Thursday, October 29, 2009
University of the People
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Paintings and Art
M. N Srinivasan is the father of Indian Sociology whose greatest study was on coorg and his autobiography was remembered village. He introduced the concept of Sanskritization. Everybody irrespective of religion and community started using Sanskrit names. Hence there was a sweep of Sanskrit in communities.
After analyzing a painting by John Constable named “Haywain” painted in the year 1821, Mr Pinto gave guidelines on how to analyze Painting.
He said there are 3 categories of painting.
• Landscape (such as cityscape or urbanscape)
• Potrait (people) Equesterian refers to animal painting
• Still life.
How to analyze Painting
What is subject matter
What is location or setting of a particular scene.
Historical period, or work it depicts.
Season of time of the year.
Time of the day, activities by people..
What is the instant, what is the capture.
Erin Panofsky (Russian)– Branch of Art History that is concerned with meaning of Art or subject matter of Art.
Erwin Panofsky said art has 3 levels of meanings: -
1) Primary- Recognize objects. Eg:- A man walking.
2) Secondary-Conventions Eg:-Greetings, Taking off hat.
3) Tertiary-Intrusion Eg:- About the nation, class, attitude, psychology, period.
Iconology deals with the third level of meaning.
Roger Fry said people have 2 kinds of life
-Actual life
-Imaginative life.
Art is related to Imaginary life and should not be represented of reality. Art was never realistic. Till Renaissance art was completely abstract. In the 12c art became completely realistic.
Rembrandt is considered as the greatest painter as he was excellent in the use of light.
Post Impressionist Painting – After the Impression.
1830’s there was a slight deviation from actual.
Form Looks at:-
Rhythym of line.
Mass
Shape
Light and shade
Colour
Then Mr. Pinto showed us Cezanne’s painting “Basket of Apple’s” which is a good example of still life painting.
With this painting we understood that lines create an impression and we can understand heaviness through the space used.
From 16th century onwards there is a tendency of self portrait.
Art History
Gombrich has witten a book called “History of Art”. He says Art initially began with cave painting then the Egyptians Painting which was taken over by Greeks (500 BCE to 500 C). Greeks started to make art realistic.
The next 500 years there was no art because of collapse of Roman empire.
During Renissance period the important painters are Da Vinci, Titian, Raffael but the greatest is Rembrandt.
Barooque painting is a style referred to lot of people. And Rococo refers to lot of ornaments.
19c :- Menet, student Monet.
Cezanne :- Person who began modern art.
Monet:- Impressions.
Cubism:- Refers to breaking the painting and painting different dimensions.
Gombrich dosen’t have place for community art and also women were never encouraged in painting.
Painting is always abstract. Indian painting upto Raviverma is abstract. After him is realist.
Picasso, Yan Gogh come in the tradition of impressionist.
1745 – Butcher
1866-Origin of the world- pubic area of the women.
Essay: - Laura Muloey- Visual pleasure and narrative cinema.
Women are centre of most visual creations. It is there for man’s pleasure.
Renissance paintings- fascinations for male. There was no fascination for male body before.
1937-Picasso, in Spain, painted Guernica. UN office entrance has the picture – Guernica. This painting is about anti war.
Principles of Painting
* *
* donor’s pic
After Renissance
Watching through a hole in the wall. A private view into the private life of people.
‘My body for beginners’- simple book of visuals written by scholars. Body for philosophy, for medicine.
Politics of Aesthetics
Tracy Amin – ‘My Bed”
‘This is not a pipe’ – Dushamp
‘Fountain’
Art is a construct-the artists themselves started to question.
‘Art is an imitation of reality’ – this concept is broken. This was said by Plato Baudrillard- gave a concept called hyper reality in modern times we have lost the distinction between reality and aesthetics of reality.
Nationalist Politics:-
CN Ramachandran- Most of India is Hindu and Hindu refres to uppercast male dominatnt society. It does not include women.
Visit To The Chapel
On 25th October afternoon MCMS students were taken to St. Aloysius Chapel where the century old edifice houses breathtaking paintings which were created by the famous Italian Painter Br. Antonio Moscheni S.J.
There are 2 types of paintings in the chapel Fresco and Canvas. Frescoes cover about 600 square meters of the walls of the chapel and canvas made of pure linen of strong close weave cover 400 square meters on the ceilings.
Most of the paintings portray life of St. Aloysius the patron saint, life of Jesus. The arches consists paintings of different saints of church and Jesuit saints.
Life size angles are holding garlands of different flowers found in Dakshina Kannada.
Mr. Pinto explained different symbols in the paintings which helps us to recognize the holy personality and also different meanings the paintings try to tell.
as written by Bojamma B.C & Sandhya D'Souza
After analyzing a painting by John Constable named “Haywain” painted in the year 1821, Mr Pinto gave guidelines on how to analyze Painting.
He said there are 3 categories of painting.
• Landscape (such as cityscape or urbanscape)
• Potrait (people) Equesterian refers to animal painting
• Still life.
How to analyze Painting
What is subject matter
What is location or setting of a particular scene.
Historical period, or work it depicts.
Season of time of the year.
Time of the day, activities by people..
What is the instant, what is the capture.
Erin Panofsky (Russian)– Branch of Art History that is concerned with meaning of Art or subject matter of Art.
Erwin Panofsky said art has 3 levels of meanings: -
1) Primary- Recognize objects. Eg:- A man walking.
2) Secondary-Conventions Eg:-Greetings, Taking off hat.
3) Tertiary-Intrusion Eg:- About the nation, class, attitude, psychology, period.
Iconology deals with the third level of meaning.
Roger Fry said people have 2 kinds of life
-Actual life
-Imaginative life.
Art is related to Imaginary life and should not be represented of reality. Art was never realistic. Till Renaissance art was completely abstract. In the 12c art became completely realistic.
Rembrandt is considered as the greatest painter as he was excellent in the use of light.
Post Impressionist Painting – After the Impression.
1830’s there was a slight deviation from actual.
Form Looks at:-
Rhythym of line.
Mass
Shape
Light and shade
Colour
Then Mr. Pinto showed us Cezanne’s painting “Basket of Apple’s” which is a good example of still life painting.
With this painting we understood that lines create an impression and we can understand heaviness through the space used.
From 16th century onwards there is a tendency of self portrait.
Art History
Gombrich has witten a book called “History of Art”. He says Art initially began with cave painting then the Egyptians Painting which was taken over by Greeks (500 BCE to 500 C). Greeks started to make art realistic.
The next 500 years there was no art because of collapse of Roman empire.
During Renissance period the important painters are Da Vinci, Titian, Raffael but the greatest is Rembrandt.
Barooque painting is a style referred to lot of people. And Rococo refers to lot of ornaments.
19c :- Menet, student Monet.
Cezanne :- Person who began modern art.
Monet:- Impressions.
Cubism:- Refers to breaking the painting and painting different dimensions.
Gombrich dosen’t have place for community art and also women were never encouraged in painting.
Painting is always abstract. Indian painting upto Raviverma is abstract. After him is realist.
Picasso, Yan Gogh come in the tradition of impressionist.
1745 – Butcher
1866-Origin of the world- pubic area of the women.
Essay: - Laura Muloey- Visual pleasure and narrative cinema.
Women are centre of most visual creations. It is there for man’s pleasure.
Renissance paintings- fascinations for male. There was no fascination for male body before.
1937-Picasso, in Spain, painted Guernica. UN office entrance has the picture – Guernica. This painting is about anti war.
Principles of Painting
* *
* donor’s pic
After Renissance
Watching through a hole in the wall. A private view into the private life of people.
‘My body for beginners’- simple book of visuals written by scholars. Body for philosophy, for medicine.
Politics of Aesthetics
Tracy Amin – ‘My Bed”
‘This is not a pipe’ – Dushamp
‘Fountain’
Art is a construct-the artists themselves started to question.
‘Art is an imitation of reality’ – this concept is broken. This was said by Plato Baudrillard- gave a concept called hyper reality in modern times we have lost the distinction between reality and aesthetics of reality.
Nationalist Politics:-
CN Ramachandran- Most of India is Hindu and Hindu refres to uppercast male dominatnt society. It does not include women.
Visit To The Chapel
On 25th October afternoon MCMS students were taken to St. Aloysius Chapel where the century old edifice houses breathtaking paintings which were created by the famous Italian Painter Br. Antonio Moscheni S.J.
There are 2 types of paintings in the chapel Fresco and Canvas. Frescoes cover about 600 square meters of the walls of the chapel and canvas made of pure linen of strong close weave cover 400 square meters on the ceilings.
Most of the paintings portray life of St. Aloysius the patron saint, life of Jesus. The arches consists paintings of different saints of church and Jesuit saints.
Life size angles are holding garlands of different flowers found in Dakshina Kannada.
Mr. Pinto explained different symbols in the paintings which helps us to recognize the holy personality and also different meanings the paintings try to tell.
as written by Bojamma B.C & Sandhya D'Souza
Nationalist Politics and Aesthetics of Art
Creative communication class of Anil pinto for MCMS students of St Aloysius College on Monday, 26 October dealt with the topic nationalist, politics and aesthetics of art.
Plato says ‘Art is imitation of reality’ and reality is aesthetics. According to Jean Baudrillard "The simulation of something which never really existed."
Mr.. Anil Pinto said according to CM Radhachandran,
Hinduism = upper caste = male
Pierre Bondreau argument about nationalist is that-
· One’s taste is determined by social class we belong to.
· Most of the social classes decide what is good or what is bad.
Mr Pinto, told us to read the book “Distinction, a social critique of judgment of taste” by Pierre Bondreau.
as written by Amritha B Rao & Reena S
Plato says ‘Art is imitation of reality’ and reality is aesthetics. According to Jean Baudrillard "The simulation of something which never really existed."
Mr.. Anil Pinto said according to CM Radhachandran,
Hinduism = upper caste = male
Pierre Bondreau argument about nationalist is that-
· One’s taste is determined by social class we belong to.
· Most of the social classes decide what is good or what is bad.
Mr Pinto, told us to read the book “Distinction, a social critique of judgment of taste” by Pierre Bondreau.
as written by Amritha B Rao & Reena S
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Review writing- drama, music, painting , book
Drama review
One of the most important aspects to be observed in drama review is the structure. The structure contains the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and the denovment.
The drama review can start with a comment. The review gives the details of the drama, where was it stages, who is the director, name of the drama, whether it’s an adaption from a book, the language of communication and the actors of the drama. The review also tells about what the play tries to achieve through the characters and the subject matter. The evaluation is given after giving the intro about the drama. If the drama has a bad review and the critique has a bad opinion of the drama, the critique has to give the reasons what went wrong in the drama. A drama can be criticized by taking instances from the drama. While criticising a drama the criticism should be on the acting and not the person. When a newspaper carries the review it should create an interest in the minds of the reader and let the reader decide whether it is good or bad. So it is not necessary to give the storyline.
All plays tell the story of a hero’s journey. In the exposition stage the director gives an introduction to the characters, the location and the content. In the rising action stage small instances happen that will lead the drama into the climax which is the important level where the emotions play a highest role. Falling action stage is where the story unveils and the denovement is the conclusion.
Theatre direction includes
Prop
Lighting
Sound design
Costume
Acting
The director has to ensure the quality of the production, healthy artiste realise their artistic vision. He has to give bodies to the character, oversees props and he has to decide on everything.
Desired effect can be achieved through voice modulation while acting. The actor has to act according to the directions of the director. Thepsis is the first known actor in drama.
But things changed after the Second World War. Stanislovsky changed the method of acting. According to him the actor should prepare himself by imaging himself as the character. He has to put his feet in the shoes of the character and empathise with the character.
MUSIC REVIEW
An introduction t the music programme is given at the introduction of the music review. It includes where and when the programme was held and who was the singer. The evaluation of the talent is given after the introduction. After the small evaluation the details about the music is given which includes the raga, tala and the other details about its composition. In the later part another evaluation along with suggestion from the reviewer is also included. To review music piece the reviewer should know the details related to classical music. It is always seen that only classical music is reviewed and a lot of technical terms related to music is given. This divides the readers into people who know music and others who do not have a music background.
PAINTING REVIEW
As the music review here also the details is given about when and where the painting exhibition was conducted, who is the painter and what is the price. Here the impact of the audience is also given in the review. The review also includes the quotes from the painter and also a brief on the painter’s life. In painting review also we find a lot of technical terms like the tone of colour, which again divide the audience.
BOOK REVIEW
In the book review the name of the book with the language, the author, the publication and the year of publication is given. Here the reviewer raises questions regarding the book and the language used in writing. Quotes from the book are also given as examples to support the argument. The reviewer also compares the earlier works of the same author. The reviewer also sees how the book is valued in its tradition.
While writing reviews the writer should show that the review is not a subjective one but and he is considering the existing standards of the field.
as written by Saranya Valsarajan & Janice Fernandes
One of the most important aspects to be observed in drama review is the structure. The structure contains the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and the denovment.
The drama review can start with a comment. The review gives the details of the drama, where was it stages, who is the director, name of the drama, whether it’s an adaption from a book, the language of communication and the actors of the drama. The review also tells about what the play tries to achieve through the characters and the subject matter. The evaluation is given after giving the intro about the drama. If the drama has a bad review and the critique has a bad opinion of the drama, the critique has to give the reasons what went wrong in the drama. A drama can be criticized by taking instances from the drama. While criticising a drama the criticism should be on the acting and not the person. When a newspaper carries the review it should create an interest in the minds of the reader and let the reader decide whether it is good or bad. So it is not necessary to give the storyline.
All plays tell the story of a hero’s journey. In the exposition stage the director gives an introduction to the characters, the location and the content. In the rising action stage small instances happen that will lead the drama into the climax which is the important level where the emotions play a highest role. Falling action stage is where the story unveils and the denovement is the conclusion.
Theatre direction includes
Prop
Lighting
Sound design
Costume
Acting
The director has to ensure the quality of the production, healthy artiste realise their artistic vision. He has to give bodies to the character, oversees props and he has to decide on everything.
Desired effect can be achieved through voice modulation while acting. The actor has to act according to the directions of the director. Thepsis is the first known actor in drama.
But things changed after the Second World War. Stanislovsky changed the method of acting. According to him the actor should prepare himself by imaging himself as the character. He has to put his feet in the shoes of the character and empathise with the character.
MUSIC REVIEW
An introduction t the music programme is given at the introduction of the music review. It includes where and when the programme was held and who was the singer. The evaluation of the talent is given after the introduction. After the small evaluation the details about the music is given which includes the raga, tala and the other details about its composition. In the later part another evaluation along with suggestion from the reviewer is also included. To review music piece the reviewer should know the details related to classical music. It is always seen that only classical music is reviewed and a lot of technical terms related to music is given. This divides the readers into people who know music and others who do not have a music background.
PAINTING REVIEW
As the music review here also the details is given about when and where the painting exhibition was conducted, who is the painter and what is the price. Here the impact of the audience is also given in the review. The review also includes the quotes from the painter and also a brief on the painter’s life. In painting review also we find a lot of technical terms like the tone of colour, which again divide the audience.
BOOK REVIEW
In the book review the name of the book with the language, the author, the publication and the year of publication is given. Here the reviewer raises questions regarding the book and the language used in writing. Quotes from the book are also given as examples to support the argument. The reviewer also compares the earlier works of the same author. The reviewer also sees how the book is valued in its tradition.
While writing reviews the writer should show that the review is not a subjective one but and he is considering the existing standards of the field.
as written by Saranya Valsarajan & Janice Fernandes
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Theatre and its structure
On 29th of September, Mr. Anil Pinto taught about the pre-renaissance view of theatre by the philosophers.
According to Plato, "Theatre deviates the society's thinking so it should be banned". His disciple Aristotle, talks only about the theatre. He says, theatre people are not imitating at all, they only want to recreate or evoke some types of emotions.
Aristotle's 'Poetics' is referred for a compulsory reading.
On 26th of October, Mr.Pinto discussed about the theatre review, right after a small workshop. After that workshop, it is understood that, all reviews in newspapers and magazines have the basic information about the play. For example: Production, Director, Characters, Story, Plot and so on. Later, it evaluates the whole play based on the appeal to emotions. Is the desired appeal is achieved? Based on this question the review will be written.
Though some reviews include harsh way of criticizing, but "Indicators" would better criticize; instead of telling directly "Unbearable", a reviewer can write - "A well trained theatre person will never like this play". And that sounds decent also. Students gave various examples for this kind of reviews and questions raised.
“Drama always takes the line. The purpose of drama is to 'Dramatize'. We see the dramas just to feel the dramatic effects done by the directors, like lighting and dialogues”. - Mr.Anil Pinto.
Ethics of Review:
The existing standards are considered in the field. There are some ethical perspectives to this:
• Important to make political and social point of view.
• Where you write (Blog, Website, or Sunday edition of a newspaper)
• Do not criticize the person.
• Avoid advertorial.
• One important thing is observe classical theatre structure.
The Journey of a Play:
1). Exposition- it includes setting of the play, protagonist and antagonist (who is the hero and who is the villain) and ends with an incitement action. Plays of Shakespeare and Girish Karnad are about hero’s journey. The main story will concentrate on the hero’s ethical decisions and how he faces the challenging society.
2). Raising action- it includes small-small incidents or problems.
3). Climax- it include highest breaking point of the play.
4). Denouement- it is the resolution of the play. Can be a happy ending or sad.
However, usually the Second act will be the longest and the Third act will be the shortest in a play.
This diagram shows the responsibility of a theatre director.
Director: he is responsible to –
Ensure the quality of production.
Help the artists to realize their artistic vision.
Prop: Properties of the play. It can be a hand prop or decoration. Properties which actors make use of it.
Method/Acting: With facial expressions and tone of voice. Actors are not just imitate, they emphasize and live the character.
Apart from this, a theatre director has to take care of Lighting, Costume, and Sound effects/design. Altogether makes Stanislavski, that is- a discipline and dedicated play.
Based on all these elements, a reviewer reviews the play.
An Actor Prepares by Stanslovsky,
Syd Field and John Tully’s text book of script writing,
Visual Culture by Owell.
Books are suggested by Mr.Anil Pinto for reference
as written by Prasanna V
According to Plato, "Theatre deviates the society's thinking so it should be banned". His disciple Aristotle, talks only about the theatre. He says, theatre people are not imitating at all, they only want to recreate or evoke some types of emotions.
Aristotle's 'Poetics' is referred for a compulsory reading.
On 26th of October, Mr.Pinto discussed about the theatre review, right after a small workshop. After that workshop, it is understood that, all reviews in newspapers and magazines have the basic information about the play. For example: Production, Director, Characters, Story, Plot and so on. Later, it evaluates the whole play based on the appeal to emotions. Is the desired appeal is achieved? Based on this question the review will be written.
Though some reviews include harsh way of criticizing, but "Indicators" would better criticize; instead of telling directly "Unbearable", a reviewer can write - "A well trained theatre person will never like this play". And that sounds decent also. Students gave various examples for this kind of reviews and questions raised.
“Drama always takes the line. The purpose of drama is to 'Dramatize'. We see the dramas just to feel the dramatic effects done by the directors, like lighting and dialogues”. - Mr.Anil Pinto.
Ethics of Review:
The existing standards are considered in the field. There are some ethical perspectives to this:
• Important to make political and social point of view.
• Where you write (Blog, Website, or Sunday edition of a newspaper)
• Do not criticize the person.
• Avoid advertorial.
• One important thing is observe classical theatre structure.
The Journey of a Play:
1). Exposition- it includes setting of the play, protagonist and antagonist (who is the hero and who is the villain) and ends with an incitement action. Plays of Shakespeare and Girish Karnad are about hero’s journey. The main story will concentrate on the hero’s ethical decisions and how he faces the challenging society.
2). Raising action- it includes small-small incidents or problems.
3). Climax- it include highest breaking point of the play.
4). Denouement- it is the resolution of the play. Can be a happy ending or sad.
However, usually the Second act will be the longest and the Third act will be the shortest in a play.
This diagram shows the responsibility of a theatre director.
Director: he is responsible to –
Ensure the quality of production.
Help the artists to realize their artistic vision.
Prop: Properties of the play. It can be a hand prop or decoration. Properties which actors make use of it.
Method/Acting: With facial expressions and tone of voice. Actors are not just imitate, they emphasize and live the character.
Apart from this, a theatre director has to take care of Lighting, Costume, and Sound effects/design. Altogether makes Stanislavski, that is- a discipline and dedicated play.
Based on all these elements, a reviewer reviews the play.
An Actor Prepares by Stanslovsky,
Syd Field and John Tully’s text book of script writing,
Visual Culture by Owell.
Books are suggested by Mr.Anil Pinto for reference
as written by Prasanna V
Friday, October 23, 2009
VALUE: CRITICISMS, CANONS AND EVALUATION
We began with an etymological understanding of the word ‘canon’. Then the discussion moved on to whether it is possible to talk objectively about aesthetic judgement.
The idea of authenticity can be traced to religious texts. A classic example being the Bible and the existence of multiple scripts. In such a case, which one do we accept as the primary text? In talking about religious canons though we cannot question the assumed and accepted ‘greatness’ of the text it is fortunate that we don’t have to deal with such rigidity in talking about literary canons. A case in point would be how T.S. Eliot’s The Metaphysical Poets brought back Donne and the rest, after the Romantics and more specifically, the publication of the Preface to the Lyrical Ballads seem to have pushed them into a seemingly obscure space.
Though literary creative output maybe as old as the history of mankind itself, discussions on theorisations as to the concerns of value is comparatively new – dating back to the 18th and the 19th centuries. Much as in the 20th and 21st century such a definitive idea of value has been continuously challenged. Today with the increasing popularity of cultural relativism, we tend to approach texts from a pluralistic perspective.
A post modernist understanding refutes the existence of boundaries and emphasises the illusion of boundaries. Harold Bloom’s The Western Canon and his idea of aesthetic value has been challenged by Terry Eagleton who talks about aesthetic value as an ideological construct. For Eagleton, political identity and aesthetic value are inseparable. A marxist understanding would necessary entail that philosophy of aesthetics is but a natural culmination of the class struggle between the bourgeois and the aristocrats.
In the last 50 years or so, literary critisim and not just literature has come to be characterised by a kind of self-reflexivity. So that today, there is a strong desire amongst literary scholars and critics to stay away from giving value judgments. Their main contention is that no free position exist outside of culture.
To sum it all. What is art? If we look at art as an imitation of reality in accordance to the mimetic theory , then, when reality is the representation and there is no gap between reality and the represented, how do we define art? Can art be simultaneously real and a representation? As problems of definition persists so do problems of value.
The idea of authenticity can be traced to religious texts. A classic example being the Bible and the existence of multiple scripts. In such a case, which one do we accept as the primary text? In talking about religious canons though we cannot question the assumed and accepted ‘greatness’ of the text it is fortunate that we don’t have to deal with such rigidity in talking about literary canons. A case in point would be how T.S. Eliot’s The Metaphysical Poets brought back Donne and the rest, after the Romantics and more specifically, the publication of the Preface to the Lyrical Ballads seem to have pushed them into a seemingly obscure space.
Though literary creative output maybe as old as the history of mankind itself, discussions on theorisations as to the concerns of value is comparatively new – dating back to the 18th and the 19th centuries. Much as in the 20th and 21st century such a definitive idea of value has been continuously challenged. Today with the increasing popularity of cultural relativism, we tend to approach texts from a pluralistic perspective.
A post modernist understanding refutes the existence of boundaries and emphasises the illusion of boundaries. Harold Bloom’s The Western Canon and his idea of aesthetic value has been challenged by Terry Eagleton who talks about aesthetic value as an ideological construct. For Eagleton, political identity and aesthetic value are inseparable. A marxist understanding would necessary entail that philosophy of aesthetics is but a natural culmination of the class struggle between the bourgeois and the aristocrats.
In the last 50 years or so, literary critisim and not just literature has come to be characterised by a kind of self-reflexivity. So that today, there is a strong desire amongst literary scholars and critics to stay away from giving value judgments. Their main contention is that no free position exist outside of culture.
To sum it all. What is art? If we look at art as an imitation of reality in accordance to the mimetic theory , then, when reality is the representation and there is no gap between reality and the represented, how do we define art? Can art be simultaneously real and a representation? As problems of definition persists so do problems of value.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Theatre and Arts Appreciation Course ‘09
Theatre and Arts Appreciation Course ‘09
6 to 8 Nov AND 13 to 5 Nov
(Six Days)
Facilitated by Sadanand Menon
Ranga Shankara announces the third edition of its very successful Theatre and Arts Appreciation Course from 6 to 8 Nov and 13 to 15 Nov (over two sessions of the Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival ’09).
The Course, launched at the Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival 2007, provides a unique opportunity to learn the essence of art appreciation by developing new ways "seeing and listening".
Renowned culture critic Sadanand Menon will spearhead the Theatre and Arts Appreciation Course 2009. A well-known writer on critical issues of politics and culture, Sadanand Menon is also a photographer and stage light designer. He has served as the Arts Editor for The Economic Times.
The course will examine and discuss theatre, cinema, dance, photography and music over six days (spread over two weekends) through lectures, film screenings, plays, as well as interaction with directors and actors. The course will thus look at, and analyse the formal structures of various works of art as well as consider them in the context of the historical period and cultural framework in which they were produced. Over the years the course has seen the participation of eminent personalities such as Prof. U R Ananthamurthy, Girish Karnad, T M Krishna, Satyadev Dubey, Ratan Thiyam and Aruna Sayeeram.
Course Fee: Rs 4000
Students get a special offer. Fee only Rs.500
Venue: In and around Ranga Shankara
Medium of Instruction: English
Application available at Ranga Shankara from 15 Oct onwards. Please call 26493982 or write torstheatre@gmail.com for more details
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Perspective on Media and Communication Theories – day1
The first class with Mr. Anil Pinto was an ice breaking session where we discussed about our respective research topics. There is only two of us for this course in media studies therefore it is easier to discuss our topics individually.
My topic was Public opinion is nothing but media opinion. Few ideas on this topic were discussed. Refering to sociology books in order to first find out what is public and what is an opinion, readings starting from Plato, Aristotle to the rise of media from the 17th and 18th century was advised.
Noothan’s topic is broadly on television, she still has to narrow it down. However she had a couple of ideas in mind that we discussed in class. One of which was reality programs being lifted from the western media. There was a discussion as to the change in content that goes through when it goes from one country to the other. This may be due to various factors like culture or the thinking mode of people. Couple of examples were discussed like in US, the case of Bill Clinton and Monica was splashed across different media. But in
We further discussed on nationalism taking for example how Indian Idol’s last two finalist were from North East and how the voting system saw a big change during that time.
We have been asked to read the following essays for our next class:
- Journal on Contemporary Thought – Essay on Femina Magazine by Parinitha Shetty.
- Ideology and Ideological State Apparatus by Louis Atthusser.
- Enlightenment as Mass Deception by Max Horkheimer and Theodor W. Adorno.
- Encoding /Decoding by Stuart Hall.
- The Public Sphere by Jurgen Habermas.
We ended our session with a tour to the library where Mr. Pinto was our guide. He helped us find these essays and showed us books that we could refer to for further analysis.
Written by Pooja Basnett
M.Phil (Media Studies)
Monday, October 05, 2009
Literature And creative communication
Literature
Literature:-
- It’s a philosophy.
- Doesn’t have history
As per students it means:-
• Study of Poetry-drama
• Expressing in your(writers) own way
• Ideas of a writer
• Playing with language
• Communities culture- resources
• Some written piece of poet/writer
• Way of writing
• Anything written – a product of mind
• Anything which includes feeling/expression
• Free writing
• Refining thoughts
Literature is a way already given to
Plato: - (IDEAL WORLD)
There is an ideal state/world of idea. It’s an imperfect imitation of that ideal state.
Ex: - Chair-chairness Watch etc.
In the above example before drawing a chair/watch painter will create an idea in his/her mind. That idea becomes painting. Also it comes out with picture.
• As per Plato idea will imitate. It’s an ideal leaf-leafness
• Epics – Theatre
• A poet should ban the public.
• Plato says that philosophy is important.
• Philosophy thinks rationally access to idea.
Ex:- Cave – It has only darkness. There was a source of light which comes from outside. The light will create its shadow on the wall. One person who stays inside the cave will try to come out and realise the world. Once he comes to know about world he goes back and informs other people who are inside the cave. But they are not ready to accept his philosophy.
In this case the person who comes out from cave is a philosopher.
Aristotle: - (Emotions)
Literature is something which – writer/poet wants to recreate certain types of emotions.
Butcher who translated the ‘On Poetics’ of Aristotle, says that literature is a continuous balance.
Romantics:-
As per Kant there is something which includes:-
1. Experience of Knowledge.
2. Human
Children’s are born as philosophers
In the 20th Century people wanted romantic challenged thinking. There after Modernism was started.
Modernism:-
In this era: - this given world is problematic. Many dimensions were started. Different ways of look/ thinking. In this era human world become complimented. Most of the subject/issues were looked after by one man/person. In this century directors started writing play scripts. Professional paintings were come out with literature. There was a gap in between literature and other methods. It means other than literature will made separate with other art like paintings, film etc.
Students View on following issues:-
What is Poem?
1. It’s a typical way of describing a thing/person.
2. Anything written by poet, with full of imagination.
3. A rhythmic flow of thoughts.
4. Way of explaining with different thoughts.
What is Story?
1. This has sense.
2. Which can be created or experience.
3. Short cine of createment.
4. A simple piece of writing of moral values.
What is Novel?
1. Something new it has different/way characters.
2. It has many plots.
3. This takes the reader to an imaginary world.
4. A bunch of stories.
5. It takes longer time than story.
Mr. Pinto’s view on the above:-
• Poem: - verse. Arrangement of writing.
• Story: - It’s a sequential unfolding event in time.
• Novel: - Long story is a novel.
• Plot: - is Sequential event arranged in time. How you arrange.
• Drama: - There is no narrator.
Roland Barthes:-
• Semiotics to analyse on visuals. As per Barthes author is dead, which means the death of author.
• Society which you born makes you to write.
• Claim overshot.
• Work to text.
as written by Antony Lobo
Literature:-
- It’s a philosophy.
- Doesn’t have history
As per students it means:-
• Study of Poetry-drama
• Expressing in your(writers) own way
• Ideas of a writer
• Playing with language
• Communities culture- resources
• Some written piece of poet/writer
• Way of writing
• Anything written – a product of mind
• Anything which includes feeling/expression
• Free writing
• Refining thoughts
Literature is a way already given to
Plato: - (IDEAL WORLD)
There is an ideal state/world of idea. It’s an imperfect imitation of that ideal state.
Ex: - Chair-chairness Watch etc.
In the above example before drawing a chair/watch painter will create an idea in his/her mind. That idea becomes painting. Also it comes out with picture.
• As per Plato idea will imitate. It’s an ideal leaf-leafness
• Epics – Theatre
• A poet should ban the public.
• Plato says that philosophy is important.
• Philosophy thinks rationally access to idea.
Ex:- Cave – It has only darkness. There was a source of light which comes from outside. The light will create its shadow on the wall. One person who stays inside the cave will try to come out and realise the world. Once he comes to know about world he goes back and informs other people who are inside the cave. But they are not ready to accept his philosophy.
In this case the person who comes out from cave is a philosopher.
Aristotle: - (Emotions)
Literature is something which – writer/poet wants to recreate certain types of emotions.
Butcher who translated the ‘On Poetics’ of Aristotle, says that literature is a continuous balance.
Romantics:-
As per Kant there is something which includes:-
1. Experience of Knowledge.
2. Human
Children’s are born as philosophers
In the 20th Century people wanted romantic challenged thinking. There after Modernism was started.
Modernism:-
In this era: - this given world is problematic. Many dimensions were started. Different ways of look/ thinking. In this era human world become complimented. Most of the subject/issues were looked after by one man/person. In this century directors started writing play scripts. Professional paintings were come out with literature. There was a gap in between literature and other methods. It means other than literature will made separate with other art like paintings, film etc.
Students View on following issues:-
What is Poem?
1. It’s a typical way of describing a thing/person.
2. Anything written by poet, with full of imagination.
3. A rhythmic flow of thoughts.
4. Way of explaining with different thoughts.
What is Story?
1. This has sense.
2. Which can be created or experience.
3. Short cine of createment.
4. A simple piece of writing of moral values.
What is Novel?
1. Something new it has different/way characters.
2. It has many plots.
3. This takes the reader to an imaginary world.
4. A bunch of stories.
5. It takes longer time than story.
Mr. Pinto’s view on the above:-
• Poem: - verse. Arrangement of writing.
• Story: - It’s a sequential unfolding event in time.
• Novel: - Long story is a novel.
• Plot: - is Sequential event arranged in time. How you arrange.
• Drama: - There is no narrator.
Roland Barthes:-
• Semiotics to analyse on visuals. As per Barthes author is dead, which means the death of author.
• Society which you born makes you to write.
• Claim overshot.
• Work to text.
as written by Antony Lobo
Creative Communication day 3
Day 2 of Creative Communication with Mr Anil Pinto began with a recap of what had been dealt with on the previous day. After recalling the material learnt in the first session, the class was asked to prepare an objective type question paper for themselves and then answer it. A discussion on a few topics followed. An interesting thought that was discussed was the adaptation of novels into cinema. The argument was that if novel and cinema are both individual play, then why do most cinema (adapted from novels) not offer a better experience compared to its reading practice. After the discussion, the class agreed to the point that both are different types of media that cannot be compared. While books offer the reader the freedom to imagine, it also does not require much of the reader’s intellectual effort as all things are in black and white before him. However, in a cinema, the viewer has to put in intellectual efforts to make connections between various scenes as every detail is not spelt out. However, cinema restricts imagination.
After the discussion, Mr. Pinto spoke on various Schools of Criticism. He presented these various ideas in the following manner-
Theories of Reading
Liberal Humanism Psycho-analysis
Formalism Cultural Studies
Structuralism
Post-Structuralism
Deconstruction
Feminism
Post Colonialism
Marxism
Theories of Doing/ Reading
Modernism
Post-modernism
Each of these theories has its own set of rules.
• Liberal Humanism
This theory came up with Renaissance. The etymological meaning of the word ‘Renaissance’ is rebirth/revival. Renaissance, was a period of revival of the classical arts and learning.
Mr. Pinto spoke about the movie-The Seventh Seal which depicts the period of Renaissance and the rebirth of knowledge.
Renaissance was a period of lack of faith in religion. Therefore, there was an interest in anything human (Lucy poems of Wordsworth ; Lucy which means light). The birth of knowledge brought about the loss of faith in God. This in turn, brought in birth of faith in human and human capabilities to withstand difficulties and to invent. This was a celebration of the ‘individual’ and ‘human ability.’
The term ‘liberal human’ was used in the 18th century to promote the middle class. After the 50’s and 60’s people refrained from using the term ‘individual’ and used ‘subject’ instead.
• Formalism
From 1920’s, formalism came into literature. Literature as a discipline was introduced in Cambridge University in 1912. People considered it a joke as they did not feel a need to study literature as a discipline.
Here, Mr. Pinto spoke about ‘science’ which gives importance to objectivity. According o Karl Popper, to call anything a science, it should fulfil two criteria-it should predict and it should be falsifiable.
Anything that can be experimented and arrived at the same conclusion is science. This is objectivity.
Formalism began in Russia. The idea here is to study the text irrespective of the author and his background. I.A. Richards had become the HOD of English at the age of 24 in 1921. He introduced the method of practical criticism.
• Structuralism
This came up during the 1930’s. It developed not so much from literature, but from Saussure. Saussure said that-
Language is an implied order.
Language is a sign system.
Mr. Pinto spoke about Levi Strauss (author of Myth and Music, Raw and Cooked Rice) who met Roman Jakobson and the latter speaks about Saussure to Strauss. Vladimir Proph studied folk tales and Roland Barthes studied culture and visual. Faucault , an important social scientist of the 20th century was also discussed. The class then discussed the story of Oedipus, the king of Thebes.
Semiotics is an off-shoot of structuralism. Saussure said that there are changing elements and unchanging elements. One of the important concepts in semiotics is syntagm and paradigm. Mr. Pinto suggested Daniel Chandler’s “Semiotics for Beginners” for reference. Paradigm is what changes whereas syntagm doesn’t change.
Neither myth nor drama are concerned about the message but dramatising the intractable questions about the meaning of human life. Structuralism requires more than one field.
• Post-structuralism
The word ‘post’ can have multiple meanings-
After (time)
As a result of experience
Challenge ( as a response to)
Derrida sang the song of Western philosophy (brought the death of Western philosophy). Saussure had said that language is arbitrary. Derrida challenged structuralism and said that one can never get fixed meanings- There is no access to a definite meaning.
Saussure had said that we think in terms of binaries- Good and evil, Light and dark etc. Derrida said that one cannot exist without the other. He introduced the notion of ‘absent centre’. The concept of ‘God’ is beyond explanation. Here, it does not define itself, but everything in it.
GOD
This is the concept of Deconstruction. Derrida says that writing came before speech, contradicting the popular notion that speech came first. He used cave paintings to validate his point.
Derrida wanted to destabilize the centre but with no intention of establishing a new centre. His idea was to find the centre, critique it and establish multiple centres. It was all a play of meaning with no definite meaning.
Distinction between post-structuralism and deconstruction
Deconstruction was a theory proposed by Derrida which was similar to the philosophy of Nagarjuna in India. Deconstruction focussed on decentralising.
Structuralism is a tendency of thought. For example, in thinking that you are looking for a stereotype, you are creating them. It is not perceiving structure, you are conceiving it.
Derrida was Faucault’s student. Lacan, a psychologist would give lectures –‘In the name of the Father’ which would be attended by Goddard, Derrida, Faucault and others. Here he said, “ I must break the mirror which made me see myself”.
In 1964, Lyotard was asked by the Canadian government to do a study on Post-modern conditions. He reported –the nations will collapse and multi national corporations will become bigger.
There was a collapse of meta narratives and little narratives came up. In the 1960s and 70s, pop culture and gay and lesbian movements sprang up.
The class discussed “Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s Day?” in the context of post-structuralism.
• Feminism
Feminism came into prominence in the 1960s and 70s. Feminists may be referred to as champions of post-structuralism in that they focussed on decentralising patriarchy.
Bentham’s idea of utilitarianism-‘greatest good of greatest number of people’.
The class briefly discussed Islamic Renaissance which provided food for thought to the European Renaissance.
Feminism is a social and political movement that asks for rights. Mr. Pinto suggested Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Home” for reading.
Simone de Bouvouir’s famous book “Second Sex” marked the beginning of the second wave. Here the idea was that- a woman is made, not born. It was a social process and not a biological one.
In the context of the radical wave, the bra burning movement etc was discussed as they were tools used to make women’s issues visible.
In the third phase, Judith Butler’s “Gender Trouble” gains importance as it deals with issues of sexuality. Judith Butler had questioned why Lauis was cursed in the story of Oedipus. She indicates that it shows 3 types of rejected sexualities-
Lauis cursed for male-male relationship.
Oedipus- mother-son relationship.
Antigone- brother-sister relationship.
The Pink chaddi campaign that happened in India was discussed as a landmark in the history of movements and political organisations.
Gradually, ‘Queer studies’ came into the picture with LGBT-Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transexuals. For reading on feminism in India, Mr. Pinto suggested books by Mary. B. John.
• Psycho-analysis
Psychology is a study on the psyche- the mind and the behaviour. Psycho-analysis is a study of the mind and its effects on behaviour. Here, the analysis is on the individual. According to Eric Fromm, psychology is the product of Protestantism and capitalism.
Here, the class discussed the concepts of id, ego and super-ego.
Psycho-analysis can function in three ways-
Trying to understand the work by following up on the author’s life.
By trying to understand the work, gain an understanding of the author.
Understand the work through the audience.
• Cultural Studies
Cultural studies is the study of culture of the masses like film culture, procession culture etc. Culture is a meaning making process.Stuart Hall and Richard Hoggard started cultural studies in Birmingham University. Stuart Hall’s essay ‘Coding Decoding’ was suggested for reading.
• Modernism
Modernism is an aesthetic and not apolitical or philosophical movement. Surrealism is a part of modernism. It is a movement to shock people as it was considered that people’s senses had become dull. In modernism, it was more complex as it was considered that human life had become more complex. Only by depicting this complexity would we get access to reality. In post-modernism, there is no access to reality.
Mr. Pinto instructed the class on the following for compulsory reading-
• The Outsider by Albert Camus
• What is literature by Terry Eagleton
• Oedipus Rex by Sophocles
• Nagamandala by Girish Karnad
• On Poetics by Aristotle
G.V Iyer’s Hamsageethe was also recommended for compulsory viewing.
as written by Sajna Aravind
II MCMS
After the discussion, Mr. Pinto spoke on various Schools of Criticism. He presented these various ideas in the following manner-
Theories of Reading
Liberal Humanism Psycho-analysis
Formalism Cultural Studies
Structuralism
Post-Structuralism
Deconstruction
Feminism
Post Colonialism
Marxism
Theories of Doing/ Reading
Modernism
Post-modernism
Each of these theories has its own set of rules.
• Liberal Humanism
This theory came up with Renaissance. The etymological meaning of the word ‘Renaissance’ is rebirth/revival. Renaissance, was a period of revival of the classical arts and learning.
Mr. Pinto spoke about the movie-The Seventh Seal which depicts the period of Renaissance and the rebirth of knowledge.
Renaissance was a period of lack of faith in religion. Therefore, there was an interest in anything human (Lucy poems of Wordsworth ; Lucy which means light). The birth of knowledge brought about the loss of faith in God. This in turn, brought in birth of faith in human and human capabilities to withstand difficulties and to invent. This was a celebration of the ‘individual’ and ‘human ability.’
The term ‘liberal human’ was used in the 18th century to promote the middle class. After the 50’s and 60’s people refrained from using the term ‘individual’ and used ‘subject’ instead.
• Formalism
From 1920’s, formalism came into literature. Literature as a discipline was introduced in Cambridge University in 1912. People considered it a joke as they did not feel a need to study literature as a discipline.
Here, Mr. Pinto spoke about ‘science’ which gives importance to objectivity. According o Karl Popper, to call anything a science, it should fulfil two criteria-it should predict and it should be falsifiable.
Anything that can be experimented and arrived at the same conclusion is science. This is objectivity.
Formalism began in Russia. The idea here is to study the text irrespective of the author and his background. I.A. Richards had become the HOD of English at the age of 24 in 1921. He introduced the method of practical criticism.
• Structuralism
This came up during the 1930’s. It developed not so much from literature, but from Saussure. Saussure said that-
Language is an implied order.
Language is a sign system.
Mr. Pinto spoke about Levi Strauss (author of Myth and Music, Raw and Cooked Rice) who met Roman Jakobson and the latter speaks about Saussure to Strauss. Vladimir Proph studied folk tales and Roland Barthes studied culture and visual. Faucault , an important social scientist of the 20th century was also discussed. The class then discussed the story of Oedipus, the king of Thebes.
Semiotics is an off-shoot of structuralism. Saussure said that there are changing elements and unchanging elements. One of the important concepts in semiotics is syntagm and paradigm. Mr. Pinto suggested Daniel Chandler’s “Semiotics for Beginners” for reference. Paradigm is what changes whereas syntagm doesn’t change.
Neither myth nor drama are concerned about the message but dramatising the intractable questions about the meaning of human life. Structuralism requires more than one field.
• Post-structuralism
The word ‘post’ can have multiple meanings-
After (time)
As a result of experience
Challenge ( as a response to)
Derrida sang the song of Western philosophy (brought the death of Western philosophy). Saussure had said that language is arbitrary. Derrida challenged structuralism and said that one can never get fixed meanings- There is no access to a definite meaning.
Saussure had said that we think in terms of binaries- Good and evil, Light and dark etc. Derrida said that one cannot exist without the other. He introduced the notion of ‘absent centre’. The concept of ‘God’ is beyond explanation. Here, it does not define itself, but everything in it.
GOD
This is the concept of Deconstruction. Derrida says that writing came before speech, contradicting the popular notion that speech came first. He used cave paintings to validate his point.
Derrida wanted to destabilize the centre but with no intention of establishing a new centre. His idea was to find the centre, critique it and establish multiple centres. It was all a play of meaning with no definite meaning.
Distinction between post-structuralism and deconstruction
Deconstruction was a theory proposed by Derrida which was similar to the philosophy of Nagarjuna in India. Deconstruction focussed on decentralising.
Structuralism is a tendency of thought. For example, in thinking that you are looking for a stereotype, you are creating them. It is not perceiving structure, you are conceiving it.
Derrida was Faucault’s student. Lacan, a psychologist would give lectures –‘In the name of the Father’ which would be attended by Goddard, Derrida, Faucault and others. Here he said, “ I must break the mirror which made me see myself”.
In 1964, Lyotard was asked by the Canadian government to do a study on Post-modern conditions. He reported –the nations will collapse and multi national corporations will become bigger.
There was a collapse of meta narratives and little narratives came up. In the 1960s and 70s, pop culture and gay and lesbian movements sprang up.
The class discussed “Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s Day?” in the context of post-structuralism.
• Feminism
Feminism came into prominence in the 1960s and 70s. Feminists may be referred to as champions of post-structuralism in that they focussed on decentralising patriarchy.
Bentham’s idea of utilitarianism-‘greatest good of greatest number of people’.
The class briefly discussed Islamic Renaissance which provided food for thought to the European Renaissance.
Feminism is a social and political movement that asks for rights. Mr. Pinto suggested Virginia Woolf’s “A Room of One’s Home” for reading.
Simone de Bouvouir’s famous book “Second Sex” marked the beginning of the second wave. Here the idea was that- a woman is made, not born. It was a social process and not a biological one.
In the context of the radical wave, the bra burning movement etc was discussed as they were tools used to make women’s issues visible.
In the third phase, Judith Butler’s “Gender Trouble” gains importance as it deals with issues of sexuality. Judith Butler had questioned why Lauis was cursed in the story of Oedipus. She indicates that it shows 3 types of rejected sexualities-
Lauis cursed for male-male relationship.
Oedipus- mother-son relationship.
Antigone- brother-sister relationship.
The Pink chaddi campaign that happened in India was discussed as a landmark in the history of movements and political organisations.
Gradually, ‘Queer studies’ came into the picture with LGBT-Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transexuals. For reading on feminism in India, Mr. Pinto suggested books by Mary. B. John.
• Psycho-analysis
Psychology is a study on the psyche- the mind and the behaviour. Psycho-analysis is a study of the mind and its effects on behaviour. Here, the analysis is on the individual. According to Eric Fromm, psychology is the product of Protestantism and capitalism.
Here, the class discussed the concepts of id, ego and super-ego.
Psycho-analysis can function in three ways-
Trying to understand the work by following up on the author’s life.
By trying to understand the work, gain an understanding of the author.
Understand the work through the audience.
• Cultural Studies
Cultural studies is the study of culture of the masses like film culture, procession culture etc. Culture is a meaning making process.Stuart Hall and Richard Hoggard started cultural studies in Birmingham University. Stuart Hall’s essay ‘Coding Decoding’ was suggested for reading.
• Modernism
Modernism is an aesthetic and not apolitical or philosophical movement. Surrealism is a part of modernism. It is a movement to shock people as it was considered that people’s senses had become dull. In modernism, it was more complex as it was considered that human life had become more complex. Only by depicting this complexity would we get access to reality. In post-modernism, there is no access to reality.
Mr. Pinto instructed the class on the following for compulsory reading-
• The Outsider by Albert Camus
• What is literature by Terry Eagleton
• Oedipus Rex by Sophocles
• Nagamandala by Girish Karnad
• On Poetics by Aristotle
G.V Iyer’s Hamsageethe was also recommended for compulsory viewing.
as written by Sajna Aravind
II MCMS
Monday, September 28, 2009
Elementary School Classroom
‘Far from gusty….other than this’
Spender begins his poem by describing the children in the class I the first stanza. He begins by creating a contrast between the gusty, energetic waves of the ocean and the children in the classroom whom he describes as ‘rootless weeds’. There is a tall girl with her head weighed down as if she was eternally burdened and tired. There is a boy so miserably thin that he is described as ‘paper seeming’. This boy while being paper thin has rat like bulging eyes. This is a sign of malnourishment. This is also indicative of the social milieu from to which these children belong. Another boy in the classroom suffers from a disease where his growth has been stunted and his bones are twisted. This disease has been passed on to him by his father. Hence for this child, his lesson is not the one taught in class but his inheritance of his father’s disease. But there is also a sweet looking boy among all such gloomy faces who is dreaming about a squirrel playing games in a room other than this classroom.
As is evident the children belong to the poor classes of society. The reference to them as ‘rootless weeds’ might be indicative of the fact that society treats them as worthless population which needs to be eradicated. Much in the same way as weeds are eradicated from fields.
‘On sour cream walls...and stars of words’
In this stanza Spender describes the class. On sour cream walls donations made to the class are recorded. On one wall Shakespeare’s head is drawn; there is also a drawing depicting a Dome, a sign of prosperous society, a far cry from the world of these children. There is scenery of Tyrolese valley. Lastly on one wall there is a map which shows the people the world they inhabit. Spender says that all these depictions on the wall are not the real world of the children. Their world is the one which they see from their classroom windows-a world of fog; narrow, crammed, polluted streets. The usage of ‘fog’ is also depictive of the life of these children. It signifies the blur that their future is in.
‘Surely, Shakespeare....as doom’
Spender calls Shakespeare wicked and the maps a bad example since they create a false world for the children. This also includes the suns and the ships. This virtual world results in the children having a temptation to steal since they see no way to achieve this ‘world’ of the walls. Their world is the world of cramped, dingy holes. Their lives move from to fog to endless night, with no hope in sight. They are so thin that their bones show through their skin. When they wear spectacles it seems bottle bits are places on stones.
‘Unless, governor...is the sun’
This situation will continue until the officials do something about it. Until the map becomes the real world of the children they will continue to lead a miserable life. The world which seizes them, which puts a shackle on them should be broken and shattered. The green fields of the walls should be their world. Their future should be enlightened in place of the present fog which prevails over it because only they create history whose present is illuminated.
This was a presentation by HEP I.
Arush Tandon
Sunday, September 27, 2009
As the wedding bells chime
Ladies, gentlemen, and dear others,
Flowers. Music. Smiles. Happy tears. Golden rings. White gowns. Today, the wedding bells chime, rhyming in time, love sublime, and a knot tied.
:)
Mr Pinto, or Anil as he likes to be called, is getting married to Geraldine, or Deena as he calls her, today in Mangalore.
Let us, with open hearts, and love, wish the couple a wonderfully happy wedding day, and a beautiful married life!
All the best Mr Pinto! Love you sir!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
On Teching and Learning
Khalil Gibran was born in 1883, in Lebanon. He was a poet, philosopher, artist, prophet and a writer .Among his best known works, is the Prophet, a book of 26 poetic essays .Those poems have been transleted into over 20 languages.Gibran lived in a foreign country for twelve years. He was a man of hope and optimism. While returning home he taught some people about the mysteries of life. Gibran conveys to all about the important message of life and all humanity which is meaningful in today's world.
He says nothing can be revealed to us that isn't already in us. We need to bring them alive .The teacher who always walks with his followers can try to share as much of his knowledge and understanding as he can but he cannot give his followers his own sense of understanding. The good teacher does not presume to give us his understanding, but he would lead us to the threshold of our own mind .The astronomer may speak about his understanding of space, but he cannot give us his understanding to us. The musician can sing the rhythm, but he cannot give us the voice which we hear. The person who knows about science can tell us about the weight and measure of the things he may direct us, but we cannot do as he does .We cannot force anyone to believe in our vision. All of us are different from one another. So our understanding about God is different from others.
According to Gibran Knowledge is not given, it is within us, we are helped to bring it up and make use of it.
He says nothing can be revealed to us that isn't already in us. We need to bring them alive .The teacher who always walks with his followers can try to share as much of his knowledge and understanding as he can but he cannot give his followers his own sense of understanding. The good teacher does not presume to give us his understanding, but he would lead us to the threshold of our own mind .The astronomer may speak about his understanding of space, but he cannot give us his understanding to us. The musician can sing the rhythm, but he cannot give us the voice which we hear. The person who knows about science can tell us about the weight and measure of the things he may direct us, but we cannot do as he does .We cannot force anyone to believe in our vision. All of us are different from one another. So our understanding about God is different from others.
According to Gibran Knowledge is not given, it is within us, we are helped to bring it up and make use of it.
This was a presentation by HEP I.
Tarcilla Kujur
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Teaching in a Tolstoy Farm
MOHANDAS KARAMCHAND GANDHI: He was a prominent political and spiritual leader of India during the Indian Independence movement. He was the pioneer to satyagraha- resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, firmly founded upon ahimsa- which led India to Independence and has inspired movement for civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi is commonly known around the world as Mahatma Gandhi. ‘Mahatma’ In Sanskrit means ‘great soul’ and he in India is popularly known as ‘bapu’. He is officially honored in India as “Father of our nation”. His Birthday on 2nd October is commemorated as Gandhi Jayanthi, a national holiday in India and worldwide as International day of non violence.
TOLSTOY FARM: This site is located in a south western corner of the Johannesburg municipal area approximately 35km from Johannesburg. It is located on the site of privately owned lorobrick brick factory. However, the company has recognized Tolstoy farm’s strategic and historic importance and has granted permission for its usage as a heritage site.
The Tolstoy farm was the 2nd of this experiment established by Gandhi. The 1st experiment was the phoenix settlement in natal, was inspired by him in 1904 by a single heading of John Ruskin’s s‘units this last’, a work that extolled the virtues of simple life of love, labor and dignity of human beings.
Gandhi’s settlement was called as Tolstoy farm at the suggestion of Kallenbach. The settlement consisted of men, women, and children for short, long and irregular intervals who are Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and Parsis people who spoke one or more from among Gujarathi, Hindi, Tamil and English.
He regarded the ashram as the family and himself as the ‘Father’. He decided to live amongst them all 24 hours a day as their father. The children in the ashram were expected to undertake for 3 hours in the morning duties which involved gardening, farming, sandal making and cloth sewing. Such work was counter balanced with a programme of lessons in geography, history, arithmetic, writing, and bhajans.
In the Tolstoy farm, the acquisition of knowledge by the students was not through the text books, but through the character building, literary training, building up of the body and vocational training.
Since Gandhi was a great supporter of manual labor, he advocated vocational training to the students. One such vocational training was shoe- making and for this purpose Mr. Kallenbach went to a Trappist monastery and returned having learnt it and Gandhiji learnt it from him and trained the students. Apart from shoe- making, Kallenbach had the experience of carpentry and therefore they had a small class in carpentry also. Almost all the youngsters in the farm had learnt cooking.
The only training that the Indian children received in South Africa was in the 3R’s i.e. reading writing and arithmetic. So, this form of training was new to these youngsters but they showed a great interest and learnt it cheerfully. The reason behind this was an interesting policy followed in the farm i.e. the youngsters were not asked to do anything what the teachers did not do. Therefore when they were asked to do any work, there was always a teacher working with them and so the students learnt with earnestness.
Literary training was much more difficult than these activities. There was no adequate teachers let alone trained teachers in Tolstoy farm and adequate resources were also not available. Since the mornings had to be devoted to work on the farm and domestic duties, the school hours had to be kept after the mid- day meals. Three periods were given to the literary training. Languages like Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Gujarathi were taught to children along with elementary history, geography and arithmetic. Gandhiji was in charge of teaching languages even though he was not well versed in any of them, but, he did not conceal this fact from his students. This truthfulness earned Gandhiji a lot of respect from them.
Gandhiji did not believe in teaching from textbooks as he did not consider them necessary. According to him, the true text book for the pupil is his teacher. The instruction based in teachers experiment and convictions would carry more weight than the lifeless pages of the textbooks. Gandhiji could not arouse the student's interest books. Through experience, he realized that that the children pay more attention when they listen to teachers than when they read from the text books. Gandhiji as a teacher was exemplary and had love for the subjects i.e. languages of his own nation and had confidence in himself and acknowledged his limitations and tried his best to arouse students’ interest in self learning.
This was a presentation by HEP I
TOLSTOY FARM: This site is located in a south western corner of the Johannesburg municipal area approximately 35km from Johannesburg. It is located on the site of privately owned lorobrick brick factory. However, the company has recognized Tolstoy farm’s strategic and historic importance and has granted permission for its usage as a heritage site.
The Tolstoy farm was the 2nd of this experiment established by Gandhi. The 1st experiment was the phoenix settlement in natal, was inspired by him in 1904 by a single heading of John Ruskin’s s‘units this last’, a work that extolled the virtues of simple life of love, labor and dignity of human beings.
Gandhi’s settlement was called as Tolstoy farm at the suggestion of Kallenbach. The settlement consisted of men, women, and children for short, long and irregular intervals who are Hindus, Muslims, Christians, and Parsis people who spoke one or more from among Gujarathi, Hindi, Tamil and English.
He regarded the ashram as the family and himself as the ‘Father’. He decided to live amongst them all 24 hours a day as their father. The children in the ashram were expected to undertake for 3 hours in the morning duties which involved gardening, farming, sandal making and cloth sewing. Such work was counter balanced with a programme of lessons in geography, history, arithmetic, writing, and bhajans.
In the Tolstoy farm, the acquisition of knowledge by the students was not through the text books, but through the character building, literary training, building up of the body and vocational training.
Since Gandhi was a great supporter of manual labor, he advocated vocational training to the students. One such vocational training was shoe- making and for this purpose Mr. Kallenbach went to a Trappist monastery and returned having learnt it and Gandhiji learnt it from him and trained the students. Apart from shoe- making, Kallenbach had the experience of carpentry and therefore they had a small class in carpentry also. Almost all the youngsters in the farm had learnt cooking.
The only training that the Indian children received in South Africa was in the 3R’s i.e. reading writing and arithmetic. So, this form of training was new to these youngsters but they showed a great interest and learnt it cheerfully. The reason behind this was an interesting policy followed in the farm i.e. the youngsters were not asked to do anything what the teachers did not do. Therefore when they were asked to do any work, there was always a teacher working with them and so the students learnt with earnestness.
Literary training was much more difficult than these activities. There was no adequate teachers let alone trained teachers in Tolstoy farm and adequate resources were also not available. Since the mornings had to be devoted to work on the farm and domestic duties, the school hours had to be kept after the mid- day meals. Three periods were given to the literary training. Languages like Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Gujarathi were taught to children along with elementary history, geography and arithmetic. Gandhiji was in charge of teaching languages even though he was not well versed in any of them, but, he did not conceal this fact from his students. This truthfulness earned Gandhiji a lot of respect from them.
Gandhiji did not believe in teaching from textbooks as he did not consider them necessary. According to him, the true text book for the pupil is his teacher. The instruction based in teachers experiment and convictions would carry more weight than the lifeless pages of the textbooks. Gandhiji could not arouse the student's interest books. Through experience, he realized that that the children pay more attention when they listen to teachers than when they read from the text books. Gandhiji as a teacher was exemplary and had love for the subjects i.e. languages of his own nation and had confidence in himself and acknowledged his limitations and tried his best to arouse students’ interest in self learning.
This was a presentation by HEP I
Apurva and Bindu
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
technology and aesthetics
Nottingham is a combination of technology and aesthetic architecture. A combination of really old buildings and hugh ended technology. The library here is huge. Four stories of books, books and books, all neatly organised and waiting for the students to be used.
Everything is online. One has to register online to be a student; one has to reguster online for accommodation; for courses; pretty much for everything. They have a website for each and every aspect of what they do; starting from their IT services to the maintenance of the IT services. It's interesting and also slightly annoying at times because there are so many things to keep track of.
Another thing about Nottingham is that everything has to be a separate department and separate websites and separate ways of communication. You cannot go to a library and ask them about where you can find a school or a department. There is a procedure for everything and there is a predetermined schedule for everything; that will happen on time whether your there or not.
It's a cold and warm sort of a system that requires you to be so mechanical that it is difficult to get accustomed to.
More tomorrow.
Kanasu
Everything is online. One has to register online to be a student; one has to reguster online for accommodation; for courses; pretty much for everything. They have a website for each and every aspect of what they do; starting from their IT services to the maintenance of the IT services. It's interesting and also slightly annoying at times because there are so many things to keep track of.
Another thing about Nottingham is that everything has to be a separate department and separate websites and separate ways of communication. You cannot go to a library and ask them about where you can find a school or a department. There is a procedure for everything and there is a predetermined schedule for everything; that will happen on time whether your there or not.
It's a cold and warm sort of a system that requires you to be so mechanical that it is difficult to get accustomed to.
More tomorrow.
Kanasu
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