Highs and Lows
This week I dipped into the high art and a bit of kitsch. Three weeks in Delhi, I was feeling a little homesick, a little disconnected. While classes are going pretty well, a teacher knows school can't be your life. And anyone well-travelled knows the tourist hops have their limits. So I found refuge in India's art scene, high and low. I mean, kitsch.
Tuesday afternoon, we visited the National Museum of Modern Art to see the provocatively titled showcase "Edge of Desire." Composed of work from 1994-2000, the exhibit was a meaningful and powerful dialogue about power as it's claimed and reclaimed in various communities. Artists commented on conflict between Muslims and Hindus in Gujarat, between terrorists on 9/11, and within intimate relationships between husbands and wives. In my day to day work in Munirka, and tours around the city, rarely have I had an exchange with a Delhiite about politics, especially the most divisive political events of the past 15 years. This exhibit showed what's on the minds of prominent Indian artists, and I was extremely moved by their passion and conviction.
Last night, we experienced the other end of Indian art culture, the kitsch that is Bollywood. We had to! Start to finish, it was such an experience. From being searched going into the theatre, to the five minute intermission, and the dramatic ending after two and a half long hours... wow. Where "Edge of Desire" engaged in a dialogue of harsh reality, "Vivah" wrapped us in the fantasy of a tragic love story. Boy meets girl (through a tactful arrangement), they slowly fall in love, tragedy strikes, will love survive? (Cue dramatic music). Beneath the surface, there were clear and contentious political themes: arranged marriages, the importance of beauty in determining a woman's chances of marrying an attractive wealthy guy, relationships between women of different skin colors. After seeing "Vivah," I'm primed for a screening of "Water," Deepa Mehta's criticism of how traditional Indian culture treats widows, to restore my balance.
Tomorrow, I'm looking forward to a visit to Room to Read, an exciting NGO that facilitates building libraries and schools in countries in Asia. This weekend, we're traveling to Agra to see the marvelous Taj Mahal.
Namaste...
Tuesday afternoon, we visited the National Museum of Modern Art to see the provocatively titled showcase "Edge of Desire." Composed of work from 1994-2000, the exhibit was a meaningful and powerful dialogue about power as it's claimed and reclaimed in various communities. Artists commented on conflict between Muslims and Hindus in Gujarat, between terrorists on 9/11, and within intimate relationships between husbands and wives. In my day to day work in Munirka, and tours around the city, rarely have I had an exchange with a Delhiite about politics, especially the most divisive political events of the past 15 years. This exhibit showed what's on the minds of prominent Indian artists, and I was extremely moved by their passion and conviction.
Last night, we experienced the other end of Indian art culture, the kitsch that is Bollywood. We had to! Start to finish, it was such an experience. From being searched going into the theatre, to the five minute intermission, and the dramatic ending after two and a half long hours... wow. Where "Edge of Desire" engaged in a dialogue of harsh reality, "Vivah" wrapped us in the fantasy of a tragic love story. Boy meets girl (through a tactful arrangement), they slowly fall in love, tragedy strikes, will love survive? (Cue dramatic music). Beneath the surface, there were clear and contentious political themes: arranged marriages, the importance of beauty in determining a woman's chances of marrying an attractive wealthy guy, relationships between women of different skin colors. After seeing "Vivah," I'm primed for a screening of "Water," Deepa Mehta's criticism of how traditional Indian culture treats widows, to restore my balance.
Tomorrow, I'm looking forward to a visit to Room to Read, an exciting NGO that facilitates building libraries and schools in countries in Asia. This weekend, we're traveling to Agra to see the marvelous Taj Mahal.
Namaste...
posted by Rhonda Henderson at 2:14 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home