Sunday, July 31, 2016

Crafting Regionalism: Minnette De Silva and an Asian Modern Architecture by Anooradha Iyer Siddiqi

Crafting Regionalism: Minnette De Silva and an Asian Modern Architecture
Anooradha Iyer Siddiqi
Assistant Professor and Faculty Fellow, New York University
In this talk, Professor Siddiqi engages with life history as a means
to delve into the culturally constructed field of architecture.
Few careers invite critical investigation of architecture’s complex
engagements with gender, labor, regional identity, and modernism in
South Asia as does that of Minnette De Silva, Royal Institute of
British Architects Associate and Sri Lankan Institute of Architects
Gold Medalist. While often credited as a pioneer of modern
architecture, and adhering to international modernist rhetoric as
espoused in the international circles within which she moved, her work
may be understood very differently in its localized contexts, and
through her complex biography.
De Silva’s buildings and writings illuminate an unexpected weaving
together of architectural heritage, nationalistic symbolism, and a
concern with the “Asian” modern.
Through an introduction to De Silva’s oeuvre, we may see how it
inflected a modern movement at the local, regional and international
levels, with interventions long credited to peers whose work has
appealed to more masculine or chauvinistic palates.






Saturday, July 16, 2016

30213 A Performance installation by Jazeela Basheer

30213 is an interactive performance installation that is inspired by ‘Mathilukal’ the highly popular Malayalam novel written by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer. The novel is based on Basheer's time spent in prison and how he fell in love with a female inmate without ever having met her. Her voice behind the high walls that separated the male and female prison is his only link to her. In time, they grew to love each other through their conversations and by exchanging gifts over the wall. Basheer’s portrayal of jail is not that of hardships and struggles; instead he speaks in detail of the comforts he enjoyed owing to the fact that he was a celebrated writer who was a political prisoner. What troubled Basheer was the monotony of prison life, the way he seemed caught in a time warp because time seemed to stretch endlessly ahead of him. His greatest sorrow was the idea of having his freedom taken away. Things change after he falls in love with Narayani, the female inmate. She devises a plan for the duo to meet at the doctor’s office. But, a day before their meeting, Basheer is released from jail. At this point, Basheer realises that he might not want the freedom he has been craving. He asks the warden who bring his release notice. “What does freedom even mean? Outside is an even bigger jail.” The novel was adapted into a film, directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan and released in 1989. It won several national awards and Mammootty bagged the National Film Award for best actor for his role as Basheer.

Taking off from the ideas in the novel, the series of exhibits set in 1, Shanthi Road, dwells on our constant search for the meaning of love, life and death. 30213 is an experiential journey through time, space and imagination.

Jazeela Basheer's performance installation was developed under the guidance of Sandbox Collective and supported by 1, Shanthi Road.

Language: English

Duration: 30 minutes

Age: 15+

By: Jazeela Basheer






Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Gaza 51

In the summer of 2014, during the month of Ramadan, Israel invaded Gaza in an attack that lasted 51 days. 'Gaza 51' is a collection of art works, stories, poems that emerge from young people's experiences and memories of this devastation. Conceptualised by Mahnoor Yar Khan and The Culture and Free Thought Association, the exhibition features the art works of young people between the ages of 14-25, that weaves a story of displacement, occupation and exile, not centered solely on 'events' but daily life and resilience under siege.





Sunday, July 3, 2016

Open Studio SSAF Art Residency at 1Shanthiroad

Open Studio of the month-long Sher-Gil Sundaram Arts Foundation (SSAF) Residency at 1.Shanthiroad which has six young artists from different parts of the country working in various practices.