PUBLICATIONS by Kumud Mehta Asst. Director. Programmes and Publications The Trustees of the National Centre decided, soon af~er its inception. to publish a Quarterly Journal to develop and improve the knowledge, understanding and practice of the arts. Its primary concern was to be music, dance, drama and, to some extent. film. In pursuance of this objective, the Quarterly Journal has been published every quarter since September 1972 and has built a solid readership over the years. The Journal is addressed to the adult cultivated reader, not necessarily to any specialist. but to one with a serious interest in the arts. It includes articles on the arts by distinguished authorities in the f ield from India and abroad. It has a News and Notes section which covers the major cultural events of the quarter. The Book Reviews examine important publications and the Record Reviews offer comments on major disc releases. The range of the Journal's coverage is noteworthy: in theatre, from early Sanskrit drama and the architecture of ancient koothambalam-s to contemporary and innovative attempts exploring 'the theatre of al~ possibilities'; in music, from an examination of an ancient Sanskrit text like the DatttJam to experiments in modern jazz; in dance, from an investigation into the tenets of the Natya Shastra and its many commentaries to glimpses into the present-day dance scene; in t he visual arts, from a study of the earliest stone sculptures and cave paintings to a survey of Expressionism and modern film posters. And besides all this, it encompasses a host of areas and movements, in time and space, leaving out very little of any significance. Here are a few examples: a whole special issue devoted to the great composer of Karnatic music, Muttuswami Oikshitar (Guest­ Editor, the late Dr. V. Raghavan). on the bicentenary of his birth; the distinguished American composer, Lou Harrison on Schoenberg (on his birth centenary); the Soviet music scholar Boris Yarustovsky on Shostakovich, an obituary; Prof. Shigeo Kishibe on NOH, the traditional theatre of Japan; Thakur Jaideva Singh on Amir Khusrav, on the Dhrupada and on Abhinavagupta's contribution to musicology; Jose Maceda on his researches into the music of the Philippines; Richard Haggart on the arts and education in the late twentieth century; Habib Hassan Touma on the maqam-s of Arabian music; T. Khrennikov on Khatchaturian; T. Balasaraswati on the structure of the music of Bharata Natyam; Mohanrao Kalliyanpurkar on the traditions of Kathak; Richard Schachner on the Ramlila of Ramnagar; Kunjunni Raja on the intricacies of Kudiyattam; Tran Van Khe on the water puppets of Vietnam; Kwabena Nketia on African music. 108 :-IAT IONAt; CEN'IRE NATIONAL CENmE NATIONAL CENTI\E FOR THE PeRFORMI NG ARTS FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS U'{r.l ojtfrn ;m~~ ~ ~ Mia ;mil~ $ !1>if.l-~ Quarterl y Juurn nl Quortaly j ourn.l NATIONAL CENTRE NATIONAL CEN'IRE NATIONAL CENiltE FOR THE PERFORMING AR'IS FOR• THE PERFOR~UNG ARTS FOR THE PERFORMING AR'IS !1'{tq {!rfl<l i!i?A ~ U'{r'l arn~ :m» ~ $ 11rtt11 "- ~ Qtwtcrly Joum.ol Among the important contributions to the Quarterly Journal have been Satyajit Ray's description of the making of the film BALA: Raja Ramanna's article on a new theory of consonance; interviews with Dadu lndurika r. the great tamasha artiste. with Yehudi Menuhin, with Cyril Harris (on the subject of threatre acoustics) and with Peter Brook on the topic of masks. Indian performing artistes. scholars, critics and intellectuals, both young and old, have responded warmly to requests for contribution·s. Among them are Shombhu Mitra, P. L. Deshpande, the late Or. Moti Chandra, Vijay Tendulkar, Adya Rangacharya, Ourga Bhagvat Premlata Sharma, Kishori Amonkar, Shyam Senegal. Mani Kaul. Vijaya Mehta, K. N. Panikka r, Kumar Shahani. Chandrasekhar Kambar, Sunil Kothari. B. N. Goswamy, Kamal Kothari. Mukund Lath, Shivram Karanth, Bhaskar Chandavarkar, Prabha Atre, Chitra Visweswaran. S. Ramanathan and Ashok Ranade. Kapila Vatsyayan has contributed a fascinating series on dance sculptures; Jyotindra Jain on Rasa Dance and other themes in wall-paintings. Interdisciplinary studies thus form an essential and valuable core of the Journal's interests. Over the years. special issues of the Quarterly Journal have been published to highlight specific events or subjects connected with the performing arts. The issue of September 1975 was devoted exclusively to Muttusw ami Diksh itar, the renowned Karnatic composer, to commemorate the bicentenary of his birth. The September 1977 issue celebrated 100 years of sound recording. The December 1980 issue highlighted the Tata Theatre which had just been inaugurated by Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi. The Quarterly Journal completed ten years of publication in 1982 ·and a double number was published to mark the occasion. Leading authorities in the field of music, dance and drama contributed scholarly articles to make the issue a collector's item. The proceedings of the East-West Music Encounter w ere embodied in an issue published in 1983; the East-West Dance Encounter in a special number in June 1984; the East-West Theatre Encounter in a double number of March and June 1986. The Journal's combined three issues of September and December 1986 and March 1987 deal with all aspects of the Sarangi. one of India's major musical instruments, by Joep Bor, the well-known Dutch scholar. The Quarterly Journal completed fifteen years of publication in September 1987. In the last decade and a half. it has successfully acquainted readers with the complexities of the better known art forms and introduced them to the lesser known ones. The major articles on these forms constitute an authoritative comment on their history, their presentation and their present state. The NCPA's Quarterly Journal has earned wide recognition for its emphasis on neat and artistic presentation. It has been the recipient of the National Award for Excellence in Printing instituted by the Government of India. 110 Art and Architecture ol ~ffi@D@DD~ ~ru~JJuDDDDLP Since June 1986 the National Centre has taken over MARG PUBLICATIONS, a · non-profit Division of Tata Sons Ltd ., which under the far-sighted leadership of its Chairman, J . R. D. Tata, has for 35 years been bearing the entire annual expenses, and occasional losses. of its operations. Dedicated to the spread of knowledge and appreciation of the arts of Asia, in general. and India, in particular, MARG has been bringing out every year art books and publications which have been widely appreciated in India and abroad and acclaimed for their excellent quality and authoritative contents. Since the National Centre was virtually presented with MARG PUBLICATIONS by its owners, Tata Sons Ltd., and its printers, Tata Press Ltd., this publishing division is being directed by a separate Managing Committee under the chairmanship of the Deputy Managing Trustee of the National Centre, Sharokh A. Sabavala. 111 .