GREETINGS FROM DAKSHINACHITRA OCTOBER 11 (3.30 to 5pm): IN A NUTSHELL... Dusshera is round the corner and we have Treat yourself to a unique experience this A WALK DOWN MEMORY LANE everything planned to keep you engaged! Dusshera as DakshinaChitra brings to you a It was a nostalgic journey for the original owners Traditional festivals and folk performances by performance of ‘living dolls’ to celebrate of the Kuthatukulam house at DakshinaChitra talented artists welcome you this season. Navaratri Kolu. The ‘living dolls’ are none other when they visited our . Fond memories Interesting snippets from our close friends are than the young students of the Rukminidevi Natyakshetra trained by Shri S.Premnath, who attached to the place came back to them. They also part of this issue! Read on to find out... will be performing Bharatnatyam. Members will shared their thoughts with us and a DUSSHERA CELEBRATIONS also demonstrate a ‘spinning on the box documentary of that interview will be available OCTOBER 7 TO 11: SOMANA KUNITHA PERFORMANCE Charkha’ taught to them by Shri Karunakaran. in our library soon. The dances will be introduced by Dr.V.R.Devika A beautiful dance ensemble put together by Shri of The Aseema Trust. The performances are in D.S. Gangadhara Gowda and troupe awaits praise of the mother Goddess, Durga, in whose you! name the 9-day festival is dedicated, and Mahatma Gandhi whose birth anniversary falls ‘Somana Kunita’ is a ritualistic dance performed on October 2. by two or three artists wearing masks which are DECEMBER 19 TO 27: NATIONAL FESTIVAL OF ‘MAHARASHTRA’ almost four times larger than the human head. VASTRA UTSAV: ANOTHER FESTIVAL TO CELEBRATE! The ‘Soma’ deities are believed to be spirits of This December we put Maharashtra under the Handwoven fabrics by warrior heroes and local manifestations of the spotlight by celebrating the ‘Maharashtra new designers from across Festival’. A perfect way to end the year with a mother goddess. Accompanied by instrumental the country were the variety of vibrant folk dances by Rudrannsh music, this dance is famous in the districts of highlights of the Vastra Akademy to entertain you and a plethora of Mandya, Mysore, Hassan, Tumkur and Utsav which was handicrafts including Warli, Bidriware crafts, Bangalore. conducted in August by Paithani sarees and Kohlapuri jewellery for you to the Friends of pick from. To tingle your taste buds, there will be DakshinaChitra (FOD). a mouthwatering spread of traditional Maharashtrian cuisine. A range of colours, a Lezim Jotiba variety of designs and a diverse collection to choose from made this exhibition a huge success. The attractive stalls and Chatrapati Shivaray the display deserved a huge thumbs-up for the INTERESTING LECTURES COMING UP.. organisers. We thank FOD DakshinaChitra is organising a series of lectures by Dr. Champaka Lakshmi, for organising the eminent historian & retired professor, JNU and Dr. Lakshmi Priya, on Puranic tradition and the birth of Hindusim, Buddhism, and Jainism. For more exhibition every year to information and registration, please contact: 9840139353 or email: raise much needed funds [email protected] for DakshinaChitra.

ARTIST CAMP: STYLES GALORE! NOV 14 - NOV 23: Beautiful murals now decorate our campus after VARIJA GALLERY An exhibition of the successful Artist Camp was held in Art Beat mural collaboration with Lalit Kala Akademi from Murali Nagapuzha OCT 3- OCT 30: painting by Sunil September 23 to September 30. The camp saw "Foliage Green" - Vaka the works of six tribal artists apart from six An exhibition of Sunil Vaka contemporary artists. The creative work of these paintings by Murali murals embody the style characteristic of each Nagapuzha from region, making each piece different in its DEC 5 - DEC 31: Kerala appeal. Catherine An exhibition of paintings by Asheshi Joshi NOV 14 - NOV 30: from Auroville “Abstractions” - An exhibition of Asheshi Joshi paintings by Athiveerapandian AMBUR GALLERY Athiveerapandian OCTOBER 2015: “Urumaatrum” DEC 5 - JAN 6: An (Metamorphosis) - An exhibition of Tribal exhibition of block paintings from the printed, natural dyed WORDS OF WISDOM: A TALK ON HERITAGE EDUCATION collections of TRIFED textile art The three-day lectures by Ms Shobita Punja, (Ministry of Tribal conceptualised by former Director, Heritage Education and Affairs, Government Darshini Sundar Communication Service, INTACH, from Darshini Sundar of India) September 23 to 25 on ‘Heritage education’, were very well-received. KADAMBARI GALLERY NOVEMBER 2015: “Catalyst for Demolition - OCT 3 - OCT 30: An Earthquake Nepal 2015” - A photo LECTURES BY INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS Ilayaraja exhibition by Stephen Eckerd exhibition of watercolour We thank Stephen Inglis, Director, Canadian Museum of Civilization for paintings by Ilayaraja DECEMBER 2015 / JANUARY 2016: An accepting our invitation to conduct a session on ‘Museum collection and exhibition by the students of the Arts management’ during his stay in from November 11 - 19. Management course We also thank Stephen Eckerd, former Coordinator at Smithsonian SOUTHERN SPECIAL! Institution, for graciously agreeing to visit us in October to share his In January, we celebrate the ‘Margazhi and experience with the staff. A VISUAL TREAT ON WEEKENDS Village festival’ which will include folk performances from , , DakshinaChitra will be screening films or documentaries on art and artists Ilayaraja Kerala and Andhra Pradesh on weekends at the Seminar hall in the Arts and Education building. Do come and watch them! FRIENDS OF DAKSHINACHITRA (FOD) YATRA TO EMERALD ISLAND: OUR GRATITUDE TO... - By Princess Naik, a Friend of DakshinaChitra Usha Sheshayan for donating lamps, a brass ‘Magical’ and ‘unbelievable’ - these words best container and a wooden container . describe our stay from September 7 to 14 in Sri Lanka which was organised by Dr. Geeta Deborah Thiagarajan for donating a weaver’s Vasudevan. From visiting three world heritage tool to our museum. sites, a world heritage city and a capital city to Rajamani Manoharan for donating stone watching elephants in a wild elephants reserve (Bharani) jars. and visiting the lofty “Lit England” Hill Station, we managed to pack it all in in just a week, while Anandhi Ramachandran for donating six staying in resorts overlooking the Ocean. It was Kalamkari paintings. an amazing way to see the ‘Emerald Island’ called Sri Lanka. Uma Ganesan for donating three Kanjivaram silk sarees. Our little group of 10 (8 ladies and 2 men) returned with many cherishable memories. M.G.Raffic, Prabhuram, K.K. Segar, Whether it was the ruins at Polonnaruwa, the Thayumanavan and Anil Gaikwad for donating frescoes on the Lion Rock at Sigriya or the contemporary paintings to our collection. Buddha statues at the Dambulla caves, the Dr. Chitra Viji, Gayatree Pattnaik , Jyotindra beauty of these places left us spell-bound. Jain, S.V.S.Mani and Usha Sheshayan for

The historic 3,000-year-old Bodhi Tree in The cover photo of the newsletter is a Anuradhapura (a sapling of the original tree Cheriyal painting from our very own under which Lord Buddha attained collection. Cheriyal paintings are rich in local enlightenment), the sacred ‘Temple of the Tooth’ motifs which are characteristic of Telangana. relic at Kandy, Sita Eliya in Ashoka vana and the Siva Temple in Trincomalee were equally supreme in their charm. We thank Dr. Geeta for ensuring we had a good time! DakshinaChitra ON WEEKENDS Muttukadu, Tamil Nadu - 603 118 WE ARE OPEN Tel: 2747 2603 / 2747 2783 TILL 7 P.M. www.dakshinachitra.net

DakshinaChitra is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Madras Craft Foundation Closed on Tuesday. If undelivered, please return to Weekends : 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Madras Craft Foundation DakshinaChitra is the G3 Madhuram Flats project of Madras Craft 6 Urur Olcott Road Foundation. Besant Nagar Chennai - 600 090 Design and Content : Tel: 2491 8943 / 2446 2435 NEWS AND EVENTS - OCTOBER TO DECEMBER, 2015 Friends of DakshinaChitra in Sri Lanka. e Phoenix Company Email: [email protected]

SPECIAL WORKSHOPS FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS WORKSHOPS FOR ADULTS DATE FEE WORKSHOPS FOR CHILDREN The unique workshops organised by us have (The fee for each workshop is inclusive of material become a big hit among college students. Terracotta Jewellery October 10th & 17th Rs. 2000 and transportation only) Photography October 17th & 18th Rs. 2000 In August, a batch of 150 students from SRM Wheel pottery Glass Sculpting November 19th & 20th Rs. 2500 University joined us and participated in our October 10 workshops on ceramics, wheel pottery, paper Tanjore painting November 25th to 29th Rs. 7500 Age: 7 - 13 yrs craft, card modelling, glass- sculpting, miniature Acrylic on canvas (Zentangle method) December 5th & 6th Rs. 2000 terracotta sculpture, pattachitra, soft stone Kalamkari December 19th & 20th Rs. 2000 Fee: Rs. 600 carving and palm leaf craft among others. The students enjoyed their time here and were VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE Vernacular architecture A workshop on vernacular architecture actively involved in the workshops. by Architect is planned Coil pottery for January 2016. October 17 In October, we have another group of students For further information and registration from Hindustan College of Arts and Science write to : [email protected] Age: 7 - 13 yrs coming to attend a similar hands-on workshop. Fee: Rs. 600

Terracotta Mask-making November 28 Art on Canvas - Zentangle method Age: 7 - 13 yrs Fee: Rs. 600

Terracotta Jewellery ACTIVITY CAMP FOR CHILDREN The camp will include a number of interesting activities like t-shirt printing, origami, dakshinachitra's miniature model house making, folk dance, pot-breaking & tug of war. Glass Sculpting CERAMIC WORKSHOP FOR ADULTS Tanjore Painting December 19 The ceramic centre has some Age: 7 - 13 yrs interesting workshops lined up! Register soon! Photography Fee: Rs. 600 Kalamkari Ceramic Clock workshop 4th & 11th October 2015 Fee : Rs 1500 per person Ceramic Glaze Mural workshop Date : 5th , 6th & 13th December Fee : Rs. 2000 per person (The workshop fee includes materials only)