Centre D’art
Review https://artservice.auroville.org/article-conceptual-art-during-the-covid-lockdown-by-artist-aabhas-mahindre/
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Photographic observations, image series, and visual impressions from the Reading Deleuze in India project.
Diagrams – Philosophical
I am approaching Sanskrit very slowly. On Thursdays, Nishtha holds a seminar on the Rigveda. Reciting together in Sanskrit, the detailed analysis of the translation, Nishtha’s philological considerations and the explanations of the psychology of the gods open a way into these ‘sacred’ texts. I remember my study of Latin, the Indo-European roots, the sounds that reverberate in the ragas, phonetics as a declaration of existence, language as sound and vibration, communication as rhythm. The breath of life, yoga, vitality,…
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Dhrupad
They were four magical days. The Auroville Film Institute organized a residency with Ustad Bahauddin Dagar from November 7 to 10, 2022. It took place in Bhumika Hall, Bharat Nivas Auroville. Dhrupad – the film (1983) Ustad Bahauddin Dagar is a Rudraveena player. His family has played the instrument for 20 generations! His father and uncle (Zia Mohiyuddin Dagar and Fariduddin Dagar) were true masters. There is a wonderful film about this, Dhrupad, by the Indian director Mani Kaul. Among…
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Mantras
I still lack the words. The past few days have been shaped by thoughts about the Vedic scriptures. A fellow traveler from another life took me to Nishtha Muller, an Aurovilian who has devoted his life to the Vedic scriptures. For almost two hours, in his very modest dwelling in the forest he planted himself, he told us about Sanskrit, its roots, grammar, pronunciation, the deep spiritual force of the mantras, the cultural history and historical dimension. What stayed with…
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Sleep Research
Recently I listened to a podcast about dreams and was once again very surprised. The director of the sleep laboratory in Mannheim says that anyone can train themselves to remember dreams. I, at any rate, can do that, so that is true. What still surprises me greatly, however, is the reduction of dreams to the subconscious. Dreams supposedly only make use of stronger images to draw our attention to working on something we neglect in waking consciousness. A pity and…
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Teaching
Today I was at a place for village children with special needs (Deepam). Someone from the guesthouse here had invited me to accompany her. It was a kind of ceremony as part of Navarathri in honor of the goddess Saraswathi—she stands for education, prosperity and success. In India today, the objects needed for work were cleaned and consecrated as a kind of thanks. Offerings were brought to them, and there was singing. At the therapy center, alongside figures, books and…
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From the Archive
In 2017 we were in Varanasi. Varanasi is the spiritual center of Hinduism. Whoever is cremated here in the fires that Shiva lit 2,500 years ago and that have been burning ever since is freed from the cycle of suffering.
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Center guest house
Many films feature good hotels in central locations where the political, intellectual, and economic elite meet. I always perceived this as something very elitist, colonial, and power-hungry. What escaped me in the films, and probably was rarely their subject either, is the networking that takes place in such places. Now, the Center Guesthouse in Auroville can hardly be compared to a luxury hotel in a metropolis, although it is a very beautiful place, welcoming, friendly, and making life easy. Rather,…
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