Monday 31 October 2011

Photoink presents a photo books exhibition

As part of the Delhi Photo Festival 2011, Photoink presents an exhibition of books on photography published by Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland. [dated October 2011]

As part of the Delhi Photo Festival 2011, Photoink presents an exhibition of books on photography published by Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland. This photo books exhibition has been made possible by the support of Pro Helvetia – Swiss Arts Council. 

Books by Fotomuseum Winterthur Edited by Urs Stahel, Director and Curator Fotomuseum Winterthur Discussions and debates on “visual literacy” have been widespread for years now. Early on Umberto Eco remarked that we are entering an era in which visual communication will be at least as important as language—if not more important. This statement is now over twenty years old. In the meantime we have entered into a new visual, networked epoch. In our everyday life, at work, in the media, in the culture of the Internet, we experience the incredible degree to which the word is being replaced by the image; how enormously the word is even repressed by images. Yet we are not being educated in pictures, in understanding pictures, in the language of pictures, in communicating with and manipulating pictures. We are facing the situation that we are all consumers of audiovisual images, but in the end we are all illiterate. So investigating these structures and functions has an eminently educational significance: we must be educated in pictures in order to be outfitted for communication in the present and for the future. 

It is not only crucial to learn to read and understand photographs, but to recognize that photography does not only document events, but also that it very much produces them. In a world saturated by the media, only what is “spoken,” what is shown, what is documented is considered important; everything else does not exist, is not there, not present. Photography produces the world through its image, which we remember and want to remember. Photography generates visual ideas about our world. Photography forms our future images of the world and forms of action. Regarding this the book is one of the very best medias to make us understand photography – and through it reality, our life, the circumstances we are dealing with. 

For more informatin on Fotomuseum, Winterthur click here. 
For more information on Photoink, New Delhi click here.
meters behind sea level, 2005/2011

Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council and Ahmedabad International Arts Festival (AIAF) 2011 present meters behind sea level, 2005/2011 a video installation by Swiss artist Sonja Feldmeier. [dated October 2011]

Pro Helvetia - Swiss Arts Council and Ahmedabad International Arts Festival (AIAF) 2011 present 
meters behind sea level, 2005/2011 
a video installation by Swiss artist Sonja Feldmeier 
at Arts Reverie, 1824 Khijda Sheri, Dhal ni Pol, Ahmedabad 
on Friday 14 to Sunday 16 October 2011 
On view from Friday 14 to Sunday 16 October 2011 
Open to all 
The installation Swiss artist Sonia Feldmeier collects visual information from her surroundings and transfers its content to other visual systems. The artist effects her transformations in multimedia installations that include painting, video and photography. In the body of work titled ‘meters behind sea level’, Sonja produces fictional maps by working on the military camouflage patterns of different countries. The artist pares down the flora and geology, giving the work the appearance of a map with contour lines and shades of colour. Sonja Feldmeier first interprets the camouflage pattern from a topographical perspective and creates models out of clay. Photographs documenting each step produce the contour lines which are eventually enlarged and reproduced in the art work. The two-dimensional micro-perspective evolves into a bird’s eye view of a 3D topography. The installation, using existing military camouflage patterns that are worked over in several stages to produce maps of fictional territories, appropriately demonstrates the festival theme Pattern in Art. 

Sonja Feldmeier 
A visual artist from Switzerland, Sonja Feldmeier divides her time between New York, London, Delhi and Basel. The tiny studio in New York (2001/ 2004) inspired her to go beyond the confines of her work-space and use the urban fabric as a giant studio. Expanding the scope of her work and appropriating city structures resulted in new working methods. Her work is not bound to a specific medium. Images she captures on her camera are used as the basic foundation for her videos. Sonja peels the existing context away from the images and embeds them in new structures, thus changing their meaning. In pieces such as ‘meters behind sea level’, 2005/2011, the purported truth of the image content loses its validity and the elements of significance within the image can be re-associated. During her visit to Ahmedabad, Sonja will be conducting workshops for students of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. 

Organiser and Partner: Ahmedabad International Arts Festival (AIAF) 2011
Lettera Amorosa – Musica Fiorita

On occasion of the XIth Edition of the Italian Language Week, the Embassy of Switzerland presents the International Baroque Music Ensemble, Musica Fiorita in New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Margao. [dated October 2011]

On occasion of the XIth Edition of the Italian Language Week, the Embassy of Switzerland, the Indian Council of Cultural Relations and the Istituto Italiano di Cultura present the International Baroque Music Ensemble, Musica Fiorita in New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Margao. Italian Dance Music from Renaissance to Modernity by Italian Composers of the 17th and 18th century. Accompanied with a dance performance by dancers from Switzerland and India. Artistic Director: Daniela Dolci Choreographer: Nick Nguyen with Il Ballarino – Baroque Dance Ensemble from Italy and Bharatnatyam Indian Dancers Tour dates Wednesday, 5th October 2011 6.30 pm Kamani Auditorium, New Delhi Saturday, 8th October 2011 6.30 pm Rabindranath Tagore Centre, ICCR, Kolkata Monday, 10th October 2011 7.00 pm Tata Theatre, NCPA, Mumbai Wednesday, 12th October 2011 6.30 pm Rabindra Sadan Auditorium, Margao, Goa Entry Passes Passes can be collected either from the ICCR offices or from the venue. Limited passes for the concert in New Delhi available at the Embassy of Switzerland, New Delhi About Musica Fiorita Musica Fiorita is an international ensemble, based in Basel. The Director, Mrs. Daniela Dolci, originally an Italian, studied music, and has been working in Switzerland for the past 22 years. Most of the students of this well known music school are international students. The numbers have witnessed a steady increase since the opening of the East block. The school undertakes study, research, concerts and workshops leading to exchanges in Baroque music from the 17th and 18th Century, with the intent to rediscover old music. The ensemble has successfully established long term contacts and exchanges with a few European and Latin American countries. The Musica Fiorita reflects strongly the cultural ties that Switzerland shares with Italy.
Curraint D’Ajer | Durchzug 2011

Fundaziun NAIRS, Scuol presents Curraint D’Ajer| Durchzug 2011, an exhibition that includes works of former Pro Helvetia New Delhi artists -in-residence Jenson Anto and Rahel Hegnauer. [dated October 2011]

Fundaziun NAIRS, Scuol presents Curraint D’Ajer| Durchzug 2011, an exhibition of works, developed by artists during the residency at NAIRS. Included in the exhibition are works of former Pro Helvetia New Delhi artists-in-residence Jenson Anto from New Delhi and Rahel Hegnauer from Zurich. 24th September - 16th October 2011 Fundaziun NAIRS: cp 71 · 7550 Scuol | To view the invitation click here. The exhibition features works of artists on a residecy at NAIRS in 2011: Amir Einat, Jerusalem | Anto Jenson, New Delhi | Borner EH, Basel | Etter Jonas, Zurich | Gawrisch Dmitrij, Berlin | Hegnauer Rahel, Zurich | Jug Katja, Zurich | Kadelbach Thomas, Fribourg | Kozlowska Agnieszka, PL | Liebig Silvia, Dortmund | Marcet Patrik, Berne | Meier Hans Barblina, Zurich | Mezamer Sagit, Jerusalem | Piniel Jolanda, Zurich | Welti Franziska, Winterthur. 

To learn more about the exhibition click here. 

Jenson Anto, India / statement The slide had brought down the mountainside, into the roaring waters of the Inn. Rivulets flow through slices of split rocks as slippery tracks move up the mountain path that takes me. Am waiting for the promised bear from Italy to appear out of the pine trees and growl, Stop! Passport??...a trembling deer hides in the bush, watching me shake all over. Moss clings for dear life among the dislodged wood and rock in the waking dawn. More Rahel Hegnauer, Switzerland / statement When I came back from India in May, I had 2 litres of water from the river Ganges in my luggage (more is not allowed). I also sent 2 big bags full of empty plastic containers from Haridwar and 600 peacock feathers to Nairs, the artist-in-residence place in the Swiss Alps. The place where the residency is situated is a former sanitarium where people used to come from far away places to drink healthy water from the springs along the river Inn at Scuol, Grisons. Even today, people like to come here to enjoy the spas and drink the mineral rich water. People are attracted to places like Haridwar or Nairs...for me it is not relevant whether it is for religious or health reasons. I think it is a fundamental desire for becoming 'a better person'... whether it be to dip into the holy water or to drink from an ancient mineral spring. 

To pour water from the Ganges into the river Inn. (working title) Work: Jetty - I built a jetty into the river Inn. At the end of the platform from the top of an iron pole I let the water from the Ganges drip from a glass bottle into the river Inn. During the exhibition time the water will drip (less then 1 drop per minute) into the river. Work: tree (Haridwar) - Transparent white plastic containers from Haridwar were hung on a tree (drift wood). Work: table with peacock feathers - A table from the former sanitarium is covered with peacock feathers. The feathers seem to form a river which is following the river Inn. 

Rahel Hegnauer / Nairs, 2011