New Delhi, Nov. 28: Music is “eternal and divine” and has been ascribed
with magical qualities, ICCR President Dr. Karan Singh today said, making a
strong case for preservation of Asia’s glorious musical traditions.
“Exploring music through Goddess Sarasvati and the way it has travelled
in various parts of Southeast Asia is quite fascinating and a great joy,” said
Dr Singh, while inaugurating an exhibition at National Museum.
A sublime convergence of technology and culture, the pioneering
multimedia interactive installation, “Musical Landscapes & The Goddess of
Music: Recent Advances in Interactive Art”, explores music in its scientific,
artistic and spiritual dimensions and its reflections in the Goddess images
across Asian cultures.
Dr Singh, a member of the Rajya Sabha, complimented the museum and its
Director General, Dr Venu V, for organising the pioneering exhibition and
thereby breaking away from the traditional structures and entering a new
terrain. A Museum is not merely a place for the exhibit of ancient artefacts;
it has to be interactive also,” he said.
“The exhibition takes viewers into
the world of exquisite Asian music through electronic installations, digital
images, sculptures and recordings of performances by masters,” said
Ranjit Makkuni, an internationally acclaimed multimedia designer and
accomplished musician who has mounted the innovative art show at the National
Museum here.
“It is an intriguing and fascinating show, combining of art and
technology to create an exploration into Asian musical traditions,” said Dr
Venu. “The project demonstrates a synthesis of technology and culture, of
modern and traditional, of physical and virtual. We believe that National
Museum should create spaces for such intersections”, he added.
The exhibition showcases both traditional and new instruments based on
Indian Sitar, Burmese Saung Harp, Thai Xylophone, Korean Kayagum, Chinese
Guzheng and Pipa, Vietnamese Dan Tranh, Javanese and Balinese Gamelan, and how
these instruments have a divine connection.
The artist has embedded new instruments with computation, allowing
viewers to interact through gesture, touch, pull, movement and gaze in the exhibition
environment. For instance, there is a sculpture, Abstract Woman. Embedded in
the waist of the sculpture is a representation of Sri Yantra, which,
upon touch, plays back the 1000 names of Goddess Lalita.
“Through my work, I have tried to demonstrate
that it is possible to develop culture-friendly
technologies, which can become a vehicle for preserving cultural identity, not
replacing it, and how the wisdom of the past can be made accessible to people,”
said Makkuni, an alumnus of IIT,
Kharagpur and University
of California Los Angeles (UCLA).
The exhibition combines visual splendour, aesthetics and
technology, the attributes that define the work of the multimedia
artist. As the director of New Delhi-based e design think tank, Sacred
World Research Laboratory, Makkuni is engaged in pioneering new
applications in culturally rooted computing design. .
The exhibition comprises several sections, such as Goddesses of Music
and their Iconic Transformations; forms and sculptures suggestive of the
scientific and mythological imagery of sound; and the compassionate Goddesses
who listen to people’s prayers. There are sections on
Goddess Sarasvati, the goddess of wisdom and music; Kinayi, the
Angels of Music, from Burma; and The Compassionate figure of Bodhisattva
Avalokitesvara from Japan. There is also a section on Breath, Voice and
Healing, which explores the healing properties of singing and its relationship
to breath.
“I try
to explore innovative ways of building bridges between techno and traditional
cultures. I believe engagement with culture is a valuable
process to spark off technological innovation. My works show that the wisdom of
traditional communities can positively negate the homogenizing aesthetics of
modern media technology and help inspire new forms of indigenous information
access devices,” said the artist, whose works have been displayed at leading
museums and won top international awards for promoting culture, peace and
environmental protection.
The exhibition will be on display till 15
January 2014
