WorldCanvass: The Arts in India

Piece Description

Is the making of art in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka since Independence a matter of privilege that rests with donors, patrons, and ministries of culture? Or, on the contrary, is art a necessity for life, like food and shelter, which ordinary people need to relieve the dreariness of poverty? On this WorldCanvass, we explore the relationship in South Asia between different sorts of art and different levels of income (folk art, classical art, ritual art, studio art, public art) in order to answer the question of who makes and who consumes music, song, poetry, painting, dance and film.

UI faculty members Paul Greenough (Department of History), Philip Lutgendorf (Department of Asian and Slavic Languages and Literatures) and Frederick Smith (Department of Asian and Slavic Languages and Literatures) are joined by a number of international scholars of South Asian history, traditions and arts as well as playwright and theater producer Vijay Padaki.

Padaki's play “The Prophet and the Poet” is based on a compilation of letters and articles exchanged between Mahatma Gandhi and Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore over 25 years, with the Indian freedom struggle as the backdrop. The letters reveal the significant differences between the two personalities on the form and content of the freedom movement--differences that widened over the years. The maturity of their personalities made it possible for the two giants to maintain genuine respect for each other in spite of their deep differences on ideological grounds. Padaki, Greenough and actor/director Saffron Henke explore both the play and the real lives of its protagonists. 

Discussing South Asian traditions and contemporary expressions in painting, craftsmanship and the making of musical instruments are Kathryn Myers (University of Connecticut), Natalie Marsh (Kenyon College), Frank Korom (Boston University) and Allen Roda (New York University).