08-Mar-2013 12:00 AM
2041
The contemporary times stand witness to a constant deterioration of meaning of art and manipulation of theoretical social and political concepts as well as their practical significance. Whether they are questions as serious as social and political concerns of human rights or social exclusion affecting a dignified human survival, or as sensitive as the waning of interest in classical art forms, they call for an urgent need to revisit and discuss the prevalent conceptions.
Art has its unique way of reviving our soul from deadening monotonous routines through its multiple intricate expressions. Forming a singular perception of art or attributing a definitive meaning to it often reduces art from its fascinating complexity and expressive charm. This reductive approach confines art to its modernist understanding, which then fails to take cognizance of the artistic abstraction expressed through different forms and styles.
The Raza Foundation through its series ‘Art Matters’ provides a platform for open discussion on such issues. It endeavors not only to release the true essence of art from the clutches of definitive modernist approach in order to grasp myriad ways of extolling art, but also to stir up debate on the changing meanings of social and political theoretical concepts like rights, justice, liberty, citizenship, etc. Well known, renowned scholars and practitioners from all the diverse fields of arts, dance, music, social science, poetry, and so on are invited for this purpose.
Here, we publish the tenth panel discussion of ‘Art Matters’, titled ‘Arts and Audience’ featuring M. K. Raina, Kishore Singh, Sanjeev Bhargava, Kiran Nadar and Anita Singh.
M K Raina is a veteran theatre actor, director and filmmaker. With a career spanning several decades, he has developed over 150 theatrical performances in different Indian languages and folk forms. He has also made documentary films and acted in several renowned television serials and feature films. He has been a visiting director at the National School of Drama, Delhi, FTII, Pune, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal and the University of Hawaii among others. He has worked closely with urban and rural communities, conducting theatre workshops and performing street plays. Kashmir is of particular interest to him and he has been working with local performers for a long time. Relying on his extensive experience in theatre and his understanding of the artistic community in the region, he now proposes to bring together younger Bhand Pather artists and the Ustads of the form for a theatre workshop.
Sanjeev Bhargava is the reason Delhi has seen a change in its cultural profile. Sanjeev Bhargava has designed some of the most admired cultural events that the capital has witnessed in recent times — in the areas of dance, music, theatre, art and cinema – such as Bhakti Utsav, Delhi Jazz Festival, the South Asian Bands Festival and Ananya at the backdrop of Purana Qila remains as one of the biggest dance festivals of India. Through Seher, the cultural organization he founded in 1991, he has also discovered fresh talent from remote corners of India. Many of today’s well-known artists were given their first break by him. Sanjeev has been curating some of the most iconic cultural programmes for the Office of the President of India. The Trafalgar Square Festival in London was organised by Seher in collaboration with the Mayor of London and the GLA to mark 60 years of India’s independence in the UK.
Kiran Nadar is the Chairperson, Kiran Nadar Museum of Art and a trustee of the Shiv Nadar Foundation. Besides being an avid art collector, she is an acclaimed international bridge player and a philanthropist. She is a key driver behind demystifying art to the common man through the KNMA, a philanthropic initiative in art. She has been acknowledged as a ‘hero of philanthropy’ by Forbes Asia Magazine in 2010 for launching India’s first philanthropic private museum. Kiran is a Trustee of the Shiv Nadar Foundation, which among its transformational educational initiatives has established the SSN College of Engineering in Chennai, today among the top private engineering colleges in India, Shiv Nadar University, VidyaGyan schools, Shiv Nadar School and the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art. Drawing from her diverse and rich experience in advertising and communications, Kiran plays a very important role in defining the architecture and the aesthetics of the Foundation’s initiatives.
The event was organised at the Indian International Centre on 15th of March 2013.