The events are made as part of the Conversations with contemporary India initiative, in collaboration with the Italian Embassy in New Delhi. Main Sponsor: Benetton
Adivasi
The indigenous cultures of India
Special exhibition of art and traditional crafts of tribal India
Rathva, Rabari (Gujarat, Rajasthan); Toda (Tamil Nadu)
Curated by
Roberta Ceolin
with the participation of Stefano Beggiora and Laura Tenti
The vernissage will be held on Thursday, September 15 at 17:30 at Tesa 1, CFZ Cultural Flow Zone, Zattere al Pontelungo, Dorsoduro 1392 Venezia
The exhibition will run from September 16th to October 9th 2016 at the following times:
Mon - Sat 10:00 to 19:00
Sun 15:00 to 19:00
Free admission
During the exhibition, two talks are planned:
Thursday, September 15th at 17:30
as part of the Vernissage
The myths of the creation of the Rathva and Rabari tribes
With Roberta Ceolin, introduced by Stefano Beggiora
Thursday, September 22 at 17:00
Myths, archeology and fascination: the material and immaterial culture of Todas
With Laura Tenti
The term adivasi, or 'aboriginal' - those who lived ab origine in the Indian sub continental outset – today means the tribal ethnic minorities of India. It is a kaleidoscope of the cultures, languages and traditions that have gone through the history of this marvelous and millennial country, but which very often have been unfairly relegated to the margins of society. Moreover, the Indian government defines the Scheduled Tribes, based not only on the characteristics of a distinctive religion and culture, but also as a result of the general conditions of backwardness and relative geographic isolation. These communities still live in the depths of the Indian jungle and remote Himalayan valleys, but between them they are the last remaining nomads/hunter-gatherers, thanks to sheep farming and archaic farming techniques. According to the Census of India (2011), the last of the nation's major census operations, the community represents 8.6% of the total population, over one hundred million people, divided into more than six hundred tribes with countless local subgroups. In contemporary times the adivasi have adopted different processes to help them adapt to modern life, particularly those living close to urban or suburban areas . Their more peculiar traditions of art, folklore and local handicrafts are now attracting a proud sense of identity for these communities that resists approval from global trends. A common concept known as 'Indigenous knowledge of the forest’, along with ‘shamanism’, are still found among many groups. These traditions, lived through a fragile lifestyle that is connected with the natural world that surrounds it, are passed down from generation to generation through word of mouth, revealing the flavor of an ancient world. This culture is now considered world heritage.
As not all of the tribal communities can technically be considered as originating in the Subcontinent tout court, (due to ancient or recent migrations or because their origin was lost in the past of Indian history) the term adivasi embodies the concept of indigenous as well as the pride of a distinctive identity.
The exhibition thus proposes a journey through three of these ethnic groups, placed almost at the antipodes of India (Rathva and Rabari of Gujarat and Rajasthan and Toda de Tamil Nadu), through photographs, paintings and other expressions of adivasi art from the rich collection of Roberta Ceolin. The images, real-life moments of magic, stop time in this extraordinary world. They seem to tell the untold, showing even that which is not visible at first glance.
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Indian Cinema:
notable moments of the last fifty years
All Films will be shown in their original language, with subtitles in English and Italian.
From September 16th to October 6th at CFZ
These days, the term Bollywood is familiar, however, the adventurous circumstances that occurred to launch a film industry that has become this imposing are most likely less known. To fill this gap is the first film of the showcase, The Harishchandra Factory (2010), which recounts how Dadasaheb Phalke (1870-1944), surpassing the unthinkable, was able to realize his dream in 1913: to give India a prominent standing within cinema for the first time.
Back to Bollywood: the term, instead of merely indicating the popular Hindu cinema produced in Bombay (now Mumbai), has become synonymous with Indian cinema, tout court. Indeed, the reality is a bit more complex. India, in fact, is a union of federal states, each of which, like European states, is distinguished by its history, culture and language (or which there are more than one). It also has a cinema that reflects its identity. It follows that there is not just one Indian cinema, but rather a multitude.
Secondly, the now ingrained definition of "regional cinema" is a completely incorrect way of indicating the films of different states that are in non-Hindu languages. It would imply a kind of marginalization of these states, as if they were out of some national flux. But this does not exist, unless you consider Hindu cinema. Hindi, however, is only the official language of India, not the national language. For example, in Kerala the national language is Malayalam (with national films also in this language). For residents in Kerala, one can only understand a Bengali film with subtitles and vice versa.
Alongside popular cinema , a different kind of film came into establishment. This was known as New Cinema, or Parallel Cinema, and was developed in the late sixties and early seventies. Today, the separation between these genres is not as rigid or conflicting. Rather, movies - mainstream or ‘parallel’, Hindi or in other languages – are beginning to be considered for what they are: good, bad, average.
The selection of titles here comes from a list of those that will be shown at CFZ. The list consists of works released in the last fifty years, in different languages. The first, which has been mentioned beforehand, and the last, Aligarh (2016), are the result of two new directors who are now important names in cinema: Paresh Mokashi and Hansal Mehta. The other six films are among the most significant of now legendary directors who continue to consistently deliver new milestones in cinema to India: Shyam Benegal , Adoor Gopalakrishnan , Girish Kasaravalli , Jahnu Barua and Aparna Sen. Only Muzaffar Ali has remained silent for several years now (he had other things to do). On the other hand , in 1981 he made a memorable film , included in this program: Umrao Jaan, adapted from the novel by M.H. Ruswa .
A showcase of films that is, in this way, able to offer a host of great male and female characters, looking social situations that either maintain or change over time whilst bringing key moments in the history of Indian cinema into the foreground.
(Curated by Cecilia Cossio , with collaboration from Stefano Beggiora and Thomas Dähnhardt)
