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Visual Culture in India is a project of Arcadia University’s Communications Program. The project has two broad aims: to discover, identify and study the specific visual idiom of Indian culture in various forms and; to acquire from that experience a broader world view about visual culture, social conditions and practical insights about the people across cultures sharing the same space in the world.
The first step in this project includes a course in Visual Culture in India which involves travel to India in spring 2008. Nine students and a faculty member will be studying and traveling various aspects of visual culture in India as part of the course. Their work will be exhibited on a web site, including these web pages later this spring.
Based on the model of project-based learning, students have five different topics. Each group of (2) students studies the topic in depth, with thorough research and preparation about India and its visual traditions and will reflect on these experiences in a series of presentations representing the analytical orientation of the course.
The topics include:
Photography, Popular Culture, Calendar Art: place of photography in everyday life, photographic art, integral adaptation of photography to the image culture of India.
Bollywood and the visual culture of India: the specifics of Bollywood aesthetics, presence of cinema in public culture in India.
The “primitive,” the tribal and the modern: the tribal traditions of visual culture, what is modern in India and the characterization of the “primitive” in the Western visual culture.
Khajuraho and the Western visual idiom: The architectural and sculptural achievements of Khajuraho. The presence of the “public erotic” and its relation to Western visual culture since the Renaissance.
Religion and visual culture: The unique place of images and idols in the context of religions in India. The notion of “darshan” in Indian culture and religion. Its relationship to the “gaze.”
Highlights of the visit to India include:
- The Taj Mahal, Agra
- Khajuraho Temples, Khajuraho, MP
Mumbai events/ activities
Visit to the Mohile Parikh Center for the Visual Arts, the National Center for the Performing Arts
National Gallery of Art, exhibition on Indian photography: The Photograph: Painted, posed, and of the moment (The Alkazi Collection)
Dharavi
Warli Village, visit with artist Jivya Soma Mashe
The Heritage Walk
Meeting with journalist-author Kalpana Sharma
Student presentations/reflections at the National Center for the Performing Arts
Our events/activities in Mumbai, including student presentations at the National Center for the Performing Arts are arranged by our collaborative partner in this project,
Mohile Parikh Center for the Visual Arts
Students participating in the project
March 7th through 16th
Kelly Callahan Photography, Popular Culture, Calendar Art
Danielle Crone Bollywood and the visual culture of India
Dashiell Davis The “primitive,” the tribal and the modern
JoLynne Holloman Photography, Popular Culture, Calendar Art
Marc Lombardo The “primitive,” the tribal and the modern
Lauren Manley Khajuraho and the Western visual idiom
Alicia Mercado Photography, Popular Culture, Calendar Art
James Musselman Religion and visual culture
Cynthia Spitko Khajuraho and the Western visual idiom
Faculty
Dr. Shekhar Deshpande
Director, Communications Program
We would like to appreciate the generous help of the following individuals for this project.
At the Mohile Parikh Center for the Visual Arts
Prashant Parikh
Amrita Gupta Singh
Baptist Coelho
Anuradha Parikh
Niti Sampat Patel
Mustansir Dalvi
We are also thankful to:
Mr. K. Hariharan, Director, L. V. Prasad Film and TV Academy, Chennai
Jivya Soma Mashe, artist, Warli Village
Kalpana Sharma, journalist-author
For Visual Culture in India contact visualculture@arcadia.edu
