Bangalore according to me: April 2014

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Workshop: Introduction to archaeology and megaliths - Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th

Interested in knowing something about Bangaloreans who lived here 2000 or more years ago?

INTACH Bangalore is pleased to announce a two-day workshop, 'Introduction to archaeology and megaliths', that will help you do that!

We have all heard of Stonehenge in the UK but how many of us know that there are megaliths in and around Bangalore? When were these built and what do we know about the people who built these? How do archaeologists study these and other sites?

The first day of our workshop will go over some basics in archaeology and provide an introduction to prehistoric- Iron-Age practices in south India. The second day includes a field trip to a megalithic site near Bangalore.

The fee for this workshop is Rs 3000. This includes transportation to the field site, as well as lunch on both the days. Registrations for this workshop open at 9 am on 16 April 2014. Please email intach.blr@gmail.com if you would like to register.

The workshop will be conducted by Dr Smriti Haricharan, post-doctoral associate at National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore. Dr Haricharan conducts research on megalithic burials in southern India. She is also a part of a large-scale ‘pioneering metallurgy’ collaborative project between NIAS and the University of Exeter, UK. She is the recipient of the Fullbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Fellowship to conduct research in University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, for the year 2014-2015. She is particularly interested in the need for public outreach in Indian archaeology.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Dance Dialogue - from Monday 14th

An ode to the blues | Robert Johnson Stage - Saturday 26th @ 18.00

Artworks from a private collection - till Wednesday 16th

Grey Shack - Friday 11th @ 21.00

The Odd Couple (female version) | Neil Simon - till Sunday 13th

In this hilarious female version of The Odd Couple, Olive Madison, is divorced and living in cheerful chaos in her New York apartment. At Olive’s invitation, the suicidal Florence Ungar, newly separated from her husband, moves in and is soon finding comfort in cooking, cleaning, and fussing until Olive is almost reduced to a nervous wreck. It becomes clear that the patterns of their disastrous marriages are already re-occurring.

Preserving the Aural: Archiving Music and the Performing Arts in India - Saturday 19th @ 17.30

This weekend, INTACH Bangalore celebrates World Heritage Day with a talk on music and the arts.

The extremely talented Vikram Sampath will speak on music and the performing arts, and his work with preserving them. His talk is titled 'Preserving the Aural: Archiving Music and the Performing Arts in India.'

Vikram Sampath is the co-founder of the Bangalore Literature Festival, author of three critically acclaimed books -- two of them on music and musicians, one on the Wodeyar Dynasty -- and the founder of the Archive of Indian Music. He is also the Director of the Southern Regional Centre of the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.

This is the first in an INTACH Lecture series. We are pleased to acknowledge Mr G Raghavan, a Bangalorean who is keen on preserving heritage, as the sponsor of this series.

Gender Justice: Still a distant dream for Indian women? - Saturday 12th @ 18.30

Panel Discussion moderated by Nupur Basu

One of India’s most vibrant versions of “I have a dream” might be that one day all men and women will be treated equal, able to sit down together at a table of brother- and sisterhood, not fearing discrimination, harassment and violence because of gender… so that this country will be transformed into a place of freedom and gender justice.

This interactive panel discussion not only introduces our eight bangaloREsidents to the topic of gender and justice in India, but also offers an open platform to share thoughts and experiences, to create a common ground for thinking and rethinking gender.

Moderated by senior journalist and independent documentary filmmaker Nupur Basu, the event hosts three important figures from the sociological, activist and artistic approaches to gender justice in rural and urban India: Donna Fernandes, Jasmeen Patheja and Dr. A.R. Vasavi.

Dr. A.R. Vasavi is a social anthropologist with interests in agrarian studies, sociology of education and studies of contemporary India. She was a faculty member at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, and is currently a Senior Fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi. She is also working with a team to establish an alternative learning programme in Chamarajnagar district, Karnataka. Her publications include the book "SHADOW SPACE: Suicides and the Predicament of Rural India".

Donna Fernandes is a key figure in the Indian women’s movement. She has worked on gender issues for over 30 years and is one of the founding members of Vimochana, the most prominent women’s organisation in Bangalore. Donna has covered issues ranging from violence against women, problems of rural and urban women, to the girl child, female infanticide, trafficking, dowry deaths and domestic worker’s problems. She has travelled the length and breadth of India raising awareness on women’s issues and rights.

Jasmeen Patheja is an artist with an interventionist approach. People and interactions form the core of her work. She is the founder and facilitator of Blank Noise, a volunteer-led collective committed to building a dialogue and ownership towards the issue of sexual violence. It is built on the lived experiences of volunteers, also known as ‘Action Heroes’, and works towards attitudinal shifts through events and actions designed for public participation. Jasmeen is a TED fellow and a fellow at the Ashoka Innovators for the Public.