Madhukali / Blog

The young are creative. They are also curious. Access to information has been greatly increased by technology. This is just right for uniting all above for greater preservation and safe-guarding of cultural practices. Barry Schwartz, author of “The Paradox of Choice” suggests ‘gentle nudging’ and empathetic curation to reduce paralysis from excess of choice. This ‘parental [...]

Print is among the first methods of preservation. As all technologies, it too admits limitations but the initiated can comprehend wisdom preserved in symbols. The written language has proved its efficacy  immensely in carriage of ideas and transfer of emotions. Pandit Vishnu Narayan Bhatkhande (August 10, 1860 – September 19, 1936) used the available material [...]

Technology has helped in capturing and preserving works of art and artistic practices that relied solely on oral tradition in past. An engine of democracy it has empowered people in many ways. Ever since Hemendra Mohan Bose imported the phonograph machine that Edison invented in 1898 and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore recorded Bande Mataram in his voice, a sample [...]

In the Fifth Session of the Intergovernmental Committee (5.COM)  at Nairobi a decision was taken to focus attention and garner support at all levels for Safeguarding of ICH practices by celebrating the year 2013 as tenth anniversary of the Convention.  Madhukali plans to organize events in spirit with the Convention. Suggestions for holding activities relating [...]

Rashtriya Indira Gandhi Manav Sangrahalya and Madhukali organized three day Conference on the topic, Art as Vehicle of the Intangible on December 31st 2010, January 1st and 2nd 2011. Participants from various parts of India braved the cold and were rewarded by warmth of their mutual sincerity. The nature of “intangible” was examined from several [...]

We are truly social creatures now. Man’s dependence on others has reached exponential levels; also his connectedness. The time between one man’s thought and another’s benefit is drastically reduced. Also, time is no longer an absorbent or  muffler that might diminish or soften harsh ideas or actions. This “real-time” action disables the possibility of  meaningful [...]

It was on Mr. Santosh Soni’s insistence that I traveled down to Rewa to have a look at a unique craft. Mr. Soni has been constantly bringing to people’s attention to this rare enterprise. An erstwhile estate, Rewa finds mention in ancient Sanskrit treatises and Grearson hails the dialect of the region, Baghelkhandi as being nearest to Sanskrit. First contribution to Hindi drama came from this region when ruling prince wrote Anand Raghunandan. One of the oldest family of painters-sculptors, the Baoni-s belong to Rewa.

Madhukali Annual Conference in December 2010. “Art as Vehicle of the Intangible”…

Indian art has been labeled as impersonal; it has been considered as a medium for sublimation of self or soul (Atma) thus attaining union with oversoul (Paramatma). As fundamentals of all – music, dance, drama, sculpture – can be traced to originate from the same root, despite different pace and mode of evolution, Indian art [...]

Madhukali congratulates Padmabhushan Prof. R.C. Mehta for being granted Pt Omkar Nath Thakur of Rs. 1,00,000 instituted by Governement of Gujrat this year. The award was last granted jointly to Damini Mehta  for Theatre and Shiv Kumar Shukla for Music in 2001.