http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-britain/exhibition/turner-prize-2014
Culture
Usha Zacharias 1961 – 2013
Riyas Komu. Trivandrum
Backyard Civilization. Mattencherry.
10 Things to do in Delhi this summer
10 Things to do in Delhi this summer
New Delhi’s Top 10 Art and Culture Events in Summer 2014
In spite of sweltering summer heat and upcoming monsoon season with ceaseless rains, New Delhi stays as vibrant and lively as ever. From international art, theatre and film festivals and exciting art exhibitions to joyful celebrations of traditional Hindu festivals and India’s Independence Day, New Delhi offers something for everyone. Here are the city’s best art and culture events this summer.
Architecture | Raj Rewal: Memory, Metaphor and Meaning in his Constructed Landscape
15 April – 15 June
This June, the National Gallery of Modern Art offers a unique opportunity to explore the first ever architectural exhibition in India, showcasing over five decades of work by the leading Indian architect Raj Rewal. The exhibition, titled Raj Rewal: Memory, Metaphor and Meaning in his Constructed Landscape, will display the best of architect’s work, ranging from the housing projects for the poor and office buildings to the college campuses and exhibition centres. Deeply influenced by the rich traditions of Indian architecture, Raj Rewal is the architect behind many landmark buildings in India and beyond, including the well-known Pragati Maidain, an exhibition and convention centre in New Delhi and the more recent Indian Embassy in Beijing.
National Gallery of Modern Art, Jaipur House, India Gate, New Delhi, India, +91 011 2338 4640
Theatre | Summer Theatre Festival
22 May – 14 June
Each summer, the National School of Drama Repertory Company, the most prominent theatre training institution in India, organises various theatre festivals, tours, talks, rehearsed readings and performances. One of its most outstanding events, the Summer Theatre Festival, aims not only to revisit and show classic plays and old-time favorites, but also to support the young and upcoming playwrights and emerging theatre talents by introducing new contemporary and experimental theatre plays to the general public. For almost three weeks, the festival will bring together the finest actors, directors and playwrights to New Delhi to celebrate the vibrant Indian theatre traditions.
Bahawalpur House, Bhagwandas Road, New Delhi, India, +91 011 23 389 402
Art | Art Pitara Workshops in Folk and Traditional Arts
26 May – 26 June
Located in the Lodi Estate of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), the bi-annual Art Pitara workshops on Folk Arts and Traditional Arts of India provides a great opportunity to familiarize oneself with diverse Indian tribal culture. Organized by INTACH and Happy Hands Foundation, the workshops teach the practical skills and techniques of traditional arts and crafts, ranging from calligraphy class to molela tile making workshop, from the pithora painting atelier to the kavad story box carving and painting course, from the gond tribal art lessons to mask and leather making classes. Although the workshops are aimed at the younger generation, art lovers of all ages will enjoy this insight into Indian artistic heritage.
Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage 71, Lodhi Estate, New Delhi, India, +91 011 28 537 997
Music | Fête de la Musique
21 June
The third annual Fête de la Musique festival will take place this year in Delhi’s well known culture and arts area, Hauz Khas Village. The music festival, celebrating the World Music Day on 21 June, was initially launched in Paris in 1982, but since then has become more and more popular all over the world. The festivities in Delhi will feature a series of musical events, including two outdoor concerts and 40 indoor musical performances in different genres, which will take place in more than 35 different venues. The festival is organised by Aliance Français in coordination with Hauz Khas Village Trader’s Association and will be attended by over 10,000 music lovers.
Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi, India, + 91 011 43 500 200
Culture | International Mango Festival
2July
The annual International Mango Festival is one of the most popular events in New Delhi, celebrating everything about the national fruit of India. Often called the king of tropical fruits, the juicy mango has an important cultural significance, used as symbol of attainment in Hinduism, and referred to in several poems by famous Urdu and Indian poets. The festival, usually taking place in Dilli Haat, features a variety of recreational events and activities, such as mango tasting sessions of more than 1100 varieties of mango, mango eating competitions, folk performances and children’s shows, as well as sale of various mango-based food items, including chutneys, jams and pickles.
Art | An Unfinished Portrait: Vignettes from the KNMA Collection
Until 30 September
The long standing exhibition of Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, depicting and exploring the contextual history of modernism in India, is well worth a visit. The exhibition includes a variety of artworks by the leading artists of Indian modern art, ranging from drawings and sketches to sculptures, watercolors and paintings. The artists represented include such iconic figures as F.N.Souza andM.F. Hussain from the Progressive Artist’s Group and well-known and distinguished Bengali artists such as sculptor and printmaker Somnath Hore, and painter Nandalal Bose. The exhibition also displays various photographs, portraying artists whilst working in their studios or at the exhibitions.
Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, 145, DLF South Court Mall, New Delhi, India, +91 011 4916 0000
Film | Jagran Film Festival
10-15 July
A relative newcomer to India’s festival scene, the annual Jagran Film Festival is back in New Delhi for its five year anniversary. The film festival aims to spread the culture of cinema appreciation around India and bring the best of international and Indian cinema to the general public. The festival presents a vast array of films, ranging from the old Bollywood classics to the latest premiers by debut directors, from the best of international and European cinema to emerging Indian regional talents, from shorts to feature films. As the longest running film festival in the country, Jagran Film Festival will start in New Delhi and travel all around India before reaching Mumbai for the long-awaited awards ceremony.
Venues to be shortly announced
Culture | Naga Panchami
1 August
The Nag Panchami, a traditional Hindu festival, worshipping snakes and serpents, is celebrated on the fifth day of the bright fortnight of sravana month throughout India. On the day of Nag Panchami people observe various rituals, including a visit to a local temple, especially dedicated to snakes, or giving a milk bath to a serpent deity of silver, stone or wood at home. Such rituals are performed to ensure the family well-being and receive blessing of nagas, serpent deities, said to inhabit the universe below the Earth. During the festival, the snake charmers, a rare and slowly dying profession, often come to Delhi’s temples to perform and, thus, honour the serpent deity.
Event takes place all over New Delhi
Culture | Raksha Bandhan
10 August
Another ancient Hindu festival, taking place each summer, Raksha Bandhan celebrates the undying bond of love and affection between brothers and sisters. The festival is widely popular all over India and is observed not only by Hindus, but also Jains and many Sikhs. On the day of Raksha Bandhan, sisters tie a red thread, called rakhi, around the wrist of their brother, which symbolises both the sister’s love for her brother and the brother’s sacred pledge to always protect and take care of his sister. Although considered a family festivity, Raksha Badhan celebrations in New Delhi are spectacular and take over the whole city – bazaars are filled with traditional sweets, modern types of rakhi threads, and mehandi artists, ready to adorn palms with traditional henna patterns.
Event takes place all over New Delhi
Independence Day
15 August
Independence Day, one of three national holidays in India, is observed all around India. However, the most spectacular celebrations take place in nation’s capital. The preparations for the festivities start almost a month beforehand, when major roads and government buildings are decorated with national colours and flags. On the day, the official celebrations start with the Prime Minister’s speech following a gun salute and flag hoisting ceremony on the ramparts of Red Fort, and finish with a parade of Indian Armed Forces and often a pageant, showcasing scenes from the independence struggle. After the official ceremony is over, smaller celebrations, cultural shows, and even kite-flying take place all around the city.
Event takes place all over New Delhi
By Anete Jekobsone
A Catalogue of Desire: The Erotic Sculptures of the Khajuraho Temples By Eleanor Cunningham
The Khajuraho Temples in Madhya Pradesh are amongst the most beautiful medieval monuments in India. Originally a group of 85, they are the largest group of Hindu and Jain temples in the world, although only about 25 of them remain today. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, they have awed generations of people with their architectural brilliance, intricate carvings and, most famously, their erotic sculptures.
The Khajuraho Temples were built by the Chandella rulers between AD 900 and 1130, during the golden period of the Chandela dynasty. It is presumed that every Chandella ruler built at least one temple in his lifetime. One noteworthy ruler was Maharaja Rao Vidyadhara, who repelled the attacks of Mahmud of Ghazni. His love for sculptures is shown in these temples of Khajuraho and Kalinjar fort. Khajuraho, located right in the heart of Central India in the state of Madhya Pradesh, is believed to be the religious capital of Chandellas. The Chandella rulers had tried to distinguish politics from religious & cultural activities and established their political capital in Mahoba, making Khajuraho a religious and cultural capital. The first recorded mention of the Khajuraho temples is in the accounts of Al-Biruni in AD 1022 and in the works of the Arab traveller Ibn Battuta in AD 1335.
The Khajuraho temples, scattered over an area of about 9 square miles, depict the traditional lifestyle of women in the medieval age. Rediscovered almost nine centuries later, they give a poignant representation of life in the 11th century. A few of the temples are dedicated to the Jain pantheon and the rest to Hindu deities — to God’s Trio, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and various Devi forms, such as the Devi Jagadambi. The divine sculptures are a tribute to life itself, embodying everything that is sublime and spontaneous about it. Built using sandstone, with varying shades of buff, pink and pale yellow, each contains an entrance, a hall, a vestibule and a sanctum. The inside of the temple has rooms that are inter-connected and placed on an East/West line and constructed with spiral superstructures, adhere to a North Indian shikhara temple style and often to a Panchayatana plan.
The images of Goddesses and Gods sculpted on the temple walls represent the many manifestations of the divine Shakti and Shiva, the female and male principles, the Yin and the Yang. These temples are mainly associated with their erotic art, especially the western Devi Jagdambi Temple, located next to the Kandariya Mahadeva temple. The Devi Jagdambi temple is erroneously linked to Devi Jagdambi and is in fact a Vishnu temple. It has rows of sculptures depicting devanganas, mithunas, divinities and explicit erotic sculptures, especially those depicting mithunas in sexual positions. It is because of these erotic sculptures that these temples are also known as the Kama sutra temples. Most of the erotic sculptures can be found either on the outside or inner walls of the temples but not near the deities. However, it is a common misconception that the sculptures show lovemaking between deities. In fact, they actually show passionate interactions between humans along with changes that occur in the human bodies.
It is considered that these temples are a celebration of womanhood as they depict sculptures of heavily ornamented broad-hipped and busty but well-proportionate women (apsaras) adorning the temple walls. The well contoured bodies of the nymphs grab attention and they can be seen engaging in activities like putting on make-up, washing their hair, playing games and knotting and unknotting their girdles.
It is believed that the erotic sculptures, amongst them nymphs, with their sensuous poses and pouting expressions are a way of giving importance to wellbeing and love of life. During the medieval era there was a common belief that having erotic sculptures or alankaras and decorative motifs was protective and auspicious. This notion is based on the authoritative religious texts like the Shilpashastras and the Brihat Samhita. According to the Brihat Samhita, mithunas, goblins, creepers and erotic sculptures were meant to be carved on the temple door to bring good luck. This was linked to the idea of young boys during the medieval era practicing ‘brahmacharya’, in which they were required to live in hermitage until they matured and became adult men, thus these sculptures are said to have been made to prepare them for the worldly desires and learn about them.
The erotic art at Khajuraho is considered to represent the pinnacle of love and passion. However, during the period between 900 and 1300 AD most Hindu, Jain and Buddhist temples across western and southern India featured some form of erotic art. However, at these other temples, the sculptures were carved at the plinth level, below the eye level and rarely got noticed. It is only at Khajuraho that these sculptures were so prominently displayed on the main wall of the temples.
The western side of the site is the most popular area, which includes the Kandariya Mahadeva, the largest and one of the most important of the Khajuraho temples. Dedicated to Lord Shiva, the temple is studded with magnificent sculptures and one of the most ornately crafted temples at Khajuraho. The Chaunsath Jogini Temple, situated on the bank of the Shivsagar Lake, is believed to be the oldest temple in Khajuraho. This temple is different from the other temples at Khajuraho and depicts a style different from the Chandela style of architecture.
The Eastern temples are lesser known, but just as important as they reflect a very different side of Khajuraho. The Brahma Temple is actually dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Dated from 925 AD, this is one of the most prominent and beautiful structures in the eastern group. The temple wrongly came to be associated with Lord Brahma due to the presence of a four-faced Shivalinga. There is also a stark difference between this and the typical western group temples, devoid of the ornate carvings, sensuous sculptures and elaborate architectures. Instead, it is a simple structure and is made of granite along with a pyramidal spire made of sandstone. At the entrance, on either side, one can see the carvings of river goddesses Ganga and Yamuna. The temple is situated on the banks of the Khajursagar tank with the Khajuraho village as the backdrop.
Call for Artists – July 5th 2014 Curated by Luca Curci, Liquid Group
Call for artists: Fragments of cities – Venice
International exhibition of video-art, photography, installation and performing art
Deadline: July 05, 2014
International ArtExpo is selecting all interesting photo works, video/short films, installations and performing art works to include in the next 2014 exhibition:
Fragments of cities – Venice, international video-art, photography, installation and performing art festival which will be held in the prestigious Palazzo Albrizzi in Venice (Italy), from the 11 to the 18 of July 2014. Fragments of cities will be part of MORPHOS festival, organized in Venice in the months between June and November 2014, in the same period of Architecture Biennale.
Artists, photographers and video makers are invited to submit photos, video-art, installations and performing art works, which explore all the different facets of social, physical, cultural and urban identities of our contemporary societies. Everyday we deal with a multitude of different identities and roles: we face the public life creating and adapting our social identities; our body and aesthetic tastes modify and are modified by our physical and sexual identities; our whole being evolves as well as contemporary cultures and modern cities do. Differences create new compounds and exchange possibilities.
Deadline for applications is July 05, 2014
The exhibition will be curated by Arch. Luca Curci (Founder of LUCA CURCI ARCHITECTS and It’s LIQUID Group). The whole city of Venice will be involved during the six months of the Architecture Biennale, hosting international investors, architects, designers, collateral art events, conferences and summits.
Palazzo Albrizzi is one of the Venetian aristocracy’s palaces, situated in Cannaregio 4118, near Campo San Paolo. Constructed by the famous Capello family, in the 18th century the Palazzo passed into the hands of the Albrizzi family. The palace is the headquarter of ACIT Venezia, one of the most important Italian-German cultural association, and has often been collateral venue of Venice Biennale.
Submit your works for free. Become one of the selected artists to be involved in this amazing exhibition in Venice!
Deadline for applications is July 05, 2014
To take part in the selection, send your works’ submissions with a CV/biography and some still images (for video-art), pictures of your works via email to lucacurci@lucacurci.com or via mail to:
International ArtExpo
Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 33
70122 Bari, Italy
The number of works you can submit is unlimited. The participation in the festival requires an entry fee only for selected artworks. Participation open to: artists, architects and designers, associate groups and studios.
International ArtExpo
Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 33
70122 Bari (Italy)
+39.0805234018
+39.3387574098
lucacurci@lucacurci.com
www.lucacurci.com/artexpo
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