Artist Talk and Film Screening I Thursday 14 November 2013 I 6:30pm onwards

Representing Ravana: Images of the Rakshasa King in India and Abroad

 Visually, artists have represented  Ravana in striking ways.  In performances as well, Ravana’s appearance and costume usually stand out.  Part of his unique appearance derives from his ten heads, but other aspects—his veena playing, his love of wealth and possessions, and the extraordinary asceticism he performed to earn his boons—have contributed to his unusual representation.  In this lecture, we’ll look at some of the many ways in which artists, performers, and advertisements have represented Ravana.

Paula Richman, William Danforth Professor of South Asian Studies at Oberlin College near Cleveland, USA, has published two books on Tamil literature:  Women, Branch Stories, and Religious Rhetoric in a Tamil Buddhist Text and Extraordinary Child: Translations from a Genre of Tamil Devotional Poetry.  She has also published three edited volumes about the Ramayana tradition:  Many Ramayanas: the Diversity of a Narrative Tradition in South Asia; Questioning Ramayanas, a South Asian Tradition, and Ramayana Stories in Modern South India.  She is currently completing a monograph on tellings of the story of Rama and Sita in the 20^th century by prominent literary figures, social reformers, and political leaders.

ALFONS KNOGL - GLOBAL STANDARD I October 19th, 7pm 2013

ALFONS KNOGL

GLOBAL STANDARD

OPENING: SATURDAY 19.10.2013 7PM

This exhibition by our current artist-in-residence Alfons Knogl features recent cement sculptures and new works connected to the artist´s "Coffeetable"-series. The title "Global Standard" refers to the global GS1 system which standardizes and numbers all kind of products. The show explores the in-between of an individual artist´s practise and the global-market's understanding of form and material. 

Alfons Knogl is deeply interested in the context and connection of sculpture, furniture, interior design and music as forms of culture. Using the references and meanings of materials like stone and concrete, he builds forms such as bowls and tables and expressions of music which can be autonomous on the one hand and socially related on the other. 

This exhibition is Knogl´s first in India. Other recent solo exhibitions since 2010 include Kunstverein Kjubh, Cologne, DREI Gallery, Cologne, Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne (Concert), SUSI Cologne and Kunstverein Düsseldorf (Project Space).

His artist-in-residency is supported by the Goethe-Institut, Bangalore. 

AN OPEN STUDIO AND A STUDIO OPENING I Soundscapes and Installation

Swiss musician and sound artist Barblina Meierhans collaborates with Suresh Jayaram for a sound installation. The artists create a soundscape by using multiple spaces across 1.Shanthroad.

Barblina Meierhans 1981 born in Saint Gall studies in Violin, composition, transdisciplinarity creations in sound installation, composition lives and works in Zurich, Switzerland.

This event is supported by Pro Helvetia.

Speakers:
Anitha Santhanam
Maria Rosa Sossai
Suresh Jayaram
Valerio Rocco Orlando

Moderated by:
Sreshta Rit Premnath

SHIFTER is thrilled to invite you to a book launch, with a series of short presentations celebrating the launch of our twentieth issue titled What We Can Knot. The title of this issue draws from George Bernard Shaw’s quip “He who can, does; he who cannot, teaches.” In this issue artists parse out and challenge what we see to be Shaw’s false distinction between pedagogy and praxis, in order to explore the value of negotiation and collaboration as important elements both in the studio and in the classroom. To this end we have invited several individuals who are both artists and educators, to consider the active relation between art practice and teaching in their life. We have invited them to do this through a conversation or correspondence with either a mentor or a student who continues to play an intimate part in their understanding of the intertwined roles as artist and educator.