmentalist Sursh Jayaram, art critic and art historian H S Sudhira, Directorate of Urban Land Transport, Government of Karnataka
Important links:
Bangaluru Artist Residency One (bar1)
Rahel Hegnauer
Alice Boner and the Arts of India Trust – Residency
The Alice Boner and the Arts of India Trust offers Swiss literary scholars and practising artists a place to reside and work in Varanasi, India. [dated August 2008]
Pro Helvetia New Delhi in collaboration with The Alice Boner and the Arts of India Trust offers Swiss literary scholars and practising artists a place to reside and work in Varanasi, India.
Dr Alice Boner (1889-1981) a Swiss artist and scholar settled in Varanasi, India in 1936 and came to be known as one of the outstanding scholars and interpreters of Indian sculpture and temple architecture. Inspired by the surroundings, Alice Boner chose to live in an old house on Assi Ghat, on the banks of the river Ganges in Varanasi. Once in India, she turned to art studies and studied principles of Indian art and architecture. Her research led her - to not only the significant discovery of the principles of composition in Indian sculpture, but also to a search for the meaning of its content.
For her unique contribution to the understanding of Indian art, she was awarded the Padma Bhushan, an Indian civilian award that is awarded to recognise distinguished service of a high order to the nation, in any field, by the President of India in 1974. She was also awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Zürich.
The Alice Boner and the Arts of India Trust was set up with a view to support the study of fundamental principles in Indian art and establish fellowships for writers, artists and scholars who wish to live and work in Varanasi for a length of time. The Trust has maintained the house, as it was when Alice Boner lived there. Her own living quarters from where she could watch the sunrise and the river Ganges remain untouched. Residents staying at the house can also see Alice Boner’s paintings, which to this day adorn the walls of the house.
The Residency
Each residency will be for a period of four to eight weeks and will cover the costs of international flights, visa and insurance and also a per diem for the duration of stay. The Alice Boner and the Arts of India Trust will provide accommodation and also take care of the hospitality costs for the duration of the residency. Swiss writers and artists who are looking to work in India are encouraged to apply for this residency at least 3 months before they wish to take up residency to Pro Helvetia New Delhi.
Alice Boner House B1/ 159 Assi Ghat Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India Tel: +91 542 2311360
CRISS + CROSS design from Switzerland 1860 – 2007
Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council invites you to a Swiss design exhibition in Ahmedabad and Bangalore. [ dated August 2008]
CRISS + CROSS has been curated by Ariana Pradal, Köbi Gantenbein & Roland Eberle
Ahmedabad
Partner: National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad
Venue: National Institute of Design, Paldi, Ahmedabad 380 007 Opening on Tuesday, 5 August 2008 at 5 pm Date: 6 - 14, August 2008 Time: 10am to 7pm (daily)
Bangalore
Partners: Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology & Goethe-Institut Bangalore
Venue: Goethe-Institut Bangalore, Max Mueller Bhavan Opening on Friday, 5 September 2008 at 6:30 pm Exhibition on view from 6 - 20 September 2008 10:30 am - 6:30 pm (Mon - Sat) 10:30 am - 5:00 pm (Sun)
The exhibition is made up of seven parts:
small + beautiful
Switzerland is a small country and its engineers are masters of miniaturisation. The focus of miniature design has shifted hugely to now include apparatus such as hearing aids, pacemakers, digital cameras and computer mice etc. The objects are small, even tiny, and technically and aesthetically outstanding. A range of these tiny objects owe their distinctive appearance to Swiss designers.
the tiny helpers
Our arms, hands, legs and eyes are useful, but limited. The designer has constructed a range of implements and tools that enable us to clip and cut, dig and plough, scrape and stir. For use in homes, offices, kitchens and gardens.
up to the mountains
Featuring the tourist industry’s mountain railways, cable-cars, tunnels, chalets, hotels, posters, sports equipment, hats and gloves, all of which naturally has to be given an appealing design.
the longsellers
Swiss design goes back a long way: Toblerone, the Swiss army knife, the Swiss map, furniture by Willy Guhl, Le Corbusier or USM Haller.
hip + young
There is hard and fast competition among designers to create imaginative variations for apparatus, jewellery, clothes, books, food products, machines and everyday equipment. Many small studios design and produce goods and brands specifically for small, but dynamic sections, giving rise to a delightful range of colours and shapes.
a visual statement
In 1958, the designers Richard Paul Lohse, Josef Müller-Brockmann, Hans Neuburg and Carlo Vivarelli founded the magazine New Graphic Design, which quickly became internationally famous. These authors regarded graphic art as communication and no longer as applied painting. Thus they laid the foundation for corporate design, which quickly spread internationally. What began as New Graphics mutated into Swiss Style and later into International Style. A slide show presents about 300 recent works of graphic designers from various fields.
library
Switzerland has a long tradition as a book-printing nation. Books that boast not only about stimulating and intelligent content, but also so beautifully designed and are in demand across nations.
CRISS + CROSS is supported by:
Pro Helvetia – the Swiss Arts Council
National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad
Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology , Bangalore
Goethe-Institut Bangalore, Max Mueller Bhavan, Bangalore
The exhibitions in India are part of the jubilee celebrations commemorating 60 years of Indo- Swiss friendship. For more information click here.
