Mohile Parikh Center for the Visual Arts

The Mohile Parikh Center for the Contemporary (MPCC), will screen the film Arthur C. Clarke - The Man who saw the Future (Documentary) directed by Philip Smith on June 25, 2009 at 6.00 pm at the Little Theatre of the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai. Free passes are available at the Mohile Parikh Center.

Arthur C. Clarke has been hailed as ‘one of the true geniuses of our time’. His novel, 2001: A Space Odyssey, was one of the greatest space adventures ever written, and the film of the book won Clarke and director Stanley Kubrick cult status. A one-man think tank, Clarke is listened to by the United Nations, US Congress, Microsoft and NASA.

In a rare interview from his tropical paradise home in Sri Lanka, he talks about his life, from his upbringing in rural Somerset in England, to the writing of his latest best-seller, 3001: The Final Odyssey. This is a unique profile, amply illustrated by specially-filmed extracts, CBS coverage of the Apollo moon landing and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of 2001.

We will host a film screening titled Art 21: Art in the Twenty-First Century on June 19, 2009 at 6.00pm at the Little Theatre of the National Centre for the Performing Arts. This program is organized in association with Art, Resources and Teaching, Bangalore.

Art: 21–Art in the Twenty-First Century is a series that focuses exclusively on contemporary visual art and artists in the United States. Fascinating and intimate footage allows the viewer to observe the artists at work, watch their process as they transform inspiration into art, and hear their thoughts as they grapple with the physical and visual challenges of achieving their artistic visions. Art:21 takes viewers into the artists’ lives, unfiltered, for a rare encounter with the creative process in action and an exciting opportunity to hear what cutting-edge artists are thinking about as they work.

Place & Contemporary Art

How does contemporary art address the idea of place? How do artists working today reveal and question commonly held assumptions about land, home, and national identity? The Art:21 documentary “Place” explores these questions through the work of Laurie Anderson, Richard Serra, Sally Mann, Barry McGee, Margaret Kilgallen, and Pepón Osorio.

Consumption & Contemporary Art

How does contemporary art address the idea of consumption? How do artists question commonly held assumptions about commerce, mass media, and consumer society? The Art:21 documentary “Consumption” explores these questions through the work of the artists Barabra Kruger, Michael Ray Charles, Matthew Barney, Andrea Zittel, and Mel Chin.

The Mohile Parikh Center for the Contemporary (MPCC), will screen the film Garbage Warrior(Documentary) directed by Oliver Hodge on May 28, 2009 at 6.00 pm at the Little Theatre of the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai. Free passes are available at the Mohile Parikh Center.

Synopsis: What do beer cans, car tires and water bottles have in common? Not much unless you’re renegade architect Michael Reynolds, in which case they are tools of choice for producing thermal mass and energy-independent housing. For 30 years New Mexico-based Reynolds and his green disciples have devoted their time to advancing the art of “Earthship Biotecture” by building self-sufficient, off-the-grid communities where design and function converge in eco-harmony. However, these experimental structures that defy state standards create conflict between Reynolds and the authorities, who are backed by big business. Frustrated by antiquated legislation, Reynolds lobbies for the right to create a sustainable living test site. While politicians procastinate, Mother Nature strikes, leaving communities devastated by tsunamis and hurricanes, Reynolds and his crew seize the opportunity to lend their pioneering skills to those who need it most. Shot over three years and in four countries, Garbage Warrior is a timely portrait of a determined visionary, a hero of the 21st century.

We will host a short course on Philosophy: The Embodied Self and Shadows of Ignorance: A Contemporary Introduction to Indian Philosophical Debates on May 20, 21 and 22, 2009 from 9:30am - 5.30pm at the M.C. Ghia Hall, Fort, Mumbai. The course will be conducted by Arindam Chakrabarti (Professor of Philosophy at the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, USA).

Registrations open for both students and non-students. For more information, please visit: MPC Courses: A New Learning Initiative

We will host two presentations by Sundar Sarukkai on May 14 and 15, 2009 at 6.30pm at the Little Theatre of the National Centre for the Performing Arts. This program is free and open to all.

Sundar Sarukkai is a Professor in Philosophy at the School of Humanities, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Indian Institute of Science Campus, Bangalore. He is trained in physics and philosophy, and has a PhD from Purdue University. His research interests include Philosophy of Science and Mathematics, Postmodernism, as well as Philosophy of Art. Sarukkai has been a Homi Bhabha Fellow, Fellow of the Shimla Institute of Advanced Studies and PHISPC Associate Fellow. He is the author of the following books: Translating the world: Science and Language, Philosophy of Symmetry and Indian Philosophy and Philosophy of Science, and co-editor of two volumes on Logic and Applications and is an Editorial Board member of the Leonardo Book Series, an influential series published by MIT Press on science and art.

Lecture I: Postmodernism and Philosophy of Art

Lecture II: The Nature of the ‘Contemporary’

We will host a presentation by the artist Tushar Joag on April 17, 2009 at 6.30pm at the Little Theatre of the National Centre for the Performing Arts. This program is free and open to all.

We will host a short course on Art History: Indian Painting: The Courtly Traditions on April 14, 15 and 16, 2009 from 9:30am - 5.30pm at the M.C. Ghia Hall, Fort, Mumbai. The course will be conducted by Kavita Singh (Associate Professor at the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi).

Registrations open for both students and non-students. For more information, please visit: MPC Courses: A New Learning Initiative

The Mohile Parikh Center for the Contemporary (MPCC), will screen the film Man on Wire (Documentary) directed by James Marsh on April 2, 2009 at 6.00 pm at the Little Theatre of the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai. Free passes are available at the Mohile Parikh Center.

On August 7, 1974 a young Frenchman named Philippe Petit stepped out on a wire illegally rigged between the New York World Trade Center’s twin towers. After dancing for nearly an hour on the wire, he was arrested, taken for psychological evaluation, and brought to jail before he was finally released. This extraordinary documentary incorporates Petit’s personal footage to show how he overcame seemingly insurmountable challenges to achieve the artistic crime of the century.

We will host two presentations by the historian Indira Chowdhury on March 26 and 27, 2009 at 6.30pm at the Little Theatre of the National Centre for the Performing Arts. This program is free and open to all.

Indira Chowdhury was formerly Professor of English at Jadavpur University, Kolkata. A PhD in History from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, her book The Frail Hero and Virile History (OUP, 1998) was awarded the Tagore Prize (Rabindra Puraskar) in 2000. She also compiled the Supplement of Indian English words published in the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary in 1995. In 2004, she published The First Promise – a translation of a major Bengali novel into English. She is based in Bangalore and works as a Consultant Archivist for several institutions among them, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, IIT Kanpur and Naandi, Hyderabad.

Lecture I: Collective Memory, Institutional Archives and the Writing of Contemporary History

Lecture II: The Promise of Women’s Writing: Ashapurna Debi, a hundred years on

We will host a performance and art symposia titled Addressing the ABC of Art (Artists/Beliefs/Curatorial Impulses/Innovation) on March 22, 2009 from 6.00 pm - 9.00pm at NGMA Auditorium, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai.This program is free and open to all.

Artists/Panelists: Sharmila Samant, Surekha, Mithu Sen, Monali Meher, Kaushik Mukhopadhyay, Justin Ponmany, Tushar Joag and Anita Dube

Chair: Arshiya Lokhandwala (Independent Curator)