2016 Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bengaluru Kendra Compiled by;H.S.RAJASHEKAR BENGALURU KENDRA OFFICE [PROGRAMMES CONDUCTED BY THE KENDRA DURING YEAR 2016] Address: No.43, Race Course Road, BENGALURU 560001, KARNATAKA, INDIA PHONE: +91 80 22267303, 22265746, 22267421, FAX: 22287373 E-MAIL: [email protected], [email protected] WEBSITE: www.bhavankarnataka.com NANJANGUD SRIKANTAIAH JANAKAMMA MEMORIAL ENDOWMENT MUSIC PROGRAMME AT BHAVAN’S ESV HALL, ON JAN 2, 2016 Sugama Sangeetha by Savitha and Rajeev Anand PROGRAMME AT INDIAN INSTITUTE OF WORLD CULTURE, BASAVANAGUDI, BENGALURU ON JAN 8, 2016 1 Sugama Sangeetha by Geetha Deepika Alura 2 Smt. Vani Ganapathy DISABILITY IS NOT A DETERRENT FOR ARTIST A thinking bird, a smiling flower, a calm and peaceful horse… These startling and rare images which Anu Jain depicts in her paintings are her way of communicating with the world around her. Anu, 32, wonders why disabled persons are stigmatized, when no one is perfect in this imperfect world. Born without legs and rudimentary elbows. Anu paints, photographs and designs artwork. She is no amateur either, having cleared Chitra Bhaskar Part –II from Prachin Kala Kendra, Chandigarh. Anu may not have fingers, but plays the piano. An avid reader of Sudha Murty‘s books, she recently painted Murty‘s portrait and presented it to her. A surprised Sudha wrote to Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan to organize an exhibition of paintings of a rare artist. The exhibition sponsored by Infosys Foundation, opened on Saturday 16 and was on till January 23. Her family is her backbone. While elder sister Abha and younger brother Trilok help her update her website, her parents Kiranprabha and Vinay Kumar Jain stand as her pillars. Abha says Anu is a vibrant, self-motivated, resourceful person and the family is only supporting her interests. ―One day, my mother gave me a brush and paint and asked me to draw on white canvas. I gradually felt interested and explored. I was home trained. My paintings are reflections of my thoughts. 3 Most of my paintings have flowers, birds, the sunset and sunrise. No flower is dull in my work, they are bright and cheerful. Pink is the colour of hope, love and happiness and you can see many pink flowers in my work. All that art requires is focus and patience‖ says. Painting on discarded X-ray sheets are another interest. Her ‗Ganesha on X-Ray‘ caught many eyes at the exhibition. Currently settled in Bengaluru, she conducted the Art Workshop for the children of Bhavan-BBMP school at Srirampuram. ―Her interaction with students can make a tremendous impact both in their sense of art and their attitude towards life‖ says H.N. Suresh, Director, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. What disappoints Anu is the lack of ramps and lifts in public spaces across India. ―We do not have enough special school, disabled – friendly roads and footpaths. Treat us like normal people‖ she says. (Courtesy - Times of India) Artist Anu Jain and H.N. Suresh, Director, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, lighting the lamp at the inaugural of the exhibition Peeyush Jain, Hon. Treasurer, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and Dr. Vijaya, Veteran Journalist, honouring artist Anu. 4 Bhavan-Infosys Foundation OUTREACH CULTURAL PROGRAMME AT MES COLLEGE, MALLESHWARAM ON JAN 23, 2016. Carnatic Harmonium Recital : Harmonium : Vidwan. C. Ramadas, Violin : Vidwan Venkatesh Jois, Mridanga : Vidwan. C. Chaluvaraj, Ghata : Vidwan M. Gurumurthy, Tambura : Sujatha Ramachandra 5 Bhavan-BBMP Public School Kannada Dance Drama ‘Kindari Jogi’ at BVB, on Feb 6, 2016 6 Kindara Jogi 7 BVB IN ASSOCIATION WITH ICCR PRESENTED KATHAK BY DANCE COUPLE HARI AND CHETANA, ALONG WITH THEIR TROUP AT BVB ON FEB 13, 2016. Dancers of Noopur Performing Arts Centre, the performing outfit of the couple‘s dance school, at the recital Feb. 20 : Neela Ramgopal is one of those rare artistes who have succeeded both as a performing musician and a teacher. She continues to straddle both streams, being one of the accomplished Carnatic vocalists Karnataka can proudly flaunt. Aspiring musicians yearn to become her wards, and among Carnatic vocalists, she is a top notch singer. ―Neelambari‖ is a group of four performing Carnatic vocalists—Usha Kesari, Geetha Murthy, Bhargavi Manjunath and Rema Ramaiah— all B High and A grade artistes of AIR. As wards of Neela, they have made their mark individually as well. They are regular performers at classical music events, focussing on thematic concerts, which is a welcome change from routine concerts. Such theme-based concerts initiate the audience into aspects of music hitherto unknown to them such as compositions on certain deities, on composers themselves, etc., which can prove to be one of the first steps in creating a better-educated audience vis a vis music, which in turn can lift the standard of music by generating more informed and demanding listeners. Neelambari needs to be appreciated for this, although to them, theme-based concerts might mean more a challenge than being looked at as a service to the music field. Dasara Compositions with Emphasis on ‗Dina Nithya Jeevana Thathva‘Artists : Neela Ramgopal, Geetha Murthy, Rema Ramaiah, Usha Kesari, Bhargavi Manjunath. 8 Every classical dancer in Karnataka needs to be grateful to Guru H R Keshavamurthy, because he was one of the earliest practitioners and proponents of classical dance in the State. What Rukmini Devi Arundale did in Chennai, Keshavamurthy did in Karnataka, not on that scale or focus, but he certainly was one of those responsible for accruing respectability to classical dance, and many young girls from conservative Brahmin families taking to dance at his Keshava Nritya Shala in conservative Malleshwaram. What Keshavamurthy has given to the culture field in Karnataka has in fact gone unsung and unrecognised, because he not only belonged to an era of humble beginning and growth, but he was not a savvy marketer. Even today there is none to parallel him in his depth of knowledge on varied subjects that go to make an artiste complete, such as Samskritam, Kannada literature—modern and ancient, folk arts, forms and music, Carnatic classical music, and Kathak and Bharatanatya. Vasanthalakshmi Venkataram and B K Shyam Prasad are two of his children who are long- standing dance teachers in Bengaluru, with Shyam Prakash even having established the Keshava College of Dance and Music, which is affiliated to the University of Bangalore. Shyam Prasad‘s and Vasanthalaskhmi‘s families are also into the arts field. The latest third generation dancer to enter the fray is Lasya Priya, Keshavamurthy‘s youngest son, Ravishankar‘s daughter. Lasya Priya 9 1. Kathak by Poorna Acharya 2. Bharatanatya by Sukruti Ananth 3. Bharathanatya by Raghunandan 1. Odissi by Vandana Bharatanatyam by Ritwika Bharatanatyam by Aparna Menon Ghosh 10 BVB-Karnataka Nrityakala Parishath present ―Natarajotsava 2016‖ at Khincha Hall, at 4 pm. An exclusive festival for male dancers in an otherwise women-dominated art form, this year‘s festival, into its nineteenth edition, will cover Bharatanatya, Odissi and Kathak, preceded by Nritya seva by senior teachers Mysore Nagaraj and Jayakamala Pandian. Nritya Seva is a special segment of the programme got up about nine years ago to put on stage senior teachers, and record it for the archives, by the Karnataka Sangeeta Nritya Academy and the Parishath. This is one platform where male dancers from outside Bengaluru are given an opportunity to perform. This is really appreciable as male soloists from outside the metro find it difficult to make their presence felt in known or popular fora. Nataraja 11 LANDMARK CENTURY AT INDIAN INSTITUTE OF WORD CULTURE A culture NGO with phenomenal reach, infrastructure, networking and public goodwill is Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (BVB), anywhere in the country. Its activities continue to lend hope that ancient Indian wisdom and traditions will not disappear against the onslaught of western cultural and lifestyle influences. A sure fire pointer to this is the 100th successful conduct of the BVB-Infosys Foundation (IF) programme on April 15 at The Indian Institute of World Culture (IIWC) venue in Bengaluru, marking a century of shows of the varied traditional arts of Karnataka, especially dying arts. Besides music sabhas, several private organizations promote classical music and dance year round in the City. This is apart from some of the major annual festivals devoted to these arts. What ails other traditional performing arts is patronage, finance, and viability, a lacuna more than rectified by the BVB-IF project. It provided an opportunity for over 500 artistes to go on stage since inception in April 2010; brought to fore some rare arts form; created an interested and appreciative audience, and acted as a clap board for young artistes from all over Karnataka, especially from rural areas, many of whom had their first glimpse of a metro such as Bengaluru, when they came to perform for Infosys Foundation. Six years ago, when the association of the two organizations was concretized for this project, it was a coming together for a cause—promoting young talent, especially from the economically weaker sections, and those from rural areas. The ideal has been more than met, the 100th programme of devotional music on not marking a culmination of the venture but ushering in a renewed beginning of much more to come. If Sudha Murty thought it best to propagate Indian culture through the Bhavan there was a sound reason behind. Way back, in 1997, she set up an annual endowment programme in her personal capacity in memory of her grandfather, Hanumanth Rao Kadim Diwan, a teacher by profession, and a true Indian at heart...... his love for the country‘s culture and philosophy was what prompted Murty to set up a programme in his name. This association got further cemented in 2010 through the BVB-IF project.