Friday, 28 February 2014

Mai-Thu Perret at INSERT2014

Pro Helvetia presents Swiss artist Mai-Thu Perret's installation Balthazar at INSERT2014

Mai-Thu Perret is an internationally acclaimed Swiss artist, her multifaceted practice ranges from sculpture, installation, painting, video and textile works drawing from a wide array of art and art historic references.

Balthazar is a life-sized woven donkey sculpture made out of rattan. The donkey, suggests hard physical labour and in Christian tradition stands for the poor and for women. The subject of the work and its proximity to handicraft and design - to traditionally female occupations- is mirrored in the materiality of the rattan-donkey.

Date: 31st January - 28 February 2014
Time - 10 am to 7 pm, each day
Venue: Matighar, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts About INSERT 2014

INSERT2014 unfolds a series of unexpected encounters with contemporary art in the public domain. Within its purview, several exhibits, symposiums, workshops and performances will take place over one month at cultural sites across Delhi, bringing together a diverse group of international experts and contemporary artists to inaugurate a re-thinking of the city's cultural infrastructure. More: insert2014.org

Partners / Organisers: Part of INSERT2014 / supported by Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council; Artistic directors: Raqs Media Collective, presented by the Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation
The Swiss touch in landscape architecture

An exhibition on the work of landscape architects in Switzerland.

'the swiss touch in landscape architecture' - an exhibition on the work of landscape architects in Switzerland.
Opening: Saturday 8 February 2014 at 5.30 pm
On view from: 9 - 16 February 2014
Venue: Vismaya Gallery, Rangoli Metro Art Centre, M G Road

The exhibition, produced by Pro Helvetia Zurich is being presented in Bangalore by swissnex India
Pierre-Yves Borgeaud and Malcolm Braff at Art Chennai

Pro Helvetia presents Swiss artists, Pierre-Yves Borgeaud and Malcolm Braff at Art Chennai

Art Chennai - The largest festival of modern and contemporary art in South India, Art Chennai inspires debate, art appreciation and investment and aims to increase the visibility of visual arts in the country.

Pro Helvetia New Delhi presents a video-installation by Pierre Yves Borgeaud called That Land and a performance by Malcolm Braff (accompanied by vocalist Claire Huguenin ) at the launch of Art Chennai.

Date: 8 February 2014
Venue: Art Chennai 
Entry: As per festival rules

About Pierre-Yves Borgeaud: 
Born 1963. Jazz drummer, journalist, bachelor's degree in Arts at Lausanne University, first Super-8 films in the 80's. 1997 Certificate in Film and Video at the NYU and then making videos for ECM Records in Germany and various documentaries and live performances and installations with musicians. Golden Leopard at Locarno in 2003 with his experimental feature film " iXième : a home prioner's diary ". In 2007, his awarded documentary " Return to Goree " is distributed worldwide, and well as " Viramundo : a musical journey with Gilberto Gil ", his most recent musical documentary (2013). Filmography / Among others: 1990 Encore une histoire d'amour / 1997 Nils Petter Molvaer: Song of Sand / 1998 Music Hotel / 1999 Swiss Jam / 2000 My Body Electric / 2001 Inland / 2003 iXième: journal d'un prisonnier / 2004 Interface / 2004 Family Music / 2007 Retour à Gorée / 2008 Brigitte Studer - the present History / 2009 Subjectif Cinéma / 2013 Viramundo : a musical journe with Gilberto Gil 

About Malcolm Braff 
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.

Partner: Art Chennai

Friday, 31 January 2014

Screening of 'The Last Days of the Ceauşescus'

Milo Rau's film 'The Last Days of the Ceausescus' will be screened at the 3rd Fanatika International Theatre Documentary Festival, 2014.

Pro Helvetia presents 'The Last Days of the Ceauşescus' for the 3rd edition of Fanatika International Theatre Documentary Festival in February 2014.

The Last Days of the Ceauşescu's 
Written by Milo Rau 
Directed by Milo Rau and Marcel Bächtiger 
A Production of IIPM - International Institute of Political Murder 
Romanian (English subtitles), colour, Digi Beta/HD, 72 min

Ahmedabad February 07, 08 & 09
Vadodara February 14, 15 & 16

For updated schedule visit: fanatika.in/fitd-festival/
Partner: Fanatika International Theatre Documentary Festival, Alliance Fran aise d'Ahmedabad and Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council

The images of the condemnation and execution of dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife Elena on Christmas Day in 1989 are etched deeply in the collective unconscious of several generations of television viewers. Exactly 20 years after its occurrence, the famous show trial was re-enacted in a historically reproduced setting. The film interweaves the stage production with interviews conducted with eyewitnesses and archive material and takes a look backstage in the Odeon Theater in Bucharest.

In 2009, The Last Days of the Ceauşescu's enriched the German-language theatre with a new political format: reenactment - the artistic reconstruction of real historic events, a technique that had been fashionable in the visual arts for a long time. Milo Rau collaborated with his fellow director Simone Eisenring to translate the methodology of 'reenactment' effectively onto the stage. Basing the play on an original video recording, Rau reenacted the trial of the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife Elena on Christmas Day 1989. The piece sparked considerable controversy. Although some critics recognised the artist's immense potential as an innovator, others appeared to be uneasy at the work's aesthetic realism, a mode that was particularly unusual on the independent theatre scene. At a fundamental level, some commentators asked themselves what was to be gained from a performance if it purportedly did nothing more than reproduce a trial that had been documented on film as faithfully to the original as possible.
‘Also the real thing' at INSERT2014'

Also The Real Thing is a collaboration between the Indian artist and theatre director Zuleikha Chaudhari and Swiss theatre director Boris Nikitin.

'Also the real thing", a collaborative presentation by Zuleikha Chaudhari and Boris Nikitin at INSERT2014

Date: 1 February, 3 to 6 February 2014 / Time: 12 - 5 pm, each day 
INSERT2014 opening on 31 January 2014 
Venue: 
Auditorium and Library, Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, 1, CV Mess, Janpath, New Delhi

'Also The Real Thing' is the first collaboration between the Indian artist and theatre director Zuleikha Chaudhari and Swiss theatre director Boris Nikitin. The project creates an artistic and sociological perspective on the cultural constructs of two highly codified spaces: the theatre and the library.

These spaces are treated as spatial installations. Both as places of representation are carried to extremes and the fictional character of the real situation - architecture, politics of the gaze, codes of behaviour - are revealed. The rules, assumptions and undiscussed agreements - the framing of both spaces/places becomes experiential and sensual.

Also The Real Thing establishes a look on "theatre" and "library" as remarkable cultural inventions, "sculptures" and strange places. They become installations - pieces of art.

About INSERT 2014 
The presentation 'Also The Real Thing' is part of INSERT2014. INSERT2014 unfolds a series of unexpected encounters with contemporary art in the public domain. Within its purview, several exhibits, symposiums, workshops and performances will take place over one month at cultural sites across Delhi, bringing together a diverse group of international experts and contemporary artists to inaugurate a re-thinking of the city's cultural infrastructure.
More: insert2014.org

Partners / Organisers: Part of INSERT 2014 / supported by Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council; Artistic directors: Raqs Media Collective, presented by the Inlaks Shivdasani Foundation
Swiss Author Monica Cantieni to visit India

Pro Helvetia New Delhi has invited Swiss author Monica Cantieni to read from her book recently translated into English in Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and Pune.

Pro Helvetia New Delhi has invited Swiss author Monica Cantieni to read from her book recently translated into English in Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and Pune.

The Swiss Author Monica Cantieni will be reading from her book The Encyclopedia of Good Reasons which has been translated by Donal McLaughlin as part of Seagull Books Swiss List.

The tour will include German author Thomas Lehr as well as translator Mike Mitchell, who has translated Thomas Lehr's book September, which is part of Seagull Books German List.

Mike Mitchell, translator of Max Frisch's Drafts for a Third Sketchbook , also part of the Swiss List will be speaking on translating Max Frisch and other Swiss authors.

Programme: 
Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival, Kolkata 
Date: 13 January 2014 
Entry: As per festival rules 
For details visit: www.kolkatalitfest.in/

Long Night of Literature, New Delhi 
Date: 16 January 2014 
Venue: India International Centre 
Entry: Open to all 

Workshop, with students of Jawaharlal Nehru University and Delhi University 
Date: 17 January 2014 
Venue: Jawaharlal Nehru University 
Entry: students only 

Mumbai 
Date: 20 January 2014 
Venue (tbc) 

Pune University's Centenary Celebrations, Pune 
Date: 23 January 2014 
Venue: Pune University 
Entry: Open to all 

Brief on author: 
Monica Cantieni, born in Thalwil, Switzerland, lives in Wettingen (Switzerland) and Vienna. She works for SRF, Swiss Radio and Television and has received various literary grants and scholarships for her short stories. With her debut novel Grunschnabel she was the finalist for the Swiss Book Awards 2011. The translation of the same, The Encyclopaedia of Good Reasons, is part of the Swiss List published by Seagull Books and supported by Pro Helvetia. Amongst her other published works is Hieronymus' Kinder as well as a large number of short stories in periodicals and anthologies. Monica Cantieni has also received numerous literary grants and awards.

Photo credit: Monica Cantieni photos: © FRESHPIXEL, Manuel Fischer

Partners: Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council, Seagull Books, Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival, India International Centre, Jawaharlal Nehru University, University of Delhi and Pune University.
Peter Fischli to deliver talks in Delhi & Mumbai

Peter Fischli will deliver the keynote at the Inlaks Fine Arts Awards. He will also speak at the India International Centre in Delhi and at the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum.

Peter Fischli, one of the greatest living artists of our times, is on a visit to India on the invitation of Pro Helvetia New Delhi.

Delhi 
Dialogue between Peter Fischli and Shuddhabrata Sengupta, artist, Raqs Media Collective on 
Popular opposites and contradictions in the work of Peter Fischli and David Weiss 
Date: Monday, February 03, 2014 
Time: 1830 hrs 
Venue: India International Centre, New Delhi (Conference Room I /1st floor, IIC main building). 
Entry open to all.
== 

Mumbai 
Lecture by Peter Fischli on 
"Popular opposites and contradictions in the Work of Peter Fischli and David Weiss " 
Date: Thursday, February 06, 2014 
Time: 1800 hrs 
Venue: AV&E Centre in the Museum Plaza, Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum. 
Entry open to all.

During his visit Peter Fischli will deliver the keynote at the Inlaks Fine Arts Awards in Mumbai and will be presenting the awards. This event is by invitation only.

== 
Peter Fischli invited by India Art Fair 2014
India Art Fair has invited well known Swiss artist Peter Fischli for the Speaker's Forum. Swiss artist Peter Fischli will be in conversation with Sarnath Banerjee, Graphic Novelist, Artist and Film Maker.

Topic: The Artists' Panel / "Things in their true light." "We do take steps to show things in their true light" said Peter Fischli in 2006, at the time of the Fischli Weiss retrospective at Tate Modern. For 33 years, until the death of David Weiss in 2012, Fischli/Weiss heralded a language of the everyday that drew upon humour and observation as staple content. Sarnath Banerjee, graphic novelist will speak with Peter Fischli on humour and its possibilities in art.
Date: Friday 31 January 2014
Time: 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Venue: NSIC Exhibition Grounds, New Delhi 110020
Entry: As per India Art Fair rules

Peter Fischli 
Peter Fischli, born in Zurich 1952, is part of the artist duo Peter Fischli and David Weiss, often shortened to Fischli/Weiss. They have been collaborating since 1979 and are considered one of the world's top contemporary artists. Their work has been executed in a variety of media, including sculpture, film, and photography. The duo is perhaps best known for the 1987 film "The Way Things Go" (Der Lauf der Dinge) which was described by The Guardian as being "Post Apocalyptic". Fischli and Weiss won the Golden Lion prize at the 2003 Venice Biennale. A retrospective of their work was held at the Tate Modern, London, in 2006, and travelled to the Kunsthaus Zurich and the Deichtorhallen Hamburg. David Weiss passed away in 2012 at age of 65. Peter Fischli works and lives in Zurich.

ALSO in June 2014
Screening of "The Way Things Go" at Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum as part of VIDEO ART on 7, 14, 21, 28 June 2014 (more)

http://www.indiaartfair.in
Delhi SoundWords | Call for writings on Sounds
Delhi SoundWords | Call for writings on Sounds of Delhi with Swiss artist Salomé Voegelin

Delhi SoundWords is a guest edition of Salomé Voegelin's regular blog soundwords.tumblr.com, to be published in connection with the Sound Reasons Festival II. This blog writes the soundscape, sonic events and occurrences of the everyday through listening: working from the heard into words to draw attention to the listening process and how we participate in our acoustic environment. The blog illuminates what a transcription of listening can produce, how it can narrate our surroundings differently, leading to different insights, sensibilities and consequences about the world we live in and how we live in it.

Artists, audience members participating in Sound Reason Festival as well as all listeners are invited to contribute with blog-entries, to make their listening of Delhi heard. The aim is to provide a different image of the city, one made from the relationships, processes and materials forming below the surface of the visible; to explore the landscape through its sound, to hear it as an environment, a timespace place that does not afford us a vista but grants us access to the mobility of its own production.

This phonographic project will be presented in London as part of "Points of Listening" a listening project organised by Mark Peter Wright and Salome in conjunction with CRiSAP (Centre for Creative Research in Sound Arts Practice) from 2014

mail@salomevoegelin.net |
www.soundwords.tumblr.com |
soundreasons.in/delhi-soundwords/
Long Night of Literature 2014

Swiss author Monica Cantieni along with German author Thomas Lehr and translator Mike Mitchell to participate in this year’s edition of Long Night of Literature.

Swiss author Monica Cantieni will be reading from her book The Encyclopedia of Good Reasons which has been translated by Donal McLaughlin as part of Seagull Books Swiss List in New Delhi at the Long Night of Literature 2014.

The evening will include German author Thomas Lehr as well as translator Mike Mitchell, who has translated Thomas Lehr's book September, which is part of Seagull Books German List.

Long Night of Literature, New Delhi 
Date: 16 January 2014 at 7 pm
Venue: India International Centre 
Entry: Open to all

Monica Cantieni
Monica Cantieni, born 1965 in Thalwil, Switzerland, lives in Wettingen (Switzerland) and Vienna. She works for SRF, Swiss Radio and Television and has received various literary grants and scholarships for her short stories. With her debut novel Grunschnabel she was the finalist for the Swiss Book Awards 2011. The translation of the same, The Encyclopaedia of Good Reasons, is part of the Swiss List published by Seagull Books and supported by Pro Helvetia. Amongst her other published works is Hieronymus' Kinder as well as a large number of short stories in periodicals and anthologies. Monica Cantieni has also received numerous literary grants and awards.

Thomas Lehr
Thomas Lehr, born in 1957 in Speyer, has lived in Berlin since 1979. Before becoming a writer he studied biochemistry and science at the Freie Universität Berlin and worked as a programmer in a
science library. He has received a number of literary honors, including the Wolfgang-Koeppen-
Preis (2000) and the Art Prize of Rheinland-Palatinate (2006). In 2012 he was appointed as a new
member of the Arts Academy (Akademie der Künste) in Berlin. Since 1993 he has published 8 books. His novel "September" shortlisted for the "German Book Prize" in 2010 has been translated into English and is part of the "German List" by Seagull Books, Kolkata.

Mike Mitchell
Mike Mitchell was born in Rochdale, Lancashire, and studied German and French at Oxford University. He taught English at Riyad University, then German at Reading and Stirling Universities. In 1995 he took early retirement to concentrate on his work as a literary translator and has published over 70 books in translation, mainly from German, some from French. He lives in Argyll, Scotland.

Partners:
www.iicdelhi.nic.in
www.prohelvetia.in
www.goethe.de/newdelhi
Monica Cantieni's book translated and published by Seagull Books

Swiss List – Monica Cantieni's 'The Encyclopaedia of Good Reasons' translated and published by Seagull Books

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 twelve.

Swiss List - Monica Cantieni's 'The Encyclopaedia of Good Reasons' translated and published by Seagull Books

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. Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council supports translation.

The Swiss List comprises of the following titles:

'The Encyclopaedia of Good Reasons' by Monica Cantieni 
Translated by Donal McLaughlin

'On Life, Death, and This and That of the Rest' by Urs Widmer 
Translated by Donal McLaughlin

'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

My Father's Book by Urs Widmer 
Translated by Donal Mc Laughlin

Correspondence by Frisch/Dürrenmatt's 
Translated by Birgit Schreyer Duarte

Invitation to the Bold of Heart by Dorothee Elmiger 
Translated by Cathy Derbyshire Lyric

Novella by Annemarie Schwarzenbach 
Translated by Lucy Renner Jones

All the Roads are Open by Annemarie Schwarzenbach 
Translated by Isabel Fargo Cole

'Drafts for a third Sketchbook' by Max Frisch

Selected Essays by Friedrich Durrenmatt’s   

Links www: www.seagullindia.com/books/defaultnew.asp

Partner: Seagull India - www.seagullindia.com

Tuesday, 31 December 2013

Plaistow to perform in India

Swiss band, Plaistow will be in India on a five-city tour playing in Hyderabad, Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore and Goa.

Schedule 
23 November The Hindu Festival, Ravindra Bharathi Auditorium / Hyderabad 
24 November Shisha Jazz Cafe / Pune 
26 November workshop at the True School / Mumbai 
27 November The Bandra Base, Bombay Jazz Club / Mumbai 
28 November Edward Theatre / Mumbai 
29 November Windmills Craftworks / Bangalore 
30 November International Jazz Live Festival / Goa

Entry: As per festival and venue rules 

The classical trio line-up - piano, bass, drums - is revisited from top to bottom, free from any stylistic constraint. The band's music is constantly evolving. Formed in 2007 in Geneva, Plaistow has since given a hundred concerts (Switzerland, France, Russia, Germany, Morocco, Middle East ...) and published 5 albums. The band's name was inspired by a composition of Squarepusher, aka Tom Jenkinson, called "Plaistow Flex Out". Since its beginnings Plaistow has chosen to distribute its music free of charge on the internet via its website and in close collaboration with netlabels, primarily Insubordinations. This does not prevent the sale of records, mainly after concerts, and also through distributors. Experience shows that these two methods of distribution, far from being opposed, are complementary. The physical object is irreplaceable; Internet and the digital medias, convenient and infinitely reproducible, are apprehended in parallel as powerful communication tools.

Band Members 
Johann Bourquenez / piano
Cyril Bondi / drums
Vincent Ruiz / double bass

For more information: http://www.plaistow.cc/

"Someone asked me the other day what Plaistow's music 'was'. I'm not usually lost for a word but I had to pass on this one. Jazz is very much at the heart of it, and with Citadelle jazz has come through with a new and growing authority, but there are other things going on as well, procedures that come from electronica (even if the specific sounds do not), from the neo-tonality of contemporary classical music (whether the guys consciously listen to these composers or not) and from a huge reservoir of central European vernaculars, where the musical cultures of East and West collide on a daily basis, on the radio, on television commercials, on piped music in bars, on ringtones." - Brian Morton, April 2013
The tour has been organised in partnership with GATECRASH.
Erik Truffaz Quartet to play for Indian audiences

Érik Truffaz quartet, comprising of Erik Truffaz (Trumpet), Christophe Chambet (Bass), Benoit Cirboz (Keyboards) and Marc Erbetta (Drums), to play in Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Goa.

Schedule
28 November 2013 Edward Theatre / Mumbai
29 November 2013 blueFROG / Pune
30 November 2013 Counter Culture / Bangalore
01 December 2013 Jazz Live International Festival / Goa

Entry: As per festival and venue rules

Erik Truffaz and the Erik Truffaz Quartet
Érik Truffaz (Chêne-Bougeries, 3 April 1960) is a Swiss-born French-nationality jazz trumpeter, infusing elements of hip hop, rock and roll and dance music into his compositions. He signed with the French EMI label in 1996.[1] Truffaz gained international attention with his second album on Blue Note, The Dawn, produced together with Patrick Muller, Marcello Giuliani and Mark Erbetta. Since then they have produced many Blue Note albums together such as Bending New Corners, which became a Silver Album in France. The 2007 release Arkhangelsk is a mixture of pop songs, French chanson, and jazz-groove. In 2007 he and Ed Harcourt appeared in a Take-Away Show video session shot by Vincent Moon.

The Erik Truffaz Quartet is above all a collective, a sound, a group dynamic. Starting in 1997 the group was Marcello Giuliani on bass, Marc Erbetta on drums, and Patrick Muller on keyboards for a first album, "Out of a Dream" for the legendary Blue Note label. For the album "The Dawn" and "Bending New Corner," the rapper Nya joined the group and brought a bit of an urban, poetic touch. The video for "Yuri's Choice" helped to spread the word, and at that time the group took inspiration from its Blue Note evening concerts in London, a temple for drum and bass, and composed music while on improvising bits falling on sound tower checks. Following these two albums the group focussed on an international presence succeeding in their musical craft.

The first detour was in 2003 with "The Walk of the Giant Turtle". It was a rock-inspired album that had an organic feel. Sound engineers Corboz and Giuliani distorted the sound of the trumpet. Truffaz was shocked at first, though eventually he loved the idea and built on it. "Archangel" was the album with a more mature feel: Ed Harcourt, Christophe, two singers, two magnificent voices and songs. In June 2010, Benedict took Corboz Patrick Muller's place. Sophie Hunger, with her marvelous voice, is invited to join the quartet on two tracks (a Dylan cover and an original composition). Marcello Giuliani brings his double bass back and records a track on the banjo, and the group is off again for more great adventures.

Band Members on the India tour
Erik Truffaz / Trumpet
Christophe Chambet / Bass
Benoit Cirboz / Keyboards
Marc Erbetta / Drums
Salvatore Dardano / Sound engineer

For more information: http://www.eriktruffaz.com/
 OR http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Truffaz

The tour has been organised in partnership with GATECRASH.
‘Body Temperature’ by Swiss performance artist Dorothea Rust

Workshop and performance-day by Swiss performance artist Dorothea Rust.

Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council in collaboration with Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art, GATI Dance Forum & swissnex India presents

'Body Temperature' 
workshop and performance-day by Swiss performance artist Dorothea Rust 
in collaboration with Indian artists Smitha Cariappa and Suresh Kumar

Dates: 9 - 12 December 2013 
Workshops: 9 & 10 December 2013 
Venue: The GATI Dance Forum, New Delhi 
To register email details to rust.doro(at)bluewin.ch or redsurya(at)gmail.com 

Performance-Day: 11 December 2013 
Venue: Khirki Village, New Delhi

Reflections: 12 December 2013 
Venue: GATI Dance Forum, New Delhi
Address: The GATI Dance Forum, 5 Wind Mill Place, S-17, Khirkee Extension, Opposite Select City Walk, New Delhi - 110017 T +91 11 4182 5766 / M +91 99714 06113

Synopsis: 
Dorothea Rust returns to India to further her research with performance artists and participate in a live-art performance in New Delhi this December. Dorothea was in Bangalore, India in 2011 to be part of LIVE ART FESTIVAL BANGALORE. The specific of this collaboration and exchange is to enhance engagement and development of skills and collaboration in performance art practice. The workshop at GATI Dance Forum will focus on performance studies and will include discussions on strategies and practices in performance art with examples from the art/performance canon and from contemporary works. Indian artists Smitha Cariappa and Suresh Kumar will join Dorothea Rust in presenting different performative approaches, tendencies and the scenes in Switzerland and India (e.g. research about documentation, festivals, competitions, initiatives in off-spaces) The participants of the workshop will indulge in performance-practice and awareness explorations in preparation for the performance 'Body-Temperature' for the Delhi-Performance-Day. Sessions will include developing body concepts, codes and strategies and reflecting on our relationship with space, environment, neighborhood and city. Tentative list of performers at 'Body-Temperature' for the Delhi-Performance-Day on 11 December 2013 at Khirki Village, New Delhi includes: • Aishwarya Sultania (Delhi) • Dorothea Rust (Zürich /Switzerland) • Dimple Shah (Bangalore) • Inder Salim (Delhi) • Manas Acharya (Kolkata) • Monica Nanjunda (Bangalore/Hydrabad) •Pinak Banik from Kolkata •Shweta Bhattad (Nagpur) • Smitha Cariappa (Bangalore) • Sushil Kumar (Delhi) • Suresh Kumar (Bangalore) • WALA collective (Delhi) • Students from the Delhi workshop.

About Dorothea Rust:
Dorothea Rust works in/with dance, improvisation, performance art, live actions, and installation. She is curator of diverse performance events in collaboration with other artists and music groups (Der längste Tag, GNOM gruppe für neue musik baden). Back in the 80s she collaborated in New York with dancer, choreographers and musicians where the experimental spirit and the protagonists and works of the Judson Dance Group of the 60s were still prevalent. Since 1986, Rust has given solo performances and collaborated with various choreographers, musicians and visual artists. Her performances and teaching activities have taken her across the globe to USA, South America, Europe and Asia.

More: www.dorothearust.ch
Organiser & partners: Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council FICA Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art Gati Dance Forumswissnex India

Saturday, 30 November 2013

Gipin Varghese presents 'Four works about Resistance'

Gipin Varghese, winner of the FICA Emerging Artist Award 2012 presents his works in Switzerland.

Hochschule fur Design & Kunst, Luzern invites you to
the opening of Indian artist-in-residence Gipin Varghese's exhibition

Four works about Resistance

on Thursday 21 November at 1800 hrs.
On view from 22 November to 25 November 2013.
Venue: Erfrischungsraum / Rössligasse 12/ HSLU, Luzern

Gipin Varghese was awarded the FICA Emerging Artist Award 2012.
Pro Helvetia New Delhi is pleased to collaborate with FICA.
The Emerging Artist Award 2012 includes a twelve-week residency in Switzerland. 

Artist's statement
Today in India, we frequently discuss the conflict between large establishments and indigenous people, and the related issues of land acquisition, mining, water, nuclear energy etc. Policy making is often one-sided and neglects the ecology of the region, farming systems, cultural practices and rituals. In most of the cases people lose faith in the elected government and move towards anti-national gestures. These are the gestures of unsatisfied humans. And the protests are the physical and theatrical development of their traditional environmental knowledge build up from experience and direct observations.

I have been studying them (the protestors) for a long time, and have made plenty of drawings; found some gestures and body languages which represent the spirit of the struggle; and repeated them in my works. The works are connected with particular space and people like anti-nuclear fights - Kudankulam Tamil Nadu, Mithi Virdi; Mining issues - Niyamgiri Hills Orissa, Khandwa - Jal Satyagraha against increase in water level of Indira Sagar Dam...

Gipin Varghese
Luzern, Switzerland
Sound Reasons 2013

Presenting Swiss musicians, Andy Guhl, Jasch and Eisentanz at Sound Reasons 2013, a sound art, contemporary Jazz and electronic music festival.

Sound Reasons 2013 - a festival for sound art, contemporary Jazz and electronic music.

With concerts, workshops and installations taking place across various venues, the main focus of Sound reasons this year will be on live performances and jazz-electronic music crossover. The line up consists of diFfuSed beats, Salomé Voegelin, Jaga Jazzist, Andy Guhl, Grischa Lichtenberger, Yashas Shetty, Jasch, edGeCut, da Saz, Rapoon (Robin Storey), Masta Justy, Hemant Sreekumar and Eisentanz. More artists will be added to this list in the near future.

Schedule: 
Performances 
16 November 2013: Performance & installation at the Embassy of Switzerland / Delhi 
17 November 2013: Performance at Bandra Base / Mumbai [TBC]
20 November 2013: Performance at Alliance Frances de Delhi / Delhi at 7:00 pm  
22 November 2013: Performance at Goethe Institut/ Max Mueller Bhavan / Delhi at 7:00 pm
23 November 2013: Performance at Humming Tree  / Bangalore at 7:00 pm
05 December 2013: Performance at Blue Frog / Delhi 
07 December 2013: Performance at Blue Frog / Mumbai 


Workshops
18 November 2013: Workshop at GATI Dance Forum / Delhi 
21 November 2013: Workshop at KHOJ / Delhi

Studio Session
19 November 2013: At Peninsular Studios / Delhi

Who/ When/ Where
For details on who is playing when click here.

Entry: For updated information on the concerts and workshops visit http://soundreasons.in
While some events are open to public, others would require prior registration. 
Contact mail@soundreasons.in for more detailed information and GATI  for workshop related questions.


A follow-up of the creative efforts from the 2012 edition will be a collaborative presentation by the Swiss artist Jasch (Jan Schacher) and dancers based in Delhi. Jasch works in the field of electronic and improvised music, performance art, jazz and contemporary music. His main focus is on works combining digital sound and images, abstract graphics and digital video, electro-acoustic music and mixed-media projects. This performance, on 20 November 2013 at Alliance Francaise de Delhi is facilitated by Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council in collaboration with Gati Dance Forum. Also scheduled are workshops by Andy Guhl and a presentation/ talk by Salomé Voegelin on 18 and 19 November at Gati Dance Forum, Khirki. Sound Reasons seeks to overcome the dominance of functional interpretations, while maintaining an open access to technology and production.

The festival is being presented in collaboration with Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council, Goethe Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan, Concerts Norway, Blue Frog, Alliance Francaise de Delhi and GATI Dance Forum.

NOTE: Please refer to the Sound Reasons website for the updated schedule. 
Constructing the Future

A symposium on architecture, design and engineering organised in the framework of the 'Year of Swiss Architecture, Design and Engineering in India 2013-2014'.

Constructing the future: Symposium on architecture, design, and engineering 

Date: 13, 14 and 15 November 2013
Time: 0930 hrs-1700 hrs 
Venue: C.D. Deshmukh Auditorium, India International Centre, 40 Max Mueller Marg, Lodi Road, New Delhi

The symposium will feature presentations and discussions with subject matter experts from Switzerland and India including Andrea Deplazes, Alfredo Brillembourg, Emanuel Christ, Meret Ernst, Hubertus Adam, Ariel Huber, Ashok B. Lall, Yatin Pandya, Matias Echanove, Rahul Srivastava, Zeenat Niazi. Designers and engineers, among whom Indian engineer Mahendra Raj, will also be part of the conversations. Topics will be ranging from urbanization in megacities, low cost housing, sustainable construction, energy efficient buildings, collective identity through design, to a new deontology for planning and building cities. The symposium is aimed at increasing exchanges and collaborations between Switzerland and India as well as pushing the reflections in these fields further. Participation is open to architects, urban planners, designers, engineers, builders, artists, scholars, students and the general audience as well.

To view the complete programme click here.

This symposium is a part of the larger initiative 'Year of Swiss architecture, design and engineering in India 2013-14.'

Entry free. Pre-registration required. To register write to ndh.events(at)eda.admin.ch.

Thursday, 31 October 2013

Year of Swiss architecture, design and engineering in India
To commemorate fifty years of the Swiss Embassy building in New Delhi, the Embassy of Switzerland has planned events in the field of architecture, design and engineering.

Year of Swiss architecture, design and engineering in India 2013-14: Commemorating fifty years of the Swiss Embassy building 

To commemorate fifty years of the Swiss Embassy building in New Delhi, the Embassy of Switzerland has planned events in the field of architecture, design and engineering that will highlight Swiss achievements in these areas that are also of growing relevance in the Indian context. Organized in partnership with the Consulates General in Mumbai & Bengaluru, the Honorary Consulates in Chennai & Kolkata, Presence Switzerland, Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council, swissnex India, Swiss Business Hub and Switzerland Tourism, the celebrations will last till spring 2014.

Designed by Swiss architect Hans Hofmann and realized posthumously by his young collaborator Walter Rüegg, the Swiss Embassy building was inaugurated in the presence of the then Prime Minister of India Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru on 4th July 1963. Located in the Diplomatic Enclave in Chanakyapuri, the building is recognized as a significant architectural landmark of 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.

Swiss Ambassador Dr. Linus von Castelmur launched the Year of Swiss architecture, design and engineering in India 2013-14 on 7th August 2013. Revealing to the media the series of events planned he observed, ''Architecture, design and engineering are the disciplines in which Switzerland excels; they are also strongly emerging fields of study and practice in India. I am confident that the Year of Swiss architecture, design and engineering in India will offer a splendid platform for common reflection and push the current collaboration in these fields to new heights.''

Lectures, seminars and exhibitions will be held in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Chandigarh as part of the celebrations. The highlight of the year will be the visit of Swiss Minister of Foreign Affairs, Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter in November 2013.

Message from Ambassador Dr. Linus von Castelmur

Download the YSADE brochure: www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home/reps/asia/vind/embnd/events/ysade.html
Open House Day at the Swiss Embassy

50! - Celebrating the Swiss Embassy building in New Delhi. Guided walks, sound installation, exhibition, films, food and music. Come join the celebration.

Open House Day 
Enjoy day long activities at the Embassy (Free entry)

Date: 16 November 2013
Time: 1100 hrs- 1800 hrs
Special evening programme: 1930 hrs - 2100 hrs
Venue: Embassy of Switzerland, Nyaya Marg, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi 

Highlights Guided walk of the Embassy building and through the refurbished Swiss Residence Sound installation by Andy Guhl Exhibition Architecture as an open process: Work in progress of Studio Mumbai Exhibition Clever crafts for green steel Screening of special films on architecture Gastronomy (Available on payment at the food court) A special evening program-Electronic Music concert by Jan Schacher (Switzerland) and Ish Sherawat (India)

To participate register with: ndh.events(at)eda.admin.ch
Please present your id-proof at the entrance.
Children above 8 years are welcome.
Photography and videography strictly prohibited.

To view the complete programme click here. [PDF]
Press mentions

In the news. Current interviews and articles on Pro Helvetia New Delhi supported initiatives.

Delhi Photo Festival / Delhi / September 2013
Interview: Curator Urs Stahel talks to Blouin Artinfo 
Rosalyn D'Mello, Editor ARTINFO caught up with the Swiss curator at the India Habitat Centre and got him to share his thoughts on the challenges faced by photographers in an increasingly image-saturated world. More 

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Game Gazer / Goa and Bangalore / August & September 2013
The Hindu Business Line:
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/features/weekend-life/game-design-and-the-future-in-play/article5119830.ece

Time Out, Magazine: 
http://www.timeoutbengaluru.net/around-town/features/it%E2%80%99s-all-game
Deccan Herald:
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/355165/swiss-game-gazer-fair-has.html

DNA: 
http://epaper.dnaindia.com/story.aspx?edorsup=Sup&queryed=860009&
querypage=6&boxid=29184&id=16621&eddate=2013-9-4&ed_date=2013-9-4&ed_code=860009&wintype=popup

The Real Thing - AUDITION CALL

For The Real Thing - a collaborative theatre piece between the Indian theatre director Zuleikha Chaudhari and Swiss theatre director Boris Nikitin.

For The Real Thing - a collaborative theatre piece between the Indian artist and theatre director Zuleikha Chaudhari and Swiss theatre director Boris Nikitin

Performance dates: 5-6 days in February, 2014 in New Delhi

AUDITION DETAILS:
FOR: Actors, dancers, magicians, politicians academics etc. 

WHEN: 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 31 Oct and 1, 2 November - each day from 2 to 6 pm at 

WHERE: 221A Sshahpurjat, 2nd floor, above R L Model school, and below Actor Factor 

HOW: To book an audition slot: please write to therealthingaudition(at)gmail.com 

Performance brief: 
THE REAL THING researches the boundaries between fiction and reality by superimposing one on the other.THE REAL THING takes place in two highly codified places: the theatre and the library. Both as places of representation are carried to extremes and the fictional character of the real situation - architecture, politics of the gaze, codes of behaviour - are revealed. The rules, assumptions and un-discussed agreements - the framing becomes experiential /sensual.What is the tension between a fictional, highly constructed place/experience/ narrative/character and the 'real'?"THE REAL THING" establishes a look at "theatre" and "library" as remarkable cultural inventions, "social sculptures" and strange places. They become installations - pieces of art. 

Performer Brief: Actors, dancers, magicians, politicians academics etc. 
For the Audition: 
If you are an actor you will be required to prepare a 7-10 min representation about yourself which could be fictional/real + a piece from a production 
If you are a magician, politician, academic or anyone else interested in auditions - please prepare a 7-10 min representation about yourself which could be fictional/real + presentation of your ideas/thoughts (ie if you are a politician you could give a speech on your ideology etc.)

Audition Venue, Date and Time:
17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26, 31 Oct and 1, 2 November - each day from 2 to 6 pm at 221A Sshahpurjat, 2nd floor, above R L Model school, and below Actor Factor
The exhibition Swiss Positions travels to Chandigarh and Delhi

Curated by Nathalie Herschdorfer, the Swiss Positions exhibition takes on sustainable architecture and is a collection of photographs of 33 key projects.

On occasion of the Year of Swiss architecture, design and engineering in India 2013 -14, the Embassy of Switzerland presents the travelling exhibition 

Swiss positions - 33 takes on sustainable architecture 
curated by Nathalie Herschdorfer 

Brief on exhibition: 
The travelling exhibition entitled "Swiss Positions: 33 takes on sustainable approaches to architecture" is a collection of photographs of 33 key projects from the Swiss construction sector over the past twenty years, which all have something to do with the theme of sustainable development. Swiss architecture and engineering enjoy an excellent reputation and high visibility not only on account of the quality of technical expertise and the inventiveness of their designers, but also on account of a far-reaching concern with sustainable development.

Exhibition schedule: 

Chandigarh 
Venue: Government Museum and Art Gallery, Sec. 10C, Chandigarh 
Opening: 4 October 2013 
On view from: 5 - 14 October 201310.00 am to 5.00 pm, Mondays closed 
Guided walk of the exhibition with architect Snehal Shah 6th October 2013 / 2:30 pm to 3.15 pm
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New Delhi 
Venue: Open Palm Court, India Habitat Center, Lodi Road, New Delhi 
Opening: 24th October 2013 with an introductory speech by Christian Müller, Swiss architect 
On view from: 25th to 31st October 2013 / 10.00 am to 8.00 pm, daily 
Guided walk of the exhibition with architect Snehal Shah26th October 2013 / 10.30 am

To attend the inauguration and the guided walk write to ndh.events(at)eda.admin.ch
Antonio Bühler from DA MOTUS! to mentor participants of Gati Summer Dance Residency

Swiss choreographer Antonio Bühler from DA MOTUS! was in Delhi to mentor the residents of Gati Summer Dance Residency 2013.

All warmed up: New propositions in dance

After nine intense weeks, the residents of Gati Summer Dance Residency are set to present their choreographic creations. Swiss choreographer Antonio Bühler from DA MOTUS! was in Delhi to mentor the participants.

Showcase 1: 18th October, 2013 at 7 pm
Showcase 2: 19th October, 2013 at 7 pm

Venue: British Council Theatre, 17 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi-01
Entry: Passes available at GATI

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Swiss choreographer, Antonio Bühler has been invited to mentor participants of Gati Summer Dance Residency 2013.

Date: 
Residency and workshops: 5 - 20 October 2013Performance: 19 October 2013Venue: tbc (visit www.prohelvetia.in closer to the date)For more information on the residency visit: www.gatidance.com/residency.html

Synopsis 
Swiss choreographer and dancer Antonio Bühler has been invited to Delhi for the Gati Summer Dance Residency. Antonio will be mentoring the dancers / choreographers and will also hold workshops while in Delhi. Antonio Bühler has visited India twice earlier with the support of Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council. In 2008 Antonio and his dance company DA MOTUS! presented en vie ... en ville (French for 'in life...in a city') in Delhi, Jaipur and Chandigarh in partnership with Chandigarh Tourism, Khoj International Artists' Association, Jaipur Virasat Foundation and Rajasthan Tourism. Khoj International Artists' Association invited DA MOTUS! once again in 2008 to participate at the 48°C Public Art Ecology International Festival.

About Antonio Bühler
After a degree in law at the University of Fribourg, Antonio decided to devote himself exclusively to movement art and contemporary dance. He got initiated into choreography in New York in the early 80's by discovering improvisation and composition taught by Alwin Nikolaïs, Simone Forti and by different release techniques as well. His first choreography won the 2nd Prize at the International Choreography Contest in Nyon. In 1987 he founded with Brigitte Meuwly the company DA MOTUS! Antonio is a certified teacher of Yoga by the Swiss Yoga Association. He has an instinctive and sensitive approach to movement.

About DA MOTUS!
DA MOTUS!, is a contemporary dance performance company from Switzerland. DA MOTUS! (da!=give, offer! / motus=movement) cannot be defined as theatre, neither as dance, nor as any conventional form of body art. They are different and constantly surprise their audiences. Their performances are eclectic and stand out for their vivid creativity and are known for their constant search of artistic renewal, enriched by a subtle ability to play with the circumstances, on stage as well as out-door. More: info(at)damotus.ch

Partner: 
GATI Dance Forum, New Delhi / www.gatidance.com/index.html