Surjit Nongmeikapam invited to perform at Theater Spektakel
Indian choreographer and contemporary dancer, Surjit Nongmeikapam invited to perform at the Zürcher Theater Spektakel.
Sandro Lunin, Festival Director and Artistic Director, Zürcher Theater Spektakel (Theater Spektakel, Zurich) is pleased to invite Indian chreographer and contemporary dancer, Surjit Nongmeikapam to perform at the 34th edition of the Zürcher Theater Spektakel.
Date: 22 / 23/ 24 August 2013
Time: 7:00 - 7:45 pm
Venue: Rote Fabrik, Zürich
Surjit's participation at the festival is being supported by Pro Helvetia New Delhi. Surjit Nongmeikapam will present One Voice / Black Pottery Dance & Video | 45 mins The dancer and choreographer Surjit Nongmeikapam comes from the Indian province of Manipur near the border of Myanmar. He masters Kathak, a classical Indian dance, as well as contemporary dance forms. His dense, expressive solo is a reflection on torture and on the trauma that can lead to a lifelong bond between victim and torturer.
Surjit Nongmeikapam has also been nominated for the Zürcher Kantonalbank Acknowledgement Prize. The list of nominations include:
Surjit Nongmeikapam / India : One Voice
Sung-Im Her & Su-Mi Jang / South Korea: Philia
Venuri Perera / Sri Lanka : Thalattu
Moe Satt Myanmar : Face and Fingers
Chuma Sopotela / South Africa: Inkukhu ibeke iqanda
Mamela Nyamza / South Africa: Isingqala
Ali Moini / Iran : My Paradoxical Knives
Eisa Jocson / Philippines : Macho Dancer
Sonya Levin / Russia : The Day Before
A clip from Surjit Nongmeikapam performance One Voice can be viewed at:
www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AsDEEb7x00w
Surjit has on a previous occasion worked with Swiss artist Frédéric Lombard as part of the The Yellow Line Project (YLP) residency organized by GATI, that brought together dancers and media artists to make 5 films in different public sites around New Delhi in 2011.
The programme of this year's festival can be downloaded at www.theaterspektakel.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/2013/Pocket_PDF/ZTS_2013_Pocket_engl.pdf
Photo credit: Soumita & Soumit Bhattacharya
'Curatorial Work between Action and Reflection'
A presentation by curator Oliver Kielmayer, who is the director and curator of Kunsthalle Winterthur and the founder of WeAreTheArtists.
Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council and Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art (FICA) invite you to 'Curatorial Work between Action and Reflection,'
a presentation by curator Oliver Kielmayer
Date: Monday, 29 July 2013
Time: 6:00 pm
Venue: FICA Reading Room, D-42 Defence Colony, New Delhi 110024
In this presentation Kielmayer, who is the director and curator of Kunsthalle Winterthur and the founder of WeAreTheArtists, focuses on the backstage perspective of projects instead of their conceptual and theoretical aspects. He explores the creative potential activated by problematic and unsatisfactory contexts and shows how problem-solving is a source of innovation.
About Oliver Kielmayer:
Oliver Kielmayer teaches art history at F+F School of Art and Media Design in Zurich. He is the director of the Kunstalle Winterthur, a centre for contemporary art in Zurich. In 2004, Kielmayer founded WeAreTheArtists, a network project that focuses on open discourse and authentic communication about art by means of a homepage and a free newspaper.
Image courtesy: Couch Curator, photostory published in WeAreTheArtists, No. 16, 2012. The complete photostory is also available online on www.wearetheartists.net
Experimenter Curator's Hub invites Oliver Kielmayer
Swiss curator Oliver Kielmayer, Director Kunsthalle Winterthur will be in India this July to participate in the Experimenter Curator's Hub 2013.
In continuation with their interest in critical curatorial practice, Experimenter Kolkata has announced the third edition of the Experimenter Curators' Hub that will take place at Experimenter in Kolkata on Friday, 26th & Saturday, 27th July 2013.
Pro Helvetia New Delhi is delighted to associate with ECH for the third consecutive year and has invited Swiss curator Oliver Kielmayer, Director of Kunsthalle Winterthur to participate in the Experimenter Curators' Hub 2013.
The hub is a crucial platform to discuss the most contemporary thought behind curating through the presentations of the ten participating curators.
Participating Curators:
Alessandro Vincentelli / UK
Che Kyongfa / Japan
Daniel Muzyczuk / Poland
Girish Shahane / India
Kathrin Rhomberg / Austria
Nancy Adajania / India
Natasha Ginwala / India
Oliver Kielmayer / India
Pooja Sood / India
Sandhini Poddar / India
Attendance to Experimenter Curators’ Hub is free but on prior registration only on a first come first serve basis. Please email admin@experimenter.in to register.
Swiss Curator Oliver Kielmayer
Oliver Kielmayer is the Director of Kunsthalle Winterthur and lives in Zurich, Switzerland. Kielmayer’s career includes numerous positions as curator of major art galleries, including the world-renowned Kunsthalle Winterthur in Winterthur, Switzerland, where he is currently its director and the Kleines Helmhaus in Zurich, where he held the position of curator from 2000 through 2002. From 2001 to 2004, he was the Manager of international artist in residence programme of the foundation Kunstlerhaus Boswil and 2005 co-curator at the IBCA - International Biennale of Contemporary Art in Prague. He is also the publisher of the free artist newspaper WeAreTheArtists and member of the art committee of the canton of Zurich. In addition, Oliver Kielmayer’s work has been featured in many exhibits over the past decade, most notably: Begehren & Eroberung - Filmstills, Russ Meyer Vintage Prints, Celebrity Nudes, Pornophotographica; Aggression; Downloads from Future; and Homecoming. He also has a long list of publications to his credit, including artificialities; Umelec 2/2006; and Christian Vetter – History Park. He has extensive expertise as a lecturer and jurist, most recently as juror of res publica, art project for Stadthaus Zurich; lecturer at Brazier's International, Braziers; and juror Dezemberausstellung, Kunstmuseum, Winterthur.
Swiss Embassy building in Delhi celebrates golden jubilee
Designed by Swiss architect Hans Hofmann, the architectural masterwork was inaugurated by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on July 04, 1963
To commemorate the golden jubilee of the building of the Swiss Embassy in New Delhi, the Embassy of Switzerland has announced the forthcoming year as the Year of Swiss Architecture, Design and Engineering in India.
The building of the Swiss Embassy in New Delhi completes 50 years today - July 04, 2013
Designed by Swiss architect Hans Hofmann and realized posthumously by his young collaborator Walter Ruegg, the edifice was inaugurated in presence of the then Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on July 04, 1963.
This Swiss Embassy is recognized as a significant architectural landmark in New Delhi.... It symbolizes and stands for the strong bond that India and Switzerland have shared through these years. Like the relationship between the two countries this building has emerged stronger with time, and like the friendship between the two countries, it has become timeless.
Heartiest congratulations to all those who have been associated with it at some point or other!
'Two leads to dialogue' a video presentation at Experimenter
Compiled by Avijna Bhattacharya and Rikimi Madhukaillya who have been mentored by the Swiss curator, Mirjam Varadinis.
Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council in partnership with Experimenter Kolkata
presents
Two leads to dialogue
a video presentation curated by Avijna Bhattacharya and Rikimi Madhukaillya from India who have been mentored by the Swiss curator, Mirjam Varadinis.
at Experimenter, Kolkata
Dates: 23, 24, and 25 July 2013
Single screening: 4pm-7pm
Participating artists: Alexander Hahn, Paribartana Mohanty, Ingo Giezendanner, Christoph Büchel's, San Keller, Anne Rochat, Katja Schenker, Zilla Leutenegger, Mithu Sen, Roman Signer, Nils Nova, Elodie Pong, Sujit Malik, Srijata Roy & Mrijtunjay Chatterjee, Prateek Sagar and Gian-Reto Gredig & Goran Galic.
The idea behind curating a programme of videos with works of Swiss and Indian artists generated from interactions between our mentor Mirjam Varadinis (Curator, Kunsthaus Zurich), Rikimi Madhukaillya and me when Pro Helvetia brought us together in New Delhi in 2011. Two years since then, with the support of Pro Helvetia, we are pleased to announce that a programme has been realised, one we aspired to produce.
A cultural dialogue is best carried out through effective communication, perhaps more responsively through two dimensional images in motion. The practice of substantiating opinions and ideas in visual arts through moving images has been evolving worldwide since the last few decades (with the advent of the camcorder and digital revolution), and in India through the 90s, owing to a culture that is dominantly shaped by information circulated by telecastings, cyber-spatial interactions, audio-visual publications (DVDs), video transmissions through mobile phone and so forth. This has apparently changed our cultural perceptions towards image making. Efforts to identify such changes are aspiring and absorbing at the same time, therefore our attempt to bring together a collection of video-works of Swiss and Indian artists both young and established, to initiate a dialogue and explore artistic productions of video art in both the countries, with analogous contexts, orientations and concerns.
A liquescent state of ideas from the artists of both countries, the compilation of video can largely be placed into four categories. There are videos which are interactive and performance based, videos/short animation films, then there are the videos that have a strong documentary self and the ones which very playfully have erased the borders of drawing individual images and those of moving ones.
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Mirjam Varadinis Mirjam Varadinis is an art historian, curator and writer based in Zürich, Switzerland. She has been a curator at Kunsthaus Zürich for the past ten years. Responsible for contemporary art at the Kunsthaus, Mirjam has curated many exhibitions including Aleksandra Mir: Switzerland and Other Islands (2006), Shifting Identities (2008), and Motion Picture(s) (2010). Mirjam has also co-curated the exhibition Broken Lines as a part of the annual art festival 'Printemps de Septembre' (2006) in Toulouse, France. She has edited 'Parkett: 20 Years of Artists' Collaborations'. As a curator she has many solo exhibitions to her credit, such as those of Rosa Barba, Adrian Paci, Mircea Cantor, Runa Islam, Tino Sehgal, Erik van Lieshout, Aleksandra Mir, Nedko Solakov, Urs Fischer, David Shrigley to name a few. In 2012, she co-curated 'TRACK' in Ghent (Belgium), together with Philippe Van Cauteren. In 2005 she launched the internet-platform www.azple.com in collaboration with Annie Wu.
Mirjam Varadinis was in India as the international jury member of the SKODA PRIZE 2012.
Oliver Kielmayer to visit India in July
Swiss curator Oliver Kielmayer, Director Kunsthalle Winterthur will be in India this July on the invitation of Experimenter, Kolkata and FICA, New Delhi.
Swiss curator Oliver Kielmayer, Director Kunsthalle Winterthur, Switzerland
will deliver a talk at FICA, Delhi on
'Curatorial work between action and reflection'
Date: Monday 29 July 2013
Venue: FICA (Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art) Reading Room, D42, Defence Colony, New Delhi 110024 Time: 6:00 pm (tbc)
His presentation on 'Curatorial work between action and reflection' at FICA will look at how practical aspects of problem solving can create interesting new formats of intermediation.
Oliver Kielmayer will also be part of the Experimenter Curator's Hub in Kolkatta from 25 - 27 July 2013.
About the curator:
Oliver Kielmayer (*1970 in Baden, lives and works in Zürich) was curator of the Kleines Helmhaus in Zurich from 2000 - 2002 and managed an international artist in residence programme from 2001 - 2004. From 2004 - 2012 he was member of the art commission of the canton of Zurich, and he is publisher of the free artist newspaper WeAreTheArtists. Since 2006 Oliver Kielmayer is director of the Kunsthalle Winterthur; some of his recent books include The Telephone Book Special Edition(2010), Who Am I Anyway - Three Interviews with Köken Ergun (2011) and Martin Soto Climent - The Equation of Desire (2012).
To get more information on works curated by him visit the Kunsthalle Winterthur site at: www.kunsthallewinterthur.ch/home/page.aspx where he is the director and curator.
Valentin Carron to represent Switzerland at the Venice Biennale
Valentin Carron will represent Switzerland at the 55th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia in the Swiss Pavilion in the Giardini.
Pavilion of Switzerland at the 55th International Art Exhibition - la Biennale di Venezia
Valentin Carron
Curator: Giovanni Carmine
Valentin Carron has been nominated by the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia to represent Switzerland at the 55th International Art Exhibition - la Biennale di Venezia from 1 June to 24 November 2013 in the Swiss Pavilion in the Giardini. His exhibition is complemented by an accompanying talks and events programme entitled "Salon Suisse" at the Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi.
For Valentin Carron, sculpture is central to his work. The formal vocabulary of his pieces is inspired by the imagery of the Canton of Valais where he has spent almost all his life, borrowing and adapting the internationally renowned vocabulary of the style of his alpine home region and making it peculiarly his own. Through stylistic and material tensions, his art casts doubt as to the authenticity of the vernacular, whilst developing a highly personal artistic discourse.
For the Swiss Pavilion the artist has teamed up with Giovanni Carmine, director of Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen. Carron's exhibition is conceived as a specific, autonomous whole, encompassing wall and floor-based sculptural pieces, installation and readymade artwork. Greeting the visitor at the door of the pavilion will be a wrought iron snake whose form (over 80 metres long) winds through the architecture like a drawn line. Carron's serpent is a two-headed beast that becomes a decorative element in the modernist architecture of the Swiss Pavilion, designed in 1952 by Bruno Giacometti. The intervention defines a path through the pavilion, treating its architecture respectfully whilst also querying the status of works of art and function of sculpture. The gesture is typical of Carron's practice which fearlessly employs archaic symbols, archetypal forms and references to art history.
Further works in the exhibition include "windows" - wall-based artworks inspired by the public and religious architecture of the 1950s which recall modernist abstract paintings but are in fact made out of fibre-glass; a collection of flattened musical instruments cast in bronze, hung so as to punctuate the space; and a Piaggio Ciao scooter transformed by its context into a pop ready-made. These apparently nonsequitous elements create a 2/3 disconcerting and ambivalent effect in which nothing is quite what it seems and all is thrown into question, amounting, in the words of the curator, Giovanni Carmine, to "an elegant discussion on the complexity of defining sculpture".
"Salon Suisse": platform for lively international exchange
This year the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia presents the first "Salon Suisse" to take place as an official collateral event to the 55th International Art Exhibition - la Biennale di Venezia. An accompanying talks and event programme, the "Salon Suisse" was initiated at last year's architectural biennale. It takes place at the Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi in the heart of Venice's old town, offering a platform for exchange on contemporary art and thought in a relaxed atmosphere. Inspired by the tradition of art and literary salons in past centuries, "Salon Suisse" aims to encourage an international dialogue among artists, specialists, scholars, students and other interested visitors from all over the world. The "Salon Suisse" 2013 is curated by Berne-based art historian Jörg Scheller who put together a challenging programme of events focusing on the legacy of Enlightenment in the globalized art world and looking at the history of the Biennale. Five series of events will take place over the entire duration of the biennale with leading academics and arts practitioners. All events are free of admission and open to everyone. Partner of "Salon Suisse" is Laufen Bathrooms AG.
For further information please visit: www.biennials.ch
The artist, Valentin Carron
Valentin Carron (b. 1977 in Martigny, Switzerland) is one of the most compelling Swiss artists of his generation. He has had recent solo exhibitions at Palais de Tokyo, Paris, France, 2010; La Conservera, Murcia, Spain, 2009; Kunsthalle Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland, 2007 and at the Swiss Institute, New York, USA, 2006. A solo exhibition at Kunsthalle Bern, Switzerland, is planned for 2014.
The curator, Giovanni Carmine
The curator of Valentin Carron's exhibition at the Swiss Pavilion is Giovanni Carmine (b. 1975 in Bellinzona, Switzerland), who has been director of Kunst Halle Sankt Gallen since 2007. Before joining the Kunst Halle, he worked as an 3/3 independent curator and art critic and in 2011 he was artistic coordinator of ILLUMInations, the 54th edition of the Biennale di Venezia, and co-editor of the Biennale catalogue.
Lighting Design workshop by Jonathan O’Hear
Swiss Lighting Designer Jonathan O’ Hear is in India on the invitation of Attakkalari Center for Movement Arts, Bangalore and Gati Dance Forum in Delhi to conduct workshops on 'Light as an artistic medium.
Swiss Lighting Designer Jonathan O' Hear is in India on the invitation of Attakkalari Center for Movement Arts, Bangalore and Gati Dance Forum in Delhi to conduct workshops on 'Light as an artistic medium.
Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council in collaboration with Attakkalari Center for Movement Arts, Bangalore presents an advanced workshop in Lighting Design by Swiss Lighting Designer Jonathan O'Hear.
Date: 25 & 26 May 2013
Time: 10:00 am to 6:00 pm
Venue: Attakkalari Center for Movement Arts, 24-04, 1st Cross, Wilson Garden, Bangalore 560 027, India.
Entry: by registration only. For more details call 7406865628 / 08022122684
or contact Vijay Saravanan C R, Production Coordinator at vijay(at)attakkalari.org
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After the workshops in Bangalore, Swiss lighting designer Jonathan O’ Hear will be Delhi at the invitation of Gati Dance Forum to conduct workshops on ‘Light as an Artistic Medium.’
Date: Sat & Sun, 8 & 9 June 2013
Entry: By registration only
To register for the workshop please email gatidance@gmail.com with your name, phone number and email address.
This is a non-technical lighting design workshop for choreographers, aspiring lighting designers or anyone who is curious about understanding light. The discussion will include light in nature and in art focusing on its emotional and psychological effects on human beings. This workshop is an attempt to understand how one can use light as an artistic medium for stage performances, as objects, and in life. In concordance with the multifaceted nature of light, the workshop will be a mix of theory, observation and sensing.
For more information please contact: www.gatidance.com
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Jonathan O'Hear trained as a film-maker in Vancouver in the 80's where he acquired a taste for manipulating light, sound and video in various contexts. After receiving his diploma in Video and Film Production, from the Vancouver Film School and Columbia Academy, Vancouver, Jonathan O'Hear returned to Geneva and worked as a sound and lights operator, and then as lighting and video designer. He then moved to Brussels where he continued lighting design and consequently worked as an independent multimedia designer. Jonathan now lives in Geneva and has worked for choreographers such as Foofwa D'Imobilité (Neopost Ahrrrt), Rebecca Spinetti (Cobalt) and director, Georges Guereiro (Baraka cie) on all their productions. Jonathan has been the lighting and video designer for over a hundred productions in New York, Geneva, Paris and Brussels in venues such as Baryshnikov Arts Center, Dance New Amsterdam, Association de la Danse Contemporaine, Bercy, Le théâtre des Amandiers, Palexpo, La Comédie de Genève, le Botanique, le Théâtre Varia and many others. He has also been the director of photography for a dozen short movies and music and sports video clips.
Off late, Jonathan has been working on Design and production of interactive video for live performances and development of a video compression system for low bandwidth. He has been experimenting with the use of new technologies and human interference such as generating an organic form of light movement and using a track pad to move and reshape it live during the performance.
Today he lives in Switzerland and works primarily as a lighting designer for the performing arts.
Announcing awardees of Studio Residency 2014
Pro Helvetia New Delhi announces the names of the artists who have been awarded Studio Residencies for 2014 / 2015.
Announcing recipients of Studio Residencies in 2013/2014 Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council announces the names of Indian and Swiss artists who have been selected by the jury to avail of the Studio Residency it offers.
South Asian artists:
Ehsan Ul Haq (visual art) / Pakistan
Sujit Mallik (visual art) / India
Taran Khan (literature) / India
Swiss artists:
Christoph Draeger (visual art)
Christophe Polese (music)
Michael Pelzel (music)
The applications received from the above artists were in concurrence with Pro Helvetia - Swiss Art Council's current mandate. The jury made its decision depending on the application's individual merit as well as on being able to find an appropriate host in Switzerland. Besides, preference is given to artists who are able to demonstrate the possibility of generating follow-up projects.
The selection in India was made by a jury comprising Girish Shahane, an art historian, curator and columnist; Zuleikha Chaudhari, theatre director, artist and light designer; S Kalidas, art critic and columnist from Delhi, and Chandrika Grover Ralleigh, Head Pro Helvetia New Delhi.
The selection has been corroborated by Pro Helvetia's Specialist Departments in Zurich. For more information on Residencies offered by Pro Helvetia click here
Performance: a male ant has straight antennae
A collaborative performance by Indian choreographer Mandeep Raikhy, Swiss light designer Jonathan O'Hear and Japanese musician Yasuhiro Morinaga.
A collaborative performance by Indian choreographer Mandeep Raikhy, Swiss light designer Jonathan O'Hear and Japanese musician Yasuhiro Morinaga.
Date: 13 June 2013
Time: 7:30 pm
Venue: Kamani Auditorium, Copernicus Marg, Mandi House, New Delhi
Entry: Tickets available on Book My Show or
at the venue on 12 & 13 June 2013
Synopsis:
a male ant has straight antennae - exploring notions of masculanity Choreography: Mandeep Raikhy / IndiaLighting Design: Jonathan O'Hear / SwitzerlandSound Score: Yasuhiro Morinaga / Japan a male ant has straight antennae is an ensemble piece that investigates physicality of the body that resides within the wide spectrum of masculinities- ranging from hyper-masculinity to effeminacy. The piece will look at the notion of masculinity through the lenses of movement, relationships, games and touch.
Mandeep Raikhy is a Delhi-based dance artist. After finishing a BA (Hons) Degree in Dance Theatre at Laban, London, in 2002, Mandeep worked with Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company as a company dancer for many years. In 2010-11, he toured with his first full-length work, Inhabited Geometry, to various cities across the country.
Jonathan O'Hear After receiving his diploma in Video and Film Production, from the Vancouver Film School and Columbia Academy, Vancouver, Jonathan O'Hear returned to Geneva and worked as a sound and lights operator, and then as lighting and video designer. He then moved to Brussels where he continued lighting design and consequently worked as an independent multimedia designer. Jonathan now lives in Geneva and has worked for choreographers such as Foofwa D'Imobilité (Neopost Ahrrrt), Rebecca Spinetti (Cobalt) and director, Georges Guereiro (Baraka cie) on all their productions. Jonathan has been the lighting and video designer for over a hundred productions in New York, Geneva, Paris and Brussels in venues such as Baryshnikov Arts Center, Dance New Amsterdam, Association de la Danse Contemporaine, Bercy, Le théâtre des Amandiers, Palexpo, La Comédie de Genève, le Botanique, le Théâtre Varia and many others. He has also been the director of photography for a dozen short movies and music and sports video clips.
Of late, Jonathan has been working on design and production of interactive video for live performances and the development of a video compression system for low bandwidth. He has been experimenting with the use of new technologies and human interference such as generating an organic form of light movement and using a track pad to move and reshape it live during performance. Today he lives in Switzerland and works primarily as a lighting designer for the performing arts.
Yasuhiro Morinaga is a Japanese sound designer and music director and is known in the Asian independent cinema field. He is also a field recording artist specialising in outland ethnic music, oral communication, and wildlife and environmental sounds. Morinaga's eclectic approach to sound design for film has been presented in film festivals in Cannes, Venice, Berlin and Toronto. He also designed and produced sound in a project for SONY's monolithic design exhibition at Milano Salone 2010.
For more information please contact +91 9971406113 or visit www.gatidance.com
Organiser and Partners:
The production of "a male ant has straight antennae " is supported by Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council, Goethe-Institut, Max Mueller Bhavan & Japan Foundation.
Gati Dance Forum, New Delhi - www.gatidance.com
Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council - www.prohelvetia.in
Japan Foundation - www.jfindia.org.in
Goethe-Institut, Max Mueller Bhavan - www.goethe.de/Ins/in/ned/enindex.htm
Lighting Designer Jonathan O'Hear to visit India
Swiss Lighting Designer Jonathan O’ Hear will be in India at the invitation of Attakkalari Center for Movement Arts, Bangalore and Gati Dance Forum in Delhi.
During his stay in India, Jonathan will conduct workshops at the Attakkalari Center for Movement Arts following which he will work on the project “a male ant has straight antennae -exploring notions of masculinity and touch” with Mandeep Raikhy, Gati Dance Forum.
Bangalore: 21 to 27 May 2013
New Delhi: 27 May to 19 June 2013
About Jonathan O’ Hear
After receiving his diploma in Video and Film Production, from the Vancouver Film School and Columbia Academy, Vancouver, Jonathan O’Hear returned to Geneva and worked as a sound operator, lighting operator, video operator, technical manager and then as lighting and video designer. He then moved to Brussels where he continued lighting design and consequently worked as an independent multimedia designer (lighting, video and web).
Jonathan now lives in Geneva and has worked for choreographers such as Foofwa D'Imobilité (Neopost Ahrrrt), Rebecca Spinetti (Cobalt) and Play Director :Georges Guereiro (Baraka cie) on all their productions. Jonathan has been the Lighting and Video designer for over a hundred productions in New York, Geneva, Paris and Brussels in venues such as Baryshnikov Arts Center, Dance New Amsterdam, Association de la Danse Contemporaine, Bercy, Le théâtre des Amandiers, Palexpo, La Comédie de Genève, le Botanique, le Théâtre Varia and many others. He has also been the director of photography for a dozen short movies and music and sports video clips.
Off late, Jonathan has been working on Design and production of interactive video for live performances and development of a video compression system for low bandwidth. He has been experimenting with the use of new technologies and human interference such as generating an organic form of light movement and using a track pad to move and reshape it live during the performance.
Press Mentions 2012
A compilation of current interviews, articles, blog posts and news.
1) Event: Artist-in Residence Alexander Hahn / Publication: Time Out New Delhi
Link: www.timeoutdelhi.net/art/features/alexander-hahn / see attached
2) Event: LAYOUT I / Publication: Freize
Link: www.frieze.com/issue/article/delhi/
3) Event: India Art Fair / Publication: World News
Link: article.wn.com/view/2012/02/03/A_Virtual_Tour_of_the_India_Art_Fair_2012/
4) Event: Ruth Buck / Ahmedabad International arts Festival / Publication: DNA After Hours
Link: epaper.dnaindia.com/epapermain.aspx / see attached
5) Event: SKODA Prize / Mirjam Varadinis / Publication: Art Info magazine
Link: in.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/836942/qa-with-mirjam-varadinis-swiss-curator-and-skoda-prize-jury
6) Event: Experimenter Curator's Hub 2012 / Publication: Art Info magazine
Link: in.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/815894/%E2%80%9Cthe-art-and-the-art-market-can-be-quite-separate-and-at-times-unmerciful%E2%80%9D-abhay-maskara-on-the-challenges-of-curating
7) Event: Experimenter Curator's Hub 2012 / Publication: Art Radar Asia
Link: artradarjournal.com/2012/07/25/experimenters-2012-curators-hub-probes-south-asian-art-practice-event-alert/
8) Event: Experimenter Curator's Hub 2012 / Publication: vimeo
Link: vimeo.com/50200544
9) Event: Urs Widmer India tour / Publication: Jagran City Plus
Link: cityplus.jagran.com/city-news/literary-fever-on_1327126006.html
10) Event: Urs Widmer India tour / Publication: The Hindu
Link: www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/article2807758.ece
11) Event: POL at Gati Dance Residency / Publication: Time Out Delhi
Link: www.timeoutdelhi.net/dance/features/turning-heat
12) Event: POL at Gati Dance Residency / Publication: Asian Age
Link: www.asianage.com/dance/why-we-dance-199
13) Event: FICA Emerging Artist Award / Publication: Matters of Art / online
Link: mattersofart.blogspot.in/2012/06/fica-emerging-artist-award-2012.html
14) Event: FICA Emerging Artist Award / Publication: Art Info magazine / online Link: in.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/830683/fica-emerging-artist-award-for-2012-awarded-to-kerala-based
Mezzo Compo - documentaries on Swiss composers
The French television station Mezzo has produced a series of documentaries portraying ten of the most important Swiss music composers.
Mezzo Compo presents 10 television documentaries about Swiss music composers
Since 1996, the French channel Mezzo has been the global frontrunner in the television broadcasting of classical music, jazz and dance.
In 2012, the French television station Mezzo, with the support of Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council produced a series of documentaries portraying ten of the most important Swiss composers.
Participants
Dieter Ammann, Oscar Bianchi, Xavier Dayer, Martin Jaggi, Daniel Ott, Michael Pelzel, Katharina Rosenberger, Annette Schmucki, Nadir Vassena & Michael Wertmüller
Links to these composer portraits, which last approximately ten minutes each, can be found on: www.swissartsselection.ch/de/1026-mezzo-compo#de/1026-mezzo-compo
For more information on the French television station Mezzo: www.mezzo.tv
Swiss List - new title on the stands
Pro Helvetia and Seagull Books London have collaborated over a publishing project entitled The Swiss List, which envisages publishing 8 - 10 books of Swiss origin into English.
With the latest addition to the Swiss List published by Seagull Books, the number of books in English by Swiss writers now on the stands is eight. 'Death in Persia' by Annemarie Schwarzenbach, translated into English by Lucy Renner Jones has just been published.
Others in the list include Urs Widmer’s My Mother's Lover and My Father's Book translated by Donal Mc Laughlin, Frisch/Dürrenmatt’s, Correspondence translated by Birgit Schreyer Duarte, Dorothee Elmiger’s Invitation to the Bold of Heart translated by Cathy Derbyshire and Annemarie Schwarzenbach’s, Lyric Novella and All the Roads are Open translated by Lucy Renner Jones and Isabel Fargo Cole respectively.
Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council supports translation. The publication of the Swiss List in partnership with Seagull Books is an effort to bring Swiss literature to readers around the world. An extension of the initiative «Moving Words», the Swiss List has had demonstrable impact. Audiences across the globe now have access to Swiss Literature and literary translators from varying nationalities have had the opportunity to network and engage with Swiss writers.
The number of translations of Swiss literature will continue to increase, with Seagull Books looking at publishing another few titles by year end.
'Death in Persia' by Annemarie Schwarzenbach
Translated by Lucy Renner Jones.
Noah by Hugo Loetscher
Translated by Samuel P. Willcocks.
Synopsis
My Mother's Lover by Urs Widmer
Translated by Donal Mc Laughlin
Synopsis
My Father's Book by Urs Widmer
Translated by Donal Mc Laughlin
Synopsis
Correspondence by Frisch/Dürrenmatt’s
Translated by Birgit Schreyer Duarte
Synopsis
Invitation to the Bold of Heart by Dorothee Elmiger
Translated by Cathy Derbyshire
Synopsis
Lyric Novella by Annemarie Schwarzenbach
Translated by Lucy Renner Jones
Synopsis
All the Roads are Open by Annemarie Schwarzenbach
Translated by Isabel Fargo Cole
Synopsis
Links www: http://www.seagullindia.com/books/defaultnew.asp?cbosearch=category&txtkeyword=swiss%20list
Indian artists in Switzerland
Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council welcomes Gitanjali Dang and Pratik Sagar who are currently in Switzerland on a studio residency at Rote Fabrik, Zürich and iaab Basel respectively.
The following Indian artists were awarded Studio Residencies in 2013.
Indian artists:
Anitha Balachandran (Visual Arts) Gitanjali Dang ( Visual Arts ) Pratik Sagar ( Visual Arts )
Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council wishes Gitanjali Dang and Pratik Sagar a successful and productive residency at Rote Fabrik, Zürich and iaab Basel respectively.
For more information on these residency spaces:
Rote Fabrik, Zürich - www.rotefabrik.ch/en/home/
iaab Basel - www.iaab.ch
Residencies
Pro Helvetia’s liaison office in India supports studio and research residencies. Swiss artists and cultural practitioners (e.g. curators, event organisers, mediators) in the areas of the visual arts, music, literature, theatre and dance are eligible to apply. In return, Pro Helvetia facilitates residencies in Switzerland for artists and cultural practitioners from India.
Studio residency 2015
A studio residency (3 months) in India or, conversely in Switzerland, gives artists the chance to gain a broad insight into a different cultural environment. The aim of the residency is to find inspiration, establish networks and contemplate new projects and cooperations. In addition to a place to work and accommodation, Pro Helvetia will provide a specialist from their field to support them. Pro Helvetia covers the costs of travel, insurance and per diem expenses. A maximum of four applications can be considered per region each year. Applicants may apply three times in total for a Pro Helvetia studio residency.
1.1 Selection criteria
- convincing track record: artistic activity above and beyond regional level for at least three years
- context-related motivation
- adequate foreign language skills
1.2 Applications
Applications can be submitted until 1 March 2014 via www.myprohelvetia.ch for 2015. Applications must be written in English.
PLEASE NOTE: Applications for 2014 stand closed.
La Sirène music concert
The Embassy of Switzerland presents La Sirène, Harmonie Municipale du Grand-Saconnex, Genève in a musical dialogue with Indian musician Shri Paras Nath on the flute.
La Sirène, Harmonie Municipale du Grand-Saconnex, Genève, results from the meeting of the Fanfare Municipale du Grand-Saconnex, established in 1878, on one hand, and of the Corps de Musique La Sirène, constituted in Geneva in 1900, on the other hand.
The music band parades since the 80s in a uniform of English colonial style, lively red and blue, with a helmet decorated with a plume for special occasions. La Sirène consists of musicians who practice the contemporary and modern musical art.
The company visits India during the month of March and will travel through Delhi and Jaipur. The performance features Shri Paras Nath on the flute in a musical dialogue with 30 musicians of La Sirène.
La Sirène music concert
Date: 30 March 2013
Time: 7.00 pm
Venue: Embassy of Switzerland, Nyaya Marg, Chanakyapuri New Delhi 110 021
Entry: To attend please write to ndh.vertretung(at)eda.admin.ch.
Kindly present your ID proof at the entrance. A limited number of invitation cards can be collected from the main gate of the Embassy.
Swiss artist Sarah Burger's work at Sarai Reader 09
Swiss visual artist Sarah Burger presents her untitled work at Deviart Foundation in Gurgaon India as part of the Sarai Reader 09.
Swiss visual artist Sarah Burger presents her untitled work at Deviart Foundation in Gurgaon India as part of the Sarai Reader 09. Sarah Burger's visit to India was supported by Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council.
Sarai Reader 09, curated by Raqs Media Collective
Date: 3 February 2013 - 15 April 2013
Venue: Deviart Foundation, Gurgaon
Description of the work: (Untitled), 2013 / Hardened cement bags, bamboo sticks, photograph Photograph 230 x 130 cm / Overall approx. 250 x 200 x 300 cm
Cement bags. Rain.
Accidentally formed sculptures by natural forces. Erosion evokes time.
Physicality. Sculptural aspects of building sites.
Substitutes for missing parts of fragments.
Presence of what's lost or not yet there.
Dynamisation of objects and an image. Construction and transience.
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About Sarai Reader 09: The exhibition
Curated by Raqs Media Collective, Sarai Reader 09 is a nine month exhibition that unfolded as a process generative of visions, concepts, speculations and projections which, in turn, make room for heresy, for new modalities of being, for exchanges, relays and interferences. Artists, researchers, scholars, curators, critics, filmmakers, writers, performers, activists, scientists, photographers, archivists, architects, poets, journalists, were invited to make proposals.
The exhibition was punctuated through "episodes" - points of focus and dispersal - where processes that have been undertaken by artists gathered impetus and opened out across concentrated moments of public attention.
The exhibition takes its name from the Sarai Reader book series, which have been widely recognised as a site of critical and creative thinking. The making of the book 'Sarai Reader 09 (Projections)', accompanied the exhibition.
For more information visit: www.sarai.net OR www.prohelvetia.in
Partners & Collaborators:
Devi Art Foundation, Sarai and Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council
Ruchir Joshi to present at Literaturhaus Basel
Indian writer Ruchir Joshi who is currently on a residency in Basel will present his work at Literaturhaus Basel and Gymnasium Leonhard Basel.
Indian writer Ruchir Joshi who is currently on a residency at iaab basel will present his work at Literaturhaus Basel (House of Literature) on March 21 at 7 pm.
Ruchir will present his texts as well as screen parts from his documentary movies.
When: 21 March 2013 at 7 pm
Where: Literaturhaus Basel (House of Literature)
Please visit the website of Literaturhaus Basel for further details.
Ruchir has also been invited by Gymnasium Leonhard Basel to present a talk to the students on 18 March 2013 on his first book.
The writer is currently a writer in residence, at iaab, Basel
Writer in Residence is a pilot project of a writer’s exchange programme between Pro Helvetia New Delhi and IAAB, Christoph Merian Stiftung. As per the programme, both Pro Helvetia New Delhi and IAAB will send a writer each for a period of 3 months to live and work in India and Switzerland. Pro Helvetia New Delhi has collaborated with Sangam House to place the Swiss writer there for 3 months from November 2013 to January 2014.
The Indian writer, Ruchir Joshi will be at IAAB Basel for 3 months as part of this pilot project. Ruchir Joshi is a writer and filmmaker. He is the author of Poriborton and The Last Jet-Engine Laugh, and is currently working on another novel, set in Calcutta during the Second World War.
In exchange, PHND will receive a Swiss writer from IAAB for a studio residency at Sangam House later this year.
For more information on iaab Basel visit www.iaab.ch
Soirée Littéraire 2013
A literary evening of contemporary writing in French , Soirée Littéraire 2013 will include readings from the original texts by French, Belgian and Swiss authors.
Soirée Littéraire, an evening of francophone literary encounters, is jointly presented by Pro Helvetia- Swiss Arts Council, Embassy of France/Institut Français en Inde, Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium, Embassy of Switzerland, Alliance Française de Chandigarh and Alliance Française de Pondicherry.
With the aim to build audiences for contemporary writing in French, the event will take place in three cities and will include readings from the original texts by French, Belgian and Swiss authors followed by con...versations in English by local experts.
When: Wednesday, 20 March 2013, 6:30 pm
Venue: Embassy of Switzerland, New Delhi 110021
Entry by registration only
The Authors
Nicolas Ancion, Belgium
Nicolas Ancion was born in Liège (Belgium). He writes fiction for adults, young adults and children and is the author of several theatre plays and poetry collections. His books have been awarded many literary prizes. Humour is an essential ingredient in his works. The literary supplement of Le Monde, France's flagship daily newspaper, dubbed him "Lewis Carroll's true heir". He loves literary challenges and performances: he wrote a novel in public in 24 hours during the Brussels Book Fair (March 2010). He regularly uses web tools to share live writing. His novel, The 35-billion Euro Man, has been awarded the Prix Rossel des Jeunes in 2009 and is now touring as a theater play. This novel describes the abduction of one of the richest men in the world, Lakshmi Mittal, CEO of ArcelorMittal. The book is currently being adapted for a movie.
David Collin, Switzerland
David Collin was born in 1968 and lives in Fribourg (Switzerland). Les Cercles Mémoriaux (Memorial Circles, L'Escampette, 2012) is his second novel. His first was Train Fantôme (Phantom Train, Le Seuil, 2007). He has published some books with artists, and many short stories and essays in literary journals. He organizes literary events and is on the editorial board of the literary journal La Revue de Belles-Lettres. Since 2011 he has been series editor of Imprescriptible (Genocide Studies) for the Geneva publishing house Éditions Metispresses. David Collin is also involved in performing arts projects. And he produces cultural programmes for Espace 2, channel 2 of Switzerland's French-language public radio
Chowra Makaremi, France
Chowra Makaremi was born in 1980 in Shiraz (Iran). She is an anthropologist and tenured research scholar at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris. She graduated from Sciences-Po Paris, France and the University of Montreal, Canada and has been a visiting scholar at Princeton, McGill and Columbia University. She has carried out ethnographic field work and published on issues of migration, asylum, racism and youth delinquency. Since 2010 she has been working on memoirs of violence and the post-revolution era in Iran. She has published Le Cahier d'Aziz. Au cœur de la révolution iranienne (Gallimard, Paris, in 2011) based on the memoirs of her grand-father. It will be published, in English translation by the Indian publisher Yoda Press in March 2013 under the title Aziz's Notebook: At the Heart of the Iranian Revolution.
Come back to earth - The March
A video presentation by Swiss artist Ruth Buck at the FOCUS Photography Festival in Mumbai.
Pro Helvetia – Swiss Arts Council and Focus Photography Festival
in collaboration with Design Temple presents
Come back to earth - The March
a video presentation by Swiss artist Ruth Buck.
“The March” will be on view till 17 March 2013 at Design Temple, Mumbai.
Come Back to Earth is an expedition and approach, that aims to discover India through an unusual point of view. The focus of the work is directed towards the ground where we stand with both our feet, our basis of life. From this basic idea the artist developed two works - Come Back to Earth “The March” and Come Back to Earth “The Pairs”.
The image used is from “The Pairs”
Malcolm Braff Trio to tour India
Swiss jazz pianist, Malcolm Braff along with bassist Reggie Washington and percussionist Stéphane Galland will perform in Mumbai, Goa, Bangalore and Delhi.
Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council in collaboration with Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and Gatecrash presents
MALCOLM BRAFF TRIO
March 13th, blueFROG, Mumbai
March 14th, Heritage Jazz, Goa
March 15th and 16th, Windmills Craftworks, Bangalore
March 17th, Delhi - 6.30 pm at Nehru Park, New Delhi, as part of the 3rd Delhi International Jazz Festival
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Malcolm Braff born in Rio de Janeiro, he grew up on the Cape Verdean Isles and Senegal before settling in Switzerland. The pianist, composer and aesthetic maverick has worked on his reputation as an inspiring artist who fires up the European scene with spectacular activities, especially with spectacular art. In the early Nineties projects acquainted him with fellow artists like Bänz Oester, Mathieu Michel, Samuel Blaser and also Eric Truffaz. Braff is a regular at the Cully Jazz Festival and one of the most prolific jazz pianists in Switzerland today.
In India Braff joins together for the first time with bassist Reggie Washington and drummer Stephane Galland. Reggie Washington is among the best known bassists of the modern jazz scene. Brought up in a musical family, his parents were avid jazz and soul fans. His sister Yvette an excellent violinist/voilist , his brother Kenny a famed drummer & jazz historian. The many weekends listening & learning sessions with brother Kenny and Marcus Miller paved his way into improvisational music. Aside from holding down the groove for Steve Coleman's Five Elements, Washington has played with such notables as Roy Hargrove's RH Factor, Branford Marsalis' Buckshot LeFonque, Cassandra Wilson, Uri Caine, Don Byron, Meshell N'degeocello, Oliver Lake Steel Quartet and many others. Since 2005, Reggie has stepped out as a leader touring with his bands through Europe, the U.K. & U.S.A. to very receptive and appreciative audiences. His music represents the cutting edge of jazz & other musical genres today.
Stéphane Galland was born into a musical family and received his first drum set at the age of three. He decided to take lessons in classical percussion when he reached the age of nine, at the conservatory at Huy (Belgium) and started playing jazz with his fellow pianist Eric Legnini two years later. At the age of 13, having had the opportunity to play with the best jazz musicians in Belgium, he developed a growing interest in this musical field. Always in search of new musical experiences, he met Pierre Vandormael, Fabrizio Cassol and Michel Hatzigeorgiou, and later with the last two, formed the band called AKA MOON. The band, which recorded 16 CDs and performed worldwide (Europe, Africa, Asia, the United States, Canada, South America, the Caribbean Islands, India...), has been a unique and invaluable field of development and experimentation with different musical traditions.
