Wednesday 31 October 2007

Exploring the relationship between ecology and art

Swiss artist Rahel Hegnauer is in New Delhi to participate in the International ECO + ART Residency at KHOJ. [dated October 2007]

Rahel Hegnauer, a visual artist from Zurich has studied at the Department of Environmental Art, Glasgow School of Art, Scotland. She then did her postgraduate studies in Art in Public Sphere (Master of Art) in Lucerne, Switzerland.

Currently, Rahel is in New Delhi to participate in the International ECO + ART Residency at KHOJ.

Open Studio Day on 19th December: Rahel Hegnauer's on-site guided tour from the studios to the Yamuna at Kalindi Kunj explores a perspective of the river through an elevated bamboo platform. Tested samples of the river water will be discussed.

KHOJ is hosting an international residency in an attempt to explore the relationship between ecology and art in public spaces from 12 November to 20 December 2007 in the city of Delhi. The city of Delhi is a bustling metropolis which has undergone a metamorphosis, changing the historical and ecological map of the city in the course of the last century. Increasingly, the environment may be perceived as much a political realm as an ecological one, from the perspective of production, consumption and of ownership rights.

KHOJ International Artists' Association is an artist led, alternative space for experimentation and international exchange based in India.

Abhishek Hazra writes on his residency at PROGR

Abhishek Hazra, a visual artist from Bangalore is in Bern on a Residency at PROGR. [dated October 2007]

Abhishek Hazra, a visual artist based in Bangalore is in Bern on a Residency at PROGR from October to December 2007. His current body of work explores the intersections between technology and culture through the narrative device of a 'visual fable'. He is also interested in the sociology of scientific practice.

Abhishek participated at a panel discussion at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (Zurich College of Applied Arts) recently together with Indian Ambassador to Switzerland H.E. Amitava Tripathi and Marianne Burki, Head Visual Arts Pro Helvetia. Abhishek showed and explained his work The Deictic Garland.

Abhishek Hazra writes to us from Bern:
"I have had quite an interesting time in Bern and Switzerland so far. My residency is based in PROGR, which is an exciting cultural space – it's quite stimulating to have various artists with very different practices working around you. People have been helpful in helping me orient myself here – particularly Katrien Reist and Diana Dodson. I have begun some of my archival work here at the Patent Office, which has some of the earliest records of European patent applications. I am still in the process of conceptualising a new work here, but most probably it will be in the area that I have been exploring currently – mainly history of science. I have been also visiting some of the other Swiss cities – Basel and Zurich. Yesterday there was a discussion on contemporary Indian art at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (Zurich University of the Arts ) and I gave a talk on some of my recent work."
Hugo Loetscher lectures on language in a democracy

Eminent Swiss writer-philosopher Hugo Loetscher to lecture at Delhi, Madras, Chennai and Pune. [dated October 2007]

The Embassy of Switzerland and Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council along with their partners in Delhi, Chennai and Pune have invited Hugo Loetscher, the eminent Swiss writer-philosopher to lecture on “Democratisation of Democracy – Language in a Multicultural Nation.”

Loetscher is the recipient of numerous literary awards, among them the prestigious Schiller Prize of the Swiss Schiller Foundation and the Charles Veillon Prize. Hugo Loetscher’s first novel, Abwässer (1963), introduced him as a critical and independent author to the world of literature. He is one of Europe’s premier experts on Latin American literature. Loetscher’s literary output is considerable and among others include: Die Kranzflechterin (1964), Noah (1967), Der Immune (1975), Die Fliege und die Suppe (1989), Saison (1998), and Der Buckel (2002).

Chennai - Saturday 13 October at 1700 hrs
Venue: Hall No. 3, IC n SR, Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai
Partners: Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Madras and Goethe Society of India

New Delhi - Wednesday 17 October at 1100 hrs
Venue: Committee Room I (2nd Floor), School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies, JNU Partners: Centre of German Studies, School of Language, Literature and Culture Studies, JNU

Pune - Thursday 18 October at 1800 hrs
Venue: Seminar Hall, Department of Journalism, Ranade Institute Partners: Department of Foreign Languages and the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Pune and Max Mueller Bhavan, Pune
The Duo Crastan
Swiss sisters Silvia Crastan (violin) and Eva Crastan (piano) will perform in New Delhi, Pune and Mumbai. [dated October 2007]

Swiss sisters Silvia Crastan (violin) and Eva Crastan (piano) will present Works by Dvorak, Kelterborn, Debussy, Brahms and Kreisler in New Delhi, Pune and Mumbai. The performance will bring together Silvia and Eva Crastan who have been working as a duo for many years under the directorship of the Israeli pianist Daniel Höxter and the late violinist Ifrah Neaman. The duo will also present a work titled ‘5 Essays’ by the contemporary Swiss composer Rudolf Kelterborn.

Silvia and Eva have given recitals in Switzerland (Societe Philharmonique de Bienne, Laudinella St. Moritz), Italy (Societa dei Concerti Milano, A.Gi.Mus Padova, Teatro di Saronno), England (Milton Keynes City Church Series, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Lotherton Hall Leeds) and Amsterdam (Boekmanzaal of the Stopera). They have also performed at Highgate United Reformed Church (London) for the Mathieson Foundation Kolkata, a school for deprived children, founded by the London based cellist Anup Kumar Biswas.

Programme:
New Delhi - Wed 10 Oct. 2007 at 6:30pm at the India International Centre
Performance open to public.

Pune - Sunday 14 Oct. 2007 at 6:30pm at the Mazda Hall
Performance open to public.

Mumbai - Friday 19 Oct. 2007 at 7pm at the Ruia House, Napean Road 
The performance in Mumbai is by invitation only.