The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Exploring the hidden in sculpture
By Prem Singh

THE Government College of Art has now become the heartbeat of Chandigarh. Hardly a week passes when an exhibition/workshop/talk/ artists’ get-together is not organised. An art college should be like this only. It is very vital for the growth of art. And to become a nucleus of art is not an easy task. A creative vision backed by autonomy can help in accomplishing this goal. This is now amply evident in its working. The college is celebrating its golden jubilee year which has further paced its activities. And today it is ranked among the frontline art college in the country.

To make the golden jubilee year commemorative the celebrative, the college has chalked out several programmes. Organising workshops in one of them. Artists from abroad and India are being invited to conduct the workshops in applied art, graphics (printmaking), painting and sculpture. Recently a well-known Delhi-based sculptor Kripal was invited to conduct a workshop at Sculpture Studios of the college. Students studying in the third and fourth year of BFA sculpture participated in the workshop.

In the beginning Kirpal shared his creative conceptual convictions of his approach to sculpture. The truth of the quest is what concerned him the most. He stressed upon the endless possibilities hidden in the art of sculpture and stimulated the young minds for its exploration and discovery.

Inspired students began clay modelling with a fresh mind, and Kirpal’s creative presence served as a catalyst in transforming their imagination into the concrete form. A struggle for achieving the harmony between creativity and aesthetics began. A new confidence and power was witnessed on the faces of the students in their struggle for creating an image. They were more inclined towards the figurative sculpture. This was indeed interesting as a major chunk of sculpture is produced in abstraction today. Some even think that today’s artists have alienated themselves from man and got immersed in technological-oriented art perhaps to remain in tune with the European course of moderanisation. Students’ interest in human figure, particularly at this stage of studentship, is welcome.

Some students concentrated on the human face and others explore the fullness of man. Another interesting feature of the workshop was the taking out of the mould from the face of one of the participants. This caused a scare among the few apprehending risk to skin or breath. This was quite unnecessary as this technique of taking mould from the living is one of the traditional techniques of mask-making. No doubt it was a novel experience for the students. Later, it was cast in fibreglass. The expression was starkly real and classical in appeal. Sculptures modelled in clay were later cast in fibreglass — a material now becoming popular with the sculptors as it is easy to handle and light in weight to carry.

Teaching in the studios is no doubt important, but the informal interaction with established sculptors from time to time has been found to be immensely gainful. This workshop has definitely gained a good ground on this account.

From modelling to singing
By Mohit Goswami

THE youthful voice of Karan Jasbir is all set to add a new dimension to the Punjabi pop scene. The 25-year-old entrant to the music industry is elated as his time has finally come after a long wait.

Karan was a model before he decided to make his career as a vocalist. Born in SAS Nagar, he studied in Shivalik Public School, Chandigarh, and Punjabi University, Patiala. Young and extremely focused, he is confident of his labour of love being a success.

The Punjabi pop scene is hot and music companies are cashing in on the trend, he says matter-of-factly. Only some singers are able to make an impact as not all of them are up to the mark, he contends.

His debut album, Dhai Lakh Di, has music by Jawahar Wattal, who has given the music industry stars like Daler Mehndi, Shweta Shetty, Baba Sehgal, Shankar Sahney, Bhupi Chawla, Poornima, Hans Raj Hans, Ali Haider and Hema Sardesai, besides working with stalwarts like Usha Uthup and Shubha Mudgal. The music maestro has once again come up with a foot-tapping score for his latest find.

The music has been arranged by Edwin A.J. Fernandes and Mehendra Kumar Babloo. The catchy video of the title song has been directed by Nabh Kumar Raju of “Hum Tumpe Marte Hain” fame and choreography is by Pony.

Karan has participated in group song competitions since his primary school days. He made his presence felt in various programmes organised in Punjab by the Cultural Affairs Department. He has assisted Prabhjot Bali in composing music for shabads and songs by Shiv Kumar Batalvi.

He won the Mr North title in 1995. He was given the Best Personality Award in Chandigarh the same year. He has also been the Ubharta Sitara of the month on MTV.

Karan participated in the national-level Reebok Fit is Beautiful modelling contest in Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi, in 1996. He was shortlisted among the final 20 contestants. He is also a member of the Mumbai Film Writers Association.

Karan has written the lyrics of the songs in the album and has done a fine job. Songs like Veera kodi da... and Bhabhi sadi dhai lakh di... are likely to go down well with the listeners. He exercises his vocal chords for four hours each day.

Opting for a passion he has nurtured since childhood, he puts in the same amount of passion in his singing as he has done in modelling and acting. With the talent scouts of Tips having spotted his talent, he promises to be different from the singers on the music scene today.

A concert with a difference
By Suparna Saraswati

IT is not essential to have an orchestra to spin emotive musical renderings. What if the same effect is achieved by just musicians, would’nt that be simply remarkable? Indeed. A concert of world music from Bavaria brought by Rudi Zapf and Wolfgang Neumann enthralled a cosmopolitan audience that gathered on the evening of October 18 at the Tagore Theatre.

The uniqueness of the concert lay in the introduction of an instrument known as the Dulcimer, especially crafted to produce a softened sound similar to that of a piano. The musician playing it, Rudi Zapf, produces from this 100-stringed santoor, sounds which remind one of the Caribbean steel drums or Gamalan orchestra from Java. The Dulcimer was born from the Islamic world travelled to Europe in the 15th century where 300 years later it developed into the harpsichord and then to the hammer piano. Wolfgang commented about the innovation “The Dulciner, I feel, came from India some 1200 years ago and we have brought it back for you to see as to what has happened to it all these years in another land and what gets played on it now as a result of its stay abroad”.

Having travelled extensively in Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Switzerland, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Morocco and Tunesia. In 1986, the duo founded “Never Been There” “music band from which three compact discs were produced. Their globe trotting is evident in their composition which cover an extensive genre from the traditional European folk rhythms to contemporary music such as Jazz, Waltz, Tango and even Hindustani Classical. The concert presented 12 melodies in a duration of about an hour, Wolfgang introduced each number prior to its presentation.

Each rendition executed in style resulted in the intra-audience camaraderie and other soul-moving-voices emitted in the concert hall during the performance. Rudi and Wolfgang’s ‘jugalbandi’ had in its fold a host of melodies appropriately named like ‘Transylvanian Express’; ‘Cousin Butterfly’; ‘Carol and Dance’ ; ‘The Sunday Waltz’. The ambience of the concert brought alive nostalgia of an extensive cross country canvas. For instance, The ‘traditional Tango’ composition dedicated to Wolfgang’s father was a tribute to those who suffered the tyranical and cultural pathos of post-Hitler Germany. One spontaneously responded to the agony and sadness of the heartfelt rendition.

A sincere gesture of appreciation is extended to the ICCR for organising such a memorable evening for the city’s musically inclined.

Mark Shand in Khasiland
By Amita Malik

PROGRAMMES on India made by foreign channels tend to veer from exotica to drain inspectors’ report and, rarely, India worship of the embarrassing kind. The latest entrant to the Indianisation of foreign channels is National Geographic, which now also comes in Hindi. But, fortunately, the programme I am reviewing is in English and co-anchored by no less than Mark Shand.

Those of us who have read his delightful book, “Travels With an Elephant”, knew exactly what to expect. A good deal of exotica, but tempered with a good deal of tongue-in-cheek, and more important a serious eye on facts. And sure enough, his series of six programmes, “A Month In India”, starts with a look inside an elephant’s mouth, its feet, a sexy natch session in a Bihar village, a shot of the Victoria Memorial, quack dentists exposed by the Rationalist Association of India and a cosy chat with Wali Mohammad, a hired assassin. So I decided to pick the territory I know best, Meghalaya, to put Shand and his Indian collaborator Aditya Patankar, to the test. I grew up in Shillong, have visited its environs as a child and am familiar with the customs of the Khasis, with many of whom I went to school and college. And I must admit, that in spite of all the banter, the moment Shand and Patankar crossed a shaky bamboo suspension bridge into Meghalaya from Arunachal Pradesh, there was not a dull moment and, I am happy to say, authenticity. Which is why I am going into the programme in detail. It is called Unholy Mission.

Shand gave the origins of the Khasi matriarchal society, but interviewed a man who said his wife did all the work so she gave him pocket money, that he spent the nights with his wife, the days with his mother and he was “hen-pecked by both”. This was balanced by a dialogue between a Khasi young man and a very emancipated young woman and while the boy whined the woman activist told him off properly. Khasi men take on the surname of their wives and the youngest daughter inherits the property. In Shillong, the men were still squatting by the road, playing cards and gambling while the women worked at home and in office.

Then we were taken to a church and the VHP can really go to town on this. It seems one and a half million Khasis are Christians and in this church they were addressed in the style of the American Evangelist Church, with a young preacher in a blazer with brass buttons, speaking in American English and literally sending his congregation into a trance while screaming Hallelujah. A revolting sight. They give 20 per cent of their income to the church. This is balanced by a refreshing visit to a Khasi village untouched by Christianity where the headman says. “We are Khasis we don’t need to become Christians.” Light relief comes in the form of a bull fight (one bull just runs away, with no bloodshed) an archery contest, typical of the Khasis, where the prizes are bottles of liquor and a genuine look into Khasi traditions, including the famous Thlen worship, where the spirit of a snake god demands human blood. I think more or less all the important aspects of the Khasis were covered, with a good deal of entertainment and no suggestion of patronage. I thoroughly enjoyed it, because it proved programmes on India can be done by foreigners without any hang-ups.

When the BBC goes native at 10 p.m. can CNN be far behind? Sure enough they now have a programme called style South Asia, which has been more about Western India, but the anchor is Mallika Sarabhai, an assured TV personality with experience, assurance and charm. I did not like her hedgehog hair-style in the first programme, but she looked more like her charming self last week.

Tribute to a broadcaster: At last the government media have woken up and instituted an award for life-time achievement and I am sure the first award, given by AIR last week, will please readers of this paper, since the family is so well-known to them. His father was the well-known educationist Prof G C Chatterji of Government College Lahore and his grandfather S K Rudra, was the first Indian principal of St Stephen’s College. P C Chatterji(Tiny to his friends) was the first newsperson in AIR to rise to become Director-General. When Sushma Swaraj put the shawl round his neck, the citation mentioned that he drew up the all-important Broadcast Code, now applicable to both AIR and DD, he instituted the Right of Reply, unheard of till then, and he is still the only Indian to have been elected President of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union. Congratu-lations, Tiny.