‘Social Engagement as Art Practice’ discussed at ILF Samanvay 2016
Saurabh Shrivastava Tennews
Association with The Raza Foundation for upcoming Art Arts-Articulations Sponsor
New Delhi, August 12, 2016: As part of the curtain raiser series, ILF Samanvay, the annual Indian Languages Festival (ILF) of the India Habitat Centre hosted the first conversation of Art Articulations with a panel discussion on Thursday, August 11, 2016.
Following the course of #notonguesbarred (#ntb) conversations, the evening saw a spirited exchange on the topic- ‘Does art create a people?’ Taking in to account the work of artists whocenter their practice within the disenfranchised section of the city, the discourse delved in to ‘Social engagement as Art practice’. Art Articulation for ILF Samanvay 2016 is curated byDeeksha Nath, independent critic and curator, who draws her inspiration from her humbling experiences of working with NGO’s, shelters and schools, with children and women who from the start of their life are marginalized, abandoned, un-considered. Commenting on the first Art Articulations evening, Deeksha Nath, said, “Through Art Articulations, it was my intention to undertake an exploratory journey to find meaning and beauty, perhaps joy in the work of pioneering artists who repeatedly engage with persons and communities, who engineer and find meaning in face to face encounters.”
The panel consisted of established artists — Probir Gupta, Revue- Mrityunjay Chatterjee andAastha Chauhan. The discussion was moderated by artist, curator and writer Ravi Agarwal. Over the course of the evening, the panelists discussed their work at length and engaged in issues highlighting aesthetics in various forms of expression. The dialogue also addressed ways of facilitating change and strategies to sustain goals of public action and engagement, eventually streamlining into the festival theme of Language as Public Action.
The Art Articulations conversation has also received support from the acclaimed arts and culture organization The Raza Foundation which will financially support the art articulations series.Commenting on the partnership, Ashok Vajpayee, trustee of Raza foundation said. “S.H Raza, as a painter, was deeply invested in language and art. Keeping with his vision and taste, The Raza Foundation supports Art Articulations and aims to provide a forum to explore and articulate the plurality of languages and its modes of expression.”
Dr. Rizio Yohannan Raj, Creative Director- ILF Samanvay, also commented, ‘’Art is a medium of changing expression and form. It is no longer bound by the normative aspects of the mainstream. The work of the artist mirrors contemporary times and issues; and therefore has rapidly evolved. Our attempt through #ntb art articulations is to connect artists to the public and thereby initiate the process of awareness. We have undertaken a periscopic method of understanding the individual voice in the public space and their ways of ‘creating’ a language for the outside world. This will lead to a beautiful culmination with our corollary programme on arts and performances planned in the coming months”
The #ntb Art Articulations is the part of the curtain raiser series to ILF Samanvay 2016 and comprises of events curated to suit the theme. Each month, ILF Samanvay will open doors to a brand new perspective of languages leading up to the three day event in November.