SAUTE 09 Conference

Internationally recognised Indian English author, Amit Chaudhuri to participate in SAUTE 09 Conference.

Pro Helvetia New Delhi is supporting the participation of Prof. Amit Chaudhuri at the conference being organised by SAUTE (Swiss Association of University Teachers of English) on 8 – 9 May 2009 at the University of Fribourg. The conference - "Performing the Self: the Construction of Pre-Modern and Modern Identities in Language and Literature" is being organised by the Faculty of Arts, Department of English.

Amit Chaudhuri is an internationally recognised Indian English author. He has written numerous novels, short stories, poems and critical essays in English, but is probably best known for his book Freedom Song. He attended University College London, Balliol College, Oxford and has also been a writer-in-residence at Wolfson College. His novels have won several major awards and he has received international critical acclaim. His latest book is a collection of poems entitled St. Cyril Road and Other Poems, and in 2001 he edited The Picador Book of Modern Indian Literature.

Amit Chaudhuri is also an acclaimed Indian classical musician. He is currently a creative writing tutor at the University of East Anglia. On March 18, 2008, he was included in the panel for the Man Booker International Prize 2009, alongside writer Jane Smiley and essayist Andrey Kurkov.

For more information >>

Back from India

A beautiful insight into their travel to India and the varied experiences that they were subjected to - the exhibition 'Back from India' tells the stories of seven Swiss graphic novelists.

'Back from India' is an exhibition of work contributed by graphic novelists Andrea Caprez, Andreas Gefe, Christophe Badoux, Christoph Schuler, Kati Rickenbach, Michael Husmann Tschäni and Pascale Mira Tschäni on their return to Switzerland from India. The exhibition captures their impression of India and the experiences they had during their travels.

30 April - 17 May 2009
Exhibition at 14 Ecke Viadukt, Josefstrasse, 8005 Zurich

30 April at 1800 hrs
Book presentation -Kulbhushan Meets Stoeckli, a comic by Indian and Swiss graphic novelists

10 May - 1900 hrs
Christoph Schuler reads from his Indian diaries

16 May - 1900 to 0400 hrs
Bhangra Disco (DJ Andoine)

Opening Timings:
Thursday and Friday: 1700 - 2000 hrs
Saturday and Sunday: 1400 - 1800 hrs

To view details click here

Swiss Video Lounge

Bernhard Bischoff presents works of 8 Swiss video artists to a select audience at the Pro Helvetia New Delhi office on Monday 27 April at 7 pm.

Bernhard Bischoff presents works of 8 Swiss video artists to a select audience at the Pro Helvetia New Delhi office on Monday 27 April at 7 pm.
The presentation includes the works of:
Thomas Galler, Bernhard Huwiler, Reto Leibundgut, Andrea Loux, Laurent Schmid, Dominik Stauch, Margot Zanni and Com&Com

Details of the presentation by Bernhard Bischoff

Com&Com 
‹SIDE BY SIDE›, 2002, 4’30’’, 35mm, Loop Musik: 
Com&Com feat. Dieter Meier Courtesy Kunsthaus Zurich and Kunstmuseum Kt. Thurgau Com & Com is an artists duo, which does constantly fathom the borders of the „good“ taste in art. In perfectly elaborated parodies of genres the two artists question multilayered the system of art, resp. culture. Within the scope of their Swiss trilogy they stage the swift music video ‹Side by Side›, in which in cooperation with Dieter Meier (Yello) the alleged dream factory Formula One on one hand, on the other hand they appreciative pull its leg. (BB)

Thomas Galler 
‹Murder›, 2002, Video, Colour, Stereo sound, 2'27'', Loop Thomas G. is the master of appropriation. Often times he is working with ‹Found Footage› and generates with objects trouvés - be they medial or material - his own stories. For ‹Murder› he used clips from Stanley Kubricks ‹The Shining› and created from a know scene a new short story - brilliant.

Bernhard Huwiler 
‹0,4702›, 2001, 3'40", Loop In ‹0,4702› Huwiler is testing the capability of a video camera by letting her circle around him on a rope. 0,4702 amounts the slow motion coefficient, in such a way as to visualise for the first time the actually briskly dashing along landscapes. Insomuch it is an interesting side effect that the work becomes a self-portrait of the special class. Astonishing and fascinating, it is a masterpiece in assembly and motion.

Reto Leibundgut 
‹Wandstück›, 2007, 4’42’’, Loop Music: Dieter Seibt, Beat & Ernesto Feller, Cut: Diana Dodson Rhythmically tuned on the music a wall of wooden boards is growing. Reto Leibundgut, master in the use of garbage material has performance like nailed his ample collection of coloured wooden planks to the wall. Originated is a kind of an art collage, a “Work-in-Progress-Werk“ par excellence - and a wonderful, ephemeral wall structure / sculpture.

Andrea Loux 
‹Short Cuts: pilot (sublimation)›, 2008, 4’35’’, Loop Music: Dieter Seibt, Beat & Ernesto Feller, Cut: Diana Dodson A model aircraft pilot lets his aeroplane fly higher and higher. Indefatigable the aeroplane turns around, until it disappears in the continuum of space and time - just as the pilot does dissolve alike and gradually becomes a part of the sky.

Laurent Schmid 
‹Buzz›, 2008, video animation, 3’30’’, Loop Laurent Schmid knows how to put different layers together. With his text animations he evocates on one hand stellar constellations, which bear witness to a generally romantic understand, on the other hand the “single stars” become letters, which form to words, as a realisation of dreams and wishes.

Dominik Stauch 
‹Radar Love›, 2004, DVD, 2’20’’, Loop (Drums performed by Tom Beck) A swift circle animation from Dominik Stauch. Indefatigably the drums make the rhythm, the concentric circles attract everyone. Almost hypnotic there’s nothing else to do, than stare in the middle and loose the relation between space an time.

Margot Zanni 
‹Grosses Solo for Ahmed›, 2007, video animation, 6 Min., Loop A wonderful animation in a lively square of Kairo/Egypt. She took out all cars an human beings, exept one single person – a utopy of a relaxed place. 
Total duration of the show 30 min 24 sec.   
For more information on Bernhard Bischoff visit www.videokunst.ch

Artist in Residence Om Soorya's work at Kunst Halle

Indian artist Om Soorya, currently in Switzerland on the artist in residence programme, exhibits his recent work at Kunst Halle, St. Gallen.

Kunst Halle St Gallen is pleased to present 
the work of the Indian artist Om Soorya in the lobby of the Kunst Halle St. Gallen. 

Within the artist in residence program of Pro Helvetia, Om Soorya spent the last two months in St. Gallen. Om Soorya’s series of watercolours, «Silence-Breathless», which deals with the slavery in his country and its impact on today’s India, will be exhibited until 31 May.
Presentation of work and bar: Wednesday, 6 May 2009, 6 – 8 p.m.
The artist will be present.

Om Soorya’s work (*1977, India) is concerned with the history of India and especially the urbanisation of the country. The artist interweaves these topics with his own past, creating dreamlike images. His latest exhibitions took place in Shanghai (2009), New Delhi, Mumbai (2008) and New York (2007).

Breathless silence; the forgotten folk lines…
Om Soorya, a young emerging artist from India, will be in Kunst Halle until 30 May 2009. A Kerela born artist, who now lives and works in Hyderabad, Om’s works are surreal dream-like landscapes that question what is real and what is perceived.

Born in 1977, the Kerala based artist’s works underline the fact that aesthetics are as important to him as content. Om Soorya is known for his surreal landscapes occupied by both positive and negative energies that he depicts in many fascinating forms. The artist’s usage of pigment is intuitive, albeit fluid. His rich tones coupled with lines varying from watery blurs seem much like a twilight zone.

"The project I am engaged with here is a kind of extension of works what I have been doing for a while. Inherently, this body of work will look to the certain rural aspects of my life. It’s a small autobiographical unwritten history of a certain locality where I was spent my childhood in north of Kerala/India.   It is in a miniature format, and the medium is water color on paper. Over here I travel through my past to locate myself, to reach to my route as an artist as well to search the serenity of the past where I was very close to the nature. When I look back to my childhood, I see a lot of visual possibilities. It’s not just nostalgic exercise, but I evolve myself to seek out the contradiction between my present urban life and the local memoir.

It is a combination of personal history, stories; folk elements and socio-political-cultural history of a particular time of a locality. It may be a very illustrative fictional way of representing intimate history.  For me there is no other way of beholding it. Ultimately, it shares an idea of local perceptiveness with the global perception. ( two images from this series are attached)"

Om Soorya - 2009 / St. Gallen, Switzerland
Image 1: A thin red line rooted in the history…., water color on paper, 32x24cm, 2009
Image 2: The men; they all took bath together in the same canal, water color on paper, 32x24cm,2009

Swiss artist Nina Weber

Swiss artist Nina Weber, currently on a residency shares work that she has done at Vyom Centre in Jaipur. [dated April 2009]

Pro Helvetia and Vyom Arts Centre cordially invite you to an exhibition of work by Nina Weber, artist-in-residence from Switzerland

Smt. Kiran Soni Gupta (IAS) Divisional Commissioner, Jaipur will inaugurate the exhibition at 6:30 pm on Wednesday 29 April 2009 at Sudarshan Art Gallery, Jawahar Kala Kendra, J.L.N. Marg, Jaipur

The exhibition will remain open to the public till 5 May 2009 between 11:00 am and 7:00 pm daily.

Nina Weber, the young artist from Zurich has a degree in Arts from the ZHdK (Zurich University of Arts). She is known for her ink drawings, installations, sculptures and paintings. Her multifaceted talent is infused with sensitivity that merges the man-made world and the world of nature. Her imagery is taken from both these worlds and as she merges the two worlds, she evokes a symbolic world that is real as well has a dreamlike quality. Nevertheless it is a commentary on the state of things.

As an artist-in-residence since December 2008 at the Vyom Arts Centre, Jaipur, she has been painting images that have a different cultural context. These images have been taken from life in the Pink City as seen through her eyes. She is fascinated by the temples at crossroads, the images of Shiva and Kali, the easy pace of life with monkeys, dogs, cows, camels and elephants interwoven into daily life. The simplistic images of Hanuman or Balaji look like an abstract sculpture to her. She is fascinated by the spontaneous nature of the city where the world of animals coexists peacefully with humans. Religion is still another aspect of life that surprises Nina with its animated presence in the life of the people here. God is not a distant entity for an Indian. He is now and here, as a part of life, invoked easily like an approachable friend.

These observations have inspired her vibrant paintings and black ink drawings. The homogeneous nature of Indian life is expressed in her drawings that are populated with people, plants, flowers, animals and gods. Back at home, her vocabulary symbolised a world, where perfection had taken over beauty of nature. Here in India, and in Jaipur, the living and inclusive nature of life expresses itself as a positive comment.

Mridul Bhasin Jaipur, April 09 

Martin Dean to visit Delhi and Pune

Martin Dean, writer of Meine Väter (My Father) will read excerpts from his book and talk about his work to students in Delhi and Pune.

Martin Dean, writer of Meine Väter (My Father) will read excerpts from his book and talk about his work to students in Delhi and Pune. The work and the novel of Martin Dean will be introduced by Prof. Alexander Honold, well-known expert in German literature.  

Programme:

Monday, 2 March 2009   Department of Germanic and Romance Studies Arts Faculty, Delhi University

Martin Dean reading in German from his novel Meine Väter.

Introduction and moderation by Prof. Honold.

Time: 1430 - 1600 hrs

Tuesday, 3 March 2009  

Centre of German Studies, School of Lanugages, Literature and Culture Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Martin Dean reading in German from his novel Meine Väter.

Introduction and moderation by Prof. Honold.

Time: 1400 - 1600 hrs

Wednesday, 4 March 2009   Committee Room, School of Lanugages, Literature and Culture Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi   Lecture by Prof. Honold in Englsh: Music as Site and Tool in Edward Said's Postcolonial Critique" Time: 1100 - 1300 hrs 

Thursday, 5 March 2009 Department of Germanic and Romance Studies Arts Faculty, Delhi University  International Conference on “Imagined Horizons” – moderation by Prof. HonoldTime: 1415 hrs 
Friday, 6 March 2009   Goethe Institute Max Mueller Bhavan Goethe Insitute, Boat Club Road, Pune Martin Dean Reading in German from his novel Meine VäterIntroduction and moderation by Prof. Honold. Time: 1130 - 1300 hrs Teachers training workshop by Martin Dean and Prof Honold Time: 1830 - 1930 hrs 
Saturday, 7 March 2009 Ranade Institute, University of Pune Fergusson Road, Near Deccan Gymkhana, Pune Teachers training workshop for teachers of German as a Foreign Language Time: 1000 - 1300 hrs
Dean lives and works as a free writer and publicist in Basel. In 1976, he obtained his university entrance diploma at grammar school in Aarau. In 1977, he began studying German, philosophy, and ethnology at Universität Basel. In 1986, he finished his studies with a licentiate work about Hans Henny Jahnn’s novel "Perrudja", and graduated summa cum laude.  

He travelled extensively and lived abroad for many years, in places such as South America, Portugal, France, Greece and Italy. From 1990 to 1998, he taught at the Schule für Gestaltung (School for Design) in Basel. In 1999, he started teaching German and philosophy at the grammar school in Muttenz.    

Awards 1983 "Rauriser Literaturpreis" for Die verborgenen Gärten 1988/89 Stipend at "Istituto Svizzero" in Rome 1994 Complete work price of the Swiss Schiller Foundation 1997 Guest lecturer as "Poet in residence" at the “Gesamthochschule Essen”2003 Single work price of the Swiss Schiller Foundation  

Works Die verborgenen Gärten, novel, 1982 Die gefiederte Frau. Fünf Variationen über die Liebe, 1984 Der Mann ohne Licht, novel, 1988 Außer mir. Ein Journal, 1990 Der Guayanaknoten, novel, 1994 Die Ballade von Billie und Joe, novel, 1997 Monsieur Fume oder Das Glück der Vergeßlichkeit, 1998 Meine Väter, novel, 2003

Zwischen Fichtenbaum und Palme. Kommentierte Textsammlung für den interkulturellen Deutschunterricht an Mittelschulen, 2005  

For more information on Martin Dean visit: www.mrdean.ch  

when kulbhushan met stockli

"when kulbhushan met stockli" is an experiment in telling short graphic tales, which, individually and together, create a local universe. [ dated March 2009]

Fumetto International Comix-Festival Lucerne An exhibition around the theme of the project will be held with hand drawn images from the experiences of the 19 artists, involved in the project. Glimpses of some pages from the book will also be on display.

Exhibition venue: Sic! Raum für Kunst , Baselstrasse 72, 6003 Lucerne. Opening / book launch - Saturday 28 March from 2 - 5 pm. Exhibition dates: March 29th - April 5th 2009 ( open daily from 12 - 8 pm )

Panel discussion Venue: Aula der Hochschule Luzern, Design & Kunst, Sentimatt1/Dammstrasse, 6003 Lucerne (Illustration School of Lucerne) Date: 31 March 2009 Time: 5 - 6 pm

Participants: Sekhar Mukherjee( NID Ahmedabad) Anindya Roy( Editor of the book) Kati Rickenbach (artist)

Contributors: Andrea Caprez, Andreas Gefe, Ashish Padlekar, Christophe Badoux, Christoph Schuler, Kati Rickenbach, Orijit Sen, Samit Basu, Sekhar Mukherjee, Vishwajyoti Ghosh, Anindya Roy, Rajiv Eipe, Sunaina Coelho, Michael Husmann Tschäni, Pascale Mira Tschäni, Fahad Faizal, Samrat Choudhury, Esther Banz and Harsho Mohan Chattoraj

The project 
Thematically, the project explores hidden urban themes, opens the psychic core of cities in Switzerland and India and constructs a conversation channel between the two. Artefacts of the cities themselves give rise to the stories. The structure follows connections that are obvious, connections that are ephemeral and connections that don't exist.

The participants from both cities create stories and within stories, which either bear a relationship with the other or are set independent of each other, yet belong to a single meta-narrative. This way we explore the natural possibilities of the hypertext in comics, and fully use the non-linearity of the form.

Through the graphic lexis we simulate a natural conversation that could exist between urban centres, in India and Switzerland. We explore the idea that a city is essentially a jumble of associations. It is a spectacle of imaginary spaces and people, enmeshed with the real, expressed by text and image.

This project will generate interest in the graphic novel form in artists and readers in both countries, who in the future could use this project as an example to create further collaborations using the form.

It will create strong professional networks across two cultures, furthering creative practice on both sides. In India this is an emerging art form and the Swiss collaboration will be both enriching and enabling.

No Signal

NO SIGNAL, a video by Swiss artists Manuel Nicolas Schmalstieg, Boris Kish and Chloe Cramer as part of Video Wednesday at Gallery Espace. [dated February 2009]

Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council and Gallery Espace present NO SIGNAL a video by Swiss artists Manuel Nicolas Schmalstieg, Boris Kish and Chloe Cramer as part of Video Wednesday on 25 February at Gallery Espace16 Community Centre, New Friends Colony, New Delhi from 3:00pm - 7:00pm

NO SIGNAL is a series of short videos created for the electronic billboard of the main railway station in Geneva. The basic material was gathered from the surveillance cameras installed at various locations inside the station. This footage is mixed with short excerpts from fictional hollywood movies touching the subject of control through technology. The videos were screened inbetween the usual advertisements for more than a month, during July and August 2006, in the frame of the festival 50 JPG (50 jours pour la photographie).

Manuel Schmalstieg Born in 1976, Manuel Schmalstieg operates on the borderline between video, performance and software art. After experimentation in the fields of graphic novel, animation film and audio production that he carried out during his studies in Geneva (ESBA/atelier zero1) and Krakow (Academy of fine arts/animated film department), he turns at the end of the nineties towards realtime video. Through his performances and installations, he explores issues of surveillance, control and censorship, confronting the viewer with uncomfortable truths and concealed motivations. Since 2001, he operates as an undercover agent for the N3KROZOFT Ltd media group, an art collective mimicking the style and rhetorics of IT corporations and military think tanks.

Recent works: Aether9 (networked video performance, 2007-2009), BLACKBOX:GVA (video performance, Switzerland, 2006), BABEL PROJECT (new media workshop, in the frame of the 2nd Bucharest Biennale, Romania, 2006). NO SIGNAL (video surveillance piece for public screen, Geneva central station, 2006). LOL – laughing out loud (media performance, developed for the swiss digital arts foundation «sitemapping.ch». Presented in Paris (Galerie Les Voûtes), Belgrade (Galerie SKC), Basel (Plug.In), St-Gallen (Neue Kunst Halle). ).

N3krozoft Ltd N3krozoft is a collective of artists working in the field of electronic media and performance, in collaboration with researchers in cognitive sciences and artificial intelligences. The Geneva-based administrative headquarter links the autonomous cells which have been established in several emerging regions.
The website www.n3krozoft.com offers an overview of N3krozoft's activity in the domains of stage performance, artistic software, mixed media environments, film, video and audio production.

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