Date: 8, 15 and 29 September 2012
The CMI Arts Initiative Programme, launched by the Chennai Mathematical Institute, will provide a space for students, professionals and anybody else keenly interested in the humanities and arts to interact and learn from experts in these areas. CMI will invite distinguished experts from these fields to give a series of lectures and performances. The first of these courses, on Art Appreciation, will be offered by noted arts editor, journalist and curator Sadanand Menon. Lectures for this course will be held on September 8th, 15th and 29th.
ART APPRECIATION
Sadanand Menon
September 8, 15 and 29, 2012
In the Indian context, the pursuit of aesthetics was always integral to daily lived life, to our civilizational enterprise over a couple of millennia. Sensuality was something that was experienced daily. Contemporary modernity brought rupture to this universe of holistic concerns. The colonial interregnum brought its own distortions to traditional systems of thought and expression.
Keeping this background in mind, this course on Art Appreciation will focus on the past 150 years of engagement with diverse arts in India. It will concern itself with the range of Visual and Performing arts as well as with the ideas that have shaped India and the world during this period.
Along with shaping the frame for art appreciation, the course will engage with aspects of the reception of arts. It will deal with a range of themes such as audience formation, sabha culture, connoisseurship, scholarship, media interventions etc. The attempt will be to look closely at some of the formative moments of constructions of identity, self-immersion, institution building, empirical transformations and critical engagements.

SADANAND MENON
Sadanand Menon is a nationally reputed "arts editor", popular teacher of "cultural journalism", widely published columnist and photographer, arts curator and prolific speaker at seminars on politics, ecology and the arts.
A former Arts Editor with India's leading financial daily The Economic Times, he is currently Adjunct Faculty, Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, as well as at IIT Madras, Chennai. He is on the Executive Board, Lalit Kala Akademi, Delhi; on the Apex Advisory Panel, National Museum, Delhi; and is Managing Trustee of the arts foundation, SPACES, Chennai.
The exhibitions he has curated, include a major fifty-years retrospective of Dashrath Patel for the National Gallery of Modern Art, in New Delhi and Mumbai. His photographs have been included in anthologies of the best photographic work from India and he was Editorial Advisor, 'Better Photography', Mumbai.
A long-time collaborator with the late dancer/choreographer Chandralekha, he is deeply involved with issues connected with the creation of a contemporary Indian dance and has travelled extensively in India and abroad as the "lights designer" of Chandralekha's performances.
TO APPLY
Send an email to humanities@cmi.ac.in giving your name, age, occupation and academic qualifications along with a brief statement of purpose (not exceeding 250 words) indicating why you are interested in this course.
The deadline for receiving applications is Saturday, 1 September. Notfications will be sent out by Monday, 3 September.
FEES
Rs 500 for full time students and Rs 1000 for others. Details about payment will be sent with the notification to participants selected for the programme.
VENUE, DATES AND TIMINGS
CONTACT INFORMATION:
For queries/ submissions: humanities@cmi.ac.in
Website: http://www.cmi.ac.in/activities/arts-initiative.php
The CMI Arts Initiative Programme, launched by the Chennai Mathematical Institute, will provide a space for students, professionals and anybody else keenly interested in the humanities and arts to interact and learn from experts in these areas. CMI will invite distinguished experts from these fields to give a series of lectures and performances. The first of these courses, on Art Appreciation, will be offered by noted arts editor, journalist and curator Sadanand Menon. Lectures for this course will be held on September 8th, 15th and 29th.
ART APPRECIATION
Sadanand Menon
September 8, 15 and 29, 2012
In the Indian context, the pursuit of aesthetics was always integral to daily lived life, to our civilizational enterprise over a couple of millennia. Sensuality was something that was experienced daily. Contemporary modernity brought rupture to this universe of holistic concerns. The colonial interregnum brought its own distortions to traditional systems of thought and expression.
Keeping this background in mind, this course on Art Appreciation will focus on the past 150 years of engagement with diverse arts in India. It will concern itself with the range of Visual and Performing arts as well as with the ideas that have shaped India and the world during this period.
Along with shaping the frame for art appreciation, the course will engage with aspects of the reception of arts. It will deal with a range of themes such as audience formation, sabha culture, connoisseurship, scholarship, media interventions etc. The attempt will be to look closely at some of the formative moments of constructions of identity, self-immersion, institution building, empirical transformations and critical engagements.

SADANAND MENON
Sadanand Menon is a nationally reputed "arts editor", popular teacher of "cultural journalism", widely published columnist and photographer, arts curator and prolific speaker at seminars on politics, ecology and the arts.
A former Arts Editor with India's leading financial daily The Economic Times, he is currently Adjunct Faculty, Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, as well as at IIT Madras, Chennai. He is on the Executive Board, Lalit Kala Akademi, Delhi; on the Apex Advisory Panel, National Museum, Delhi; and is Managing Trustee of the arts foundation, SPACES, Chennai.
The exhibitions he has curated, include a major fifty-years retrospective of Dashrath Patel for the National Gallery of Modern Art, in New Delhi and Mumbai. His photographs have been included in anthologies of the best photographic work from India and he was Editorial Advisor, 'Better Photography', Mumbai.
A long-time collaborator with the late dancer/choreographer Chandralekha, he is deeply involved with issues connected with the creation of a contemporary Indian dance and has travelled extensively in India and abroad as the "lights designer" of Chandralekha's performances.
TO APPLY
Send an email to humanities@cmi.ac.in giving your name, age, occupation and academic qualifications along with a brief statement of purpose (not exceeding 250 words) indicating why you are interested in this course.
The deadline for receiving applications is Saturday, 1 September. Notfications will be sent out by Monday, 3 September.
FEES
Rs 500 for full time students and Rs 1000 for others. Details about payment will be sent with the notification to participants selected for the programme.
VENUE, DATES AND TIMINGS
- Venue: Chennai Mathematical Institute, Sirureri
- Dates: September 8, 15 and 29, 2012
- Lecture timings: 10:30 am to 4:30 pm, with a lunch break. Lunch will be provided.
- Transport will be arranged from the city for participants. Details will be announced.
CONTACT INFORMATION:
For queries/ submissions: humanities@cmi.ac.in
Website: http://www.cmi.ac.in/activities/arts-initiative.php