atul@ut-ngp.UTEXAS (Atul Arya) (07/01/85)
The "Festival of India" was officially inaugerated by Prime Minister
Rajiv Gandhi on June 13 in Washington, D.C. . The festival is not a
single event or exhibition. It is a celebration of Indian art,music,
dance,theatre,movies etc. etc.. The festival is based on a similar event
which took place in England some years back (80-81?). The festval will
last for approximately 18 months and various events are spread out all
over U.S. from big cities to small towns (like Austin, Texas).
I have been unable to get a comprehensive schedule for the festival.
At present there are four exhibitions in Washington and one in Chicago.
Some of these are scheduled to travel across U.S. but others like "Aditi:
A Celebration of Life" (at the Smithsonian) will not. I was in Chicago
earlier this month and saw "India - A Festival of Science" at the Museum
of Sceince and Industry. This exhibition will travel to other places.
It depicts the contribution of India to the world of science from the very
ancient to the present. One outstanding feature is the presence of Indian
craftspersons making wonderful things like weaving a silk saree or carving
intricate designs on marble or making a pattern with mehndi (hanna). From
the expressions on the faces at the exhibition I could safely conclude that
it is very well received. The crowd was about 50% Indian and 50% Non-Indian.
(I was there on a weekday).
There has been some good coverage about the festival in print. The New
York Times Sunday Magazine had a cover story called "Art and Life of India"
in June 2 issue. It also had a small calendar for the major events taking
place on the east coast. There is a story in today's (June 30) NYT about
the Aditi exhibition in Washington. Also the National Public Radio's
evening program All Things Considered has been covering the festival on a
regular basis. Susan Stamberg (co-host of ATC) interviewed the organizer of
"Aditi" and also talked about the "Mela" (fair) taking place next week.
They had a long story on the show in Chicago and Susan Stamberg interviewed
Pandit Ravi Shanker on the eve of the opening concert (at the Kennedy
Center).(A Personal Note: NPR covers India on a regular basis - I remember a
fascinating interview with the only survivor from the group responsible
for the assasination of Mahatma Gandhi).
Back to the festival. I am still looking for a comprehensive schedule.
If any one out there has one please get in touch with me. If there is a
lot of interest I will post the short-schedule from NYT (Please mail all
responses directly to me and I will summarise). For those of us in the
backwaters of civilized world ( i.e. Texas) there is some hope. I know for
sure that an exhibition of Indian Miniature Paintings from the Moughal
Period will be shown at the Ransom Center at U.T. sometime in Jan-Feb 1986.
Also an exhibition called "Life at Court: Art for India's Rulers - 16th to
19th Centuries" will come to Dallas next year.
U.S.Mail:
1005 Lorrain Atul Arya
Austin TX 78703 Dept. of Petroleum Engineering
Univ. of Texas at Austin
w 512-471-5661
Support bacteria, it is the only culture some people have.bala@CS-Mordred (Bala Krishnamurthy) (07/03/85)
This past weekend I went to D.C. with a bunch of Purdue-ites to see the Festival of India. It was a blast. If you can go to D.C., I strongly urge you to do so. Apparently the majority of artistes/artisans are going back to India and are unlikely to go to the 80 cities that the exhibits are going to go. Basically, there are 3 parts to the exhibition. The best was "Mela: An Indian Fair", complete with magicians, acrobats, puppeteers, Mehndi decorators (Mehndi is Henna, a dye applied to hands - different patterns can be drawn on the hand - lasts about 2 or 3 weeks - really pretty), Garlandmakers (this guy was from Mylapore, Madras, and moaned the absence of "nice" flowers - they had flown hibiscus and orchids from Hawaii), trick photographers, folk dancers. Btw, the Jalebi was great. This is being held at the National Mall (between 12th and 14th streets) and will end July 7. (free admission) The second is "Aditi: A Celebration of Life" (Aditi signifies the creative power and is a Sanskrit word). A variety of objects are on display along with live performances by craftsmen and performing artists. Singers and balladeers from Rajasthan, artists from Thanjavur painting on glass, potters from Sathamangalam, painters from Orissa (a 13 year old wiz among them) all add to this fascinating exhibition. This is at the National Museum of Natural History (across from the Mela) and will end July 28. (11 a.m. to 5 p.m. - free admission) The third was "The Sculpture of India" - at the National Gallery of Art (East Wing) - a delightful collection of exquisite sculpture from various parts of India over a wide time period. There are several other exhibitions, film shows, lectures, dances going on - plan on spending at least 2 (maybe 3) days. On my way back to Purdue I stopped off at Pittsburgh. The S.V. temple had the complete schedule of the festival but did not have any copies that I could take home. Maybe someone from Pittsburgh area can try and post a copy of the schedule. Parts of the exhibitions will move around various cities over a period of 18 months. (e.g. Chicago has the Festival of Science). Cheers, bala Balachander Krishnamurthy bala@purdue (ever reliable ARPA) Dept. of Computer Science bala.purdue@csnet-relay (reliable CSNET) Purdue University decvax!purdue!bala (semi reliable usenet) W. Lafayette IN 47907 317-494-7765 (um.., well.. er GTE)
phaedrus@eneevax.UUCP (Pravin Kumar) (07/04/85)
Hey! I was (and am) a volunteer there! I am usually translating for
the garland maker since, the only Indian language I speak is Tamil (no,
I don't speak Hindi). So, if any of you net-types comes to D.C. this
weekend and happen to go by the garland makers shop, see if there's a
relatively tall, gangly type computer geek sitting in his shop, speaking
in broken Tamil. If there is, introduce yourself to me. It would be
interesting to meet some of you guys.
I also second Bala's motion. Go to see it! It is fantastic!
Too bad I missed you Bala.
--
Pravin Kumar
Don't bother me! I'm on an emergency third rail power trip.
ARPA: phaedrus!eneevax@maryland
UUCP: {seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!eneevax!phaedrusksp@ulysses.UUCP (Krishna Prasad) (07/13/85)
I am considering driving down to Washington next weekend to see the exhibition at the Smithsonian. Can somebody give me information on when the place opens on Saturdays and Sundays, when does it close, where is a good place to park, and if any parts of "Aditi" are more worth seeing than other parts. I understand that it is on until July 28th. Is that correct? Thanks in advance. Krishna Prasad. <ihnp4!> ulysses!ksp (201)389-3143 - Home (201)870-7525 - Office
lele@brand.UUCP (Surendra Lele) (08/06/85)
Last Saturday (8/2/85) the TV program "Vision of Asia" announced that they will give away a "Calendar of Events" for the Festival of India. To obtain this calendar send them a 6" X 9" self addressed envelope at the following address. Vision of Asia P.O. Box 286, East Elmhurst, NY 11369 Surendra Lele