Dr. Piotrovsky said museums are the most important cultural institutions of any country. Hermitage has got centres in London, Japan and Germany. Hermitage was founded in 1764 by a person called Catherine. What began as small, personal collections has grown into the massive institution, pride of the nation. The museum has records of the city, of the past 250 years. The city witnessed several political developments, which affected the museum.
Hermitage, Dr. Piotrovsky said, had one of the richest collections of Rembrants in the world. There are not many Indian ellections in the Museum, apart from the Buddhist collections from East Asia. Dr. Piotrovsky said in order to generate resources, the museum accepts grants from the nations whose antiques are in the possession of Hermitage.
One of the most active section of Hermitage is the Art University. It offers a two-year course. It produces educational programmes on culture. Hermitage has child-friendly education material also. When asked about the entry fee, Dr. Piotrovsky said Hermitage had only one fee for all. However, concessions are given to various categories of visitors like children, students, old people etc. Dr. Piotrovsky is an archaeologist and has several excavations to his credit. He is the author of more than 200 scientific works and has received numerous awards.
Prof. Heikki Solin, Secretary General, Finnish Academies of Science and Letters visited IGNCA, as part of his visit to the country. He keenly discussed with the senior staff of the Centre not only about the institution but also possible future joint programmes.
Prof. Solin said his University had a big faculty of Letter of Philosophy and Letters of Art, African and Asian studies. He said there was one chair of Indology, mainly dealing with Sanskrit and comparative studies of Indo-European linguistics. But this is a personal chair and it will go with the retiring of the professor holding the chair, he said. One of his dreams, Prof. Solin said was to set up a permanent chair with material and spiritual help from India. He is a professor in Greek and Latin. He said he had studied Sanskrit briefly and it helped him in understanding, especially the grammar of these two languages. He said in his country study of languages and cultural history were considered on par with studies in science and humanities.
Tamasha, the popular Maharashtrian folk theatre is usually viewed by the urban as crass entertainment. But there is more to Tamasha than just raunchy numbers, says Shirish Shete. And he must know. For, he has done extensive photeo documentation on the life and art of the Tamasha artistes. He held an exhibition of his collection of photographs on the subject at Mati Ghar recently (March 15 to 24)
Travelling all over the state, for three years, Shete documented the lives of Tamasha artistes, concentrating on women. It is they who add glamour to this art form. But behind the onstage colour and rev there is a darker side to their lives, where they are even forced to sell their bodies. In fact, Shete was amazed that these artistes, despite their situations, rise above and throw themselves heart and soul into the performances. The photographer also discovered that the Tamasha tradition was fairly strong and still popular in the rural areas. It is the city which has to give the art form its due place and respect.
Tamasha is an ancient art form and it flourished under the Peshwa period. The themes of Tamasha performances are drawn from politics, social trends and mythology. With a mixture of biting satire, excellant music and narration, Tamasha entrhralls the audience. The theatre is steeped in Maharashtrian tradition as is borne by the costume, jewellery and music-the nine yards saree, the nathani (nose ring), the gajra (flower do on the hair), the dholki (a percussion instrument), the ektari (a single-string instrument) and the laavni music.
Usually girls start training at an age of three, following their mothers. Their public appearances would come much later after rigorous training. A troupe travels for months at a stretch. According to Shete, it is the indomitable spirit of the women artistes, full of pride and self-dignity, which spurred him to document their lives. Shete is a photo journalist with the Press Trust of India.
Unlike the visual arts, which exist in space and can be viewed from different points in time, aural arts be long to the realm of time and must be apprehended in real time. Performance, appreciation and instruction of musical and linguistic arts are characterized by similar principles and processes. What is heard and not heard, however, differs greatly in the respective cultural contexts.
Prof. Hoffman, a musicologist in a lec-dem (March 7) presented "Aural Arts Across Cultures," fusing Indian raga in Japanese flute. The Japanese flute is called shakuhachi. The strength of his presentation came from his extensive studies, performances, writing and teaching in intersecting fields of music and languages in USA, Japan and India. His musico-linguistic observations and his demonstrations added a new dimension to the subject.
Prof. T.M. Hoffman after his M.A. in the University of Hawaii, obtained Visharad (five year degree) from Bhatkhande College of Music, Lucknow in Hindustani vocal and flute. He has received training in piano, shakuhachi, and classical vocal music from well-known masters. Prof. Hoffman has given several performances in Japan and India.
