TAGORE IN SPAIN

While Rabindranath Tagore, the greatest of Indian poets and the first Asian to get the Nobel Prize (1913), has now been virtually forgotten in the entire Western world, he is still passionately remembered in Spain and Latin America. Children recite his poems, poets discuss him in cafes, flamenco singers in Andalucia as well as rock singers in Latin America use Tagore’s lyrics. This is all the more surprising because Tagore has never been translated into Spanish from the original Bengali and a mere 10% of his works exist in Spanish. 

The Objective is to revive Tagore's popularity among the younger generation and raise his profile in the Spanish-speaking world by revealing the contemporary relevance of his literary and artistic works. 

THE EVENT

The varied cultural manifestations around Tagore in the Spanish world will be brought together on one common platform in three Spanish cities – Barcelona, Salamanca and Valladolid.  It will be a two-day event in every city filled with discussions, paper presentations, poetry readings, music, dance and art, highlighting the different facets of Tagore’s genius, many of which are not known in Spain or elsewhere. The programme in each of the three cities will have a unique character in its interfacing of local culture with some of the leading Tagore specialists who will travel to the conference from India and other parts of the world. 

Tagore in Spain is being targeted at the youth, seeking to change the conventional stereotype of Tagore as an “Oriental mystic” to that of a true internationalist who was politically engaged, constantly in dialogue with other disciplines and one who speaks to us today not only through his poetry but also plays, novels, music and painting. 

·              SCHEDULE

UNIVERSITY OF SALAMANCA: 27^th and 28th 

Sept, 2011

BARCELONA : 30^th Sept and 1st Oct, 2011

Venue: Casa Asia

VALLADOLID: 3^rd  and 4^th October, 2011

Venue: Casa de la India 

·           LIST OF EVENTS 

1. Seminars:  Tagore’s presence in Spain  will be organised with local specialists on Tagore along with some international scholars such as Prof. S.P. Ganguly, William Radice, José Paz, Emilia Cortes, Agus Morales Puga, etc. The second part of this seminar would be titled  Translating Tagore: Translation as  Interpretation  (where translators and poets  will deal with the challenges & problems in translating Tagore into Spanish).
2. Readings, Recitations, Music: Parallel readings in Spanish, English and Bengali of a selection of Tagore's poetry. This would be the first-ever contact between Spanish and Bengali through Tagore. The highlight of this session will be a special presentation and performance of Rabindrasangeet (Tagore’s songs) by one of its finest exponents (Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta) who will demonstrate how Tagore had often drawn upon western melody and other musical genres and then transformed them in his own way. It  will include Maria Villares, a Cuban musicianwho uses Tagore’s lyrics and a young classical composer, Mariaelena Pena de Prada who does variations of Tagorean melody on theclassical guitar. 
3. Tagore as Choreographer: Lecture and performance on the eclectic dance form evolved by Tagore, his ideas about choreography and its contemporary relevance. This will be a lecture presentation followed by a live performance by dance scholar and performer Dr. Ananya Chatterjea, Director of the Dance Programme, Theatre Arts and Dance, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA.
4. Tagore as Painter: Mumbai-based art scholar and philosopher, Prof. Prabodh Parikh, will outline Tagore’s contribution to modern Indian art. The talk will be visually accompanied by Tagore’s paintings.
5. Tagore and Cinema: The first day’s session will end with the screening of Satyajit Ray’s ‘Charulata’ (1964) based on a Tagore’s novella and the second day will end with Rituparno Ghosh’s latest film, ‘Noukadubi’ (2011). These films will be  subtitled in Spanish for this occasion and seen in the Spanish world for the first time. Indranil Chakravarty, professor of cinema and Convenor of the event, will introduce the films, highlighting the relationship between Tagore and cinema.
6. Tagore and the Theatre:  One of India's top theatre experts - Prof Samik. Bandopadhyay - will make an elaborate presentation about how different theatre directors across the world and particularly in India, have interpreted Tagore's plays on the stage. This will also include Tagore's own theatre productions. The talk will be accompanied by very rare production stills and videos of staged plays.
7. Publications in Spanish: Two publications are being currently prepared in Spanish – one would be a collection of major critical works on Tagore translated into Spanish for the first time along with an exhaustive Spanish bibliography and filmography. This book, titled “Redescubriendo a Tagore” / Rediscovering Tagore (eds. Indranil Chakravarty & Prof. S.P. Ganguly) will also include some of the seminar presentations and is being published by the Spanish embassy in New Delhi. The other publication will be a selection of Tagore’s writings for children in Spanish.
8. Tagore and Gandhi: The Tagore-Gandhi debate is one of the most fascinating debates in history, not only in India but anywhere else. Two of the greatest personalities of the 20^th century had immense respect for each other but thoroughly disagreed on several issues, particularly with regard to the question of cultural identity, interpretation of history and most importantly, their ideas about the validity of nationalism. Prof. Prabodh Parikh, an expert in this area, will make a presentation on this topic along with the screening of a film. This event will coincide with Gandhi’s birthday on Oct 2. 
9. Exhibition of Tagore’s books in Spanish: Mr. Jose Paz, the major collectionist of Tagore publications, has agreed to do an exhibition of all the major Tagore books in Spanish, from the earliest ones in 1914 till date.
10. Documentary: The entire event will be made into a documentary on high-end digital video with a multi-camera set-up along with individual interviews, event build-up and street scenes to highlight Tagore’s position in Spanish life. The film will be made into a one-hour long film that will be distributed on DVD that will help disseminate this unique event around the world with multi-language subtitles. This will be carried out through a coproduction arrangement between Whistling Woods International Film Institute in Mumbai and NIC, a major film school in Madrid.

·              COLLABORATING ORGANISATIONS 

1. ILACI (Indo-Latin American Cultural Initiative), Mumbai                                         [Initiator, developer, fundraiser and partial sponsor of the  project. ILACI is providing leadership to the project.]
2. The Curatorial Bureau, Madrid  [Coordinator in Spain]
3. Casa Asia – House of Asian Culture, Barcelona 
4. Embassy of Spain in India, New Delhi
5. University of Salamanca
6. Casa de la India, Valladolid
7. University of Barcelona, Barcelona
8. Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India
9. Indian Council of Cultural Relations
10. Whistling Woods International Film Institute, Mumbai
11. NIC (Film Institute), Madrid

TAGORE IN SPAIN

UNIVERSITY OF SALAMANCA: 27^th and 28^th September, 2011

CASA ASIA,  BARCELONA: 30^th Sept and 1^st October, 2011

CASA DE LA INDIA, VALLADOLID: 3^rd  and 4^th  October, 2011

 PROGRAMME

1. A two-part seminar (Tagore in Spain) will be held. The first part,  titled Tagore’s presence in Spain  will be organised with local specialists on Tagore along with some scholars who are also Spanish experts such as Prof. S.P. Ganguly of JNU, William Radice (Tagore’s foremost translator in English) and José Paz (the Spanish Tagore scholar who has the world’s largest collection of Tagore publications). The second part of this seminar would be titled  Translating Tagore: Translation as  Interpretation  (where translators and poets  will deal with the problems of translating Tagore). This part would draw upon the participation of the Dept. of Literature and Dept of Translation of the universities in which the event will be held.

2. Readings, Recitations, Music: This session will have parallel readings in Spanish, English and Bengali of a selection of Tagore's poetry, and plays. This would be the first-ever contact between Spanish and Bengali through Tagore. It  may include two Latin American musicians who use Tagore’s lyrics in their musical compositions. The highlight of this session will be a special presentation and performance of Rabindrasangeet (Tagore’s songs) by one of its finest exponents (Ms. Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta) who will demonstrate how Tagore had often drawn upon western melody and other musical genres and then transformed them in his own way.

3. Tagore as Choreographer: Lecture and performance on the eclectic dance form evolved by Tagore, his ideas about choreography and its contemporary relevance. This will be a lecture presentation followed by a live performance by dance scholar and performer Dr. Ananya Chatterjea, Director of the Dance Programme, Theatre Arts and Dance, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA.

4. Tagore as Painter: Mumbai-based art scholar and philosopher, Prof. Prabodh Parikh, will outline Tagore’s contribution to modern Indian art. The talk will be visually accompanied by Tagore’s paintings.

   

5. Flamenco Tagore: Presentation of the Andalucian flamenco singers (specially, the famous singer 'El Lebrijano’) where singers will sing the ‘deep’ flamenco (cante jondo) based on Tagore's lyrics. This will also be a lecture cum performance session exploring the link between flamenco and Indian culture. [Please note that Lebrijano’s participation has not been confirmed though other major flamenco singers are being explored.]

6. Tagore and Cinema: The first day’s session will end with the screening of Satyajit Ray’s ‘Charulata’ (1964) based on Tagore’s novella ‘Nashtaneer’ and the second day would end with Rituparno Ghosh’s film, ‘Noukadubi’ (2011). These films will be  subtitled in Spanish for this occasion and seen in the Spanish world for the first time. Indranil Chakravarty, professor of cinema and Convenor of the event, will introduce the films, highlighting the relationship between Tagore and cinema.

7. Publications in Spanish / Book Release: Two publications have been planned in Spanish – one would be a collection of major critical works on Tagore translated into Spanish for the first time along with an exhaustive Spanish bibliography and a filmography. This would also include the seminar presentations. The other publication will be a bilingual edition (English and Spanish) of Tagore’s works for children.

8. Tagore and Gandhi: The Tagore-Gandhi debate is one of the most fascinating debates in history, not only in India but anywhere else. Two of the greatest personalities of the 20^th century had immense respect for each other but thoroughly disagreed on several issues, particularly with regard to the question of cultural identity, interpretation of history and most importantly, their ideas about the validity of nationalism. Prof. Prabodh Parikh, a philosopher expert in this area, will make a presentation on this topic along with the screening of a film. This event will coincide with Gandhi’s birthday on Oct 2. 

9. Exhibition of Tagore’s books in Spanish: Mr. Jose Paz, the major collectionist of Tagore publications, has agreed to do an exhibition of all the major Tagore books in Spanish, from the earliest ones in 1914 till date.

10. Documentation: The entire event will be documented on high-end digital video with a multi-camera set-up along with individual interviews, event build-up and street scenes to highlight Tagore’s position in Spanish life. The film will be edited and made into a one-hour long film that will be distributed on DVD that will help disseminate this unique event around the world with multi-language subtitles. This will be carried out through a coproduction arrangement between Whistling Woods International Film Institute in Mumbai and a film school in Madrid. 

WHAT IS ILACI?

Versión español

Launched in November 2009, the Indo-Latin American Cultural Initiative intends to create a cultural bridge by disseminating Latin American culture in India and Indian culture in Latin America through partnerships with like-minded individuals and organisations in Latin America, the Caribbean and Spain on one hand and India, on the other. It is interested in a wide variety of projects in the cultural sphere that  deepen an understanding of each other’s culture and enable individuals and organisations to come together through creative interactions and collaborations. It has already brought within its fold several artists and academics in India and Latin America who have been involved, over several years, in cultivating and sustaining a cultural dialogue between these two parts of the world.   Contact Us

The immediate objective of ILACI is to embark upon a series of cultural projects connecting India and Latin America. However, it is also keen to work with individuals and organisations in order to create autonomous institutions (or specific programmes within existing structures) dedicated to the serious study of each other’s culture. The long-term goal is to set up a network of “Casa de la Cultura India” in the major Latin American cities and a “House of Latin American Culture” in Goa, India. 

Please feel free to contact us for any idea, project proposal or other endeavours.

WHY ILACI?

India and Latin America are generally seen as cultures that are far apart not only geographically but also culturally and linguistically. And yet they have far more in common with each other than with any other part of the world. However, there has hardly been any real cultural contact between these two parts of the world and the few occasions when there have been some flow of information, it has been mediated by either Europe or USA. Most cultural perceptions of each other have been either steeped in romantic notions or they merely perpetrate stereotypes born out of Eurocentric interpretations. The current effort is thus an attempt to create a direct bridge between the cultures by overcoming the traditional barriers of language and physical remoteness where modern communication technologies can play a creative role. 
 
An effective contact between the two geographical spheres can open up vast possibilities ofmutual interaction, collaboration and activities that may have a deep and long-term cultural impact. This realization is particularly urgent at a moment when global political dialogue is reinforcing the need of a South-South collaboration with special emphasis on BRIC as the emerging new axis of power in the 21^st century.

WHO ARE WE?

Version español


The initiative is being  spearheaded by Prof. Indranil Chakravarty and Prof. Shyama Prasad Ganguly. It is particularly privileged to have the personal encouragement and enthusiastic support of the Nobel Laureate writer, Gabriel García Márquez.

INDRANIL CHAKRAVARTY   is a film academic and filmmaker. He  graduated in film direction from  Escuela Internacional de Cine y TV in Havana (1992) where he studied under the writer Gabriel García Márquez. He has been a scriptconsultant for the European Union Cross-Cultural Programme and has taught screenplay-writing, film direction as well as Film Appreciation at all major film institutes in India and several universities abroad.  Among his publications, The New Latin American Cinema: Readings from Within (1998), is now a reference text for postgraduate students at several Indian universities. He was the Convenor  of the First All-India Screenwriters’ Conference held at the Film & TV Institute of India (FTII, 2006), Pune  and has been invited to speak at several international conferences around the world. Currently he is Professor of Film Appreciation at Whistling Woods International (India’s leading film institute in Mumbai’s Film City) and  is working on a feature film. He has been on the jury of several international film festivals (in Brazil, Mexico and Cuba) and is the director of ILACI. He is also on the editorial board of  Vislumbres, the  journal of all Spanish and Portuguese speaking diplomatic missions in India. Indranil maintains a private blog titled ‘Meandering Mind’.   Contact by email

 

Professor S. P. GANGULY  is Ex-Chairperson,Centre of Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Latin American Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He holds MA in both Economics and Spanish Studies, diploma in Hispanic Studies from Universidad Complutense (Madrid), doctoral “monographic” courses from El Colegio de México and UNAM. He has a large number of publications (15 books and 60 essays) which are considered pioneering in the field of  India-Latin America cultural studies. He has been bestowed Doctoris Honoris Causa by Universidad Simón Bolívar, Barranquilla, Colombia (’92), Gabriela Mistral International Medal, Chile (‘95), Bernardo O’Higgins Condecoration ( El  Grado de Comendador), Chile (‘97) and Citation of Honour, Camara de Diputados, Cordoba, Argentina (1998). He has served as interpreter to Indira Gandhi, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez and other heads of  state.  He is the founder-editor of two Indian journals on Hispanic Studies. Prof. Ganguly has been visiting professor to several Latin American universities. Currently he is guiding several PhD scholars on Latin American studies and is the President of the Editorial Council of Vislumbres, journal of all Spanish and Portuguese speaking diplomatic missions in India.

The LAMINAS Project

LÁMINAS refers to two sets of travelling film festivals that would be organized on a bi-annual basis starting from December 2011 under this title. One year would be a festival of Latin American cinema in India and the next year would be a festival of Indian cinema in Latin America.  Apart from the apparent acronym (Latin AMerica-INdia And Spain), in Spanish the word means ‘a print, engraving or illustration’. 

The first of these would be an Indian film festival on DVD with Spanish subtitles that would travel through major Latin American cities and the second would be a festival of Latin American and Spanish cinema that would travel through major Indian cities with English subtitles. Each of the two festivals will be curated to represent the richness and diversity of contemporary cinematic production with particular emphasis on films which deepen an understanding of our societies through films. There would also be a section which would keep the classics alive and highlight individual filmmakers or movements. The Market Section will be a very important aspect of this event, bringing together all interested distributors, exhibitors and producers of India and Latin America. Just as Latin America is a virgin market for Indian distributors who are currently very keen on exploring it, India too can open up commercially to Latin American films through niche TV channels that showcase ‘world movies’ as well as through DVD releases and eventual coproductions for film and TV. 
There would be an elaborate catalogue of material in English and Spanish (and later ahead in Portuguese as well) and seminars with filmmakers, film scholars and local ‘area/film specialists’  would be held whereby a cultural dialogue and appreciation can be sustained locally.
The different editions of the festival  in different cities will be known as follows:

• LÁMINAS en LIMA
• LÁMINAS en LA HABANA
• LÁMINAS en MADRID
• LÁMINAS en BARCELONA
• LÁMINAS en CIUDAD MEXICO

The exact dates and organisational structure of each of these festival-editions would be different though the selection of films would be more or less the same. In some cases, LÁMINAS would operate as part of a larger film festival. This would help to make the event a part of local mainstream culture.
In a similar way, the travelling festival of Latin American and Spanish cinema would be referred to as:

•        LÁMINAS in Mumbai
•        LÁMINAS in Kolkata
•        LÁMINAS in Delhi

The first edition of LÁMINAS in India would happen in December 2011.

Submissions for LÁMINAS

Currently, LÁMINAS is looking forward to DVD submissions of films made in the past two years either in India or in any Latin American country that can potentially be part of the selection. Please note that in case your film is not subtitled into Spanish, we shall take upon ourselves the responsibility of subtitling it on DVD (in case of Indian films) and so we need the necessary time to do so. In case of Latin American films, we would prefer films already subtitled into English. If you are a distributor/ producer/ sales agent or the director of a film or have a recommendation, please write to us immediately at inchakra.cinema@gmail.com with production details (title, year of release/completion, film format (35mm/ HD, etc), producer’s cv, director’s cv, scriptwriter, cast, synopsis, awards (if any) and reviews (if any). We do not insist on premiere screenings though we would like to have Indian premiere for Latin American and Spanish films and Latin American premiere for all Indian films.
There will be an Audience Award and a Critics’ Award for the Best Film in each of the LÁMINAS festival editions. These films would be procured by ILACI for  commercial distribution.
Please send your DVD by courier to the following postal address:
Prof. Indranil Chakravarty
Whistling Woods International
Film City Complex, Film City Road
Goregaon East, MUMBAI: 400065, India 

Recent ILACI Events

NEXT- GLOBAL SHORTS 

Also:  http://ilacieng.blogspot.in/2012/07/next-global-shorts.html

AMARANTA LIBROS 

TAGORE IN SPAIN  
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FTII-EICTV Coproduction Contract


ILACI has negotiated and finally executed (in October, 2009) the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune, India and Escuela Internacional de Cine y TV (EICTV) in Havana, Cuba in relation to the regular exchange of faculty, students and coproduction of student films. It has also signed a coproduction contract and the directors of both the institutes are scheduled to visit each other in 2011. The first coproduction has been initiated. It is a multi-lingual documentary series called 'Ser un Ser Humano' / 'To Be a Human Being' where six young filmmakers from across six countries in the six continents try to understand what it means to be human in today's world. They would probe this compelling question through a specific community of their choice. ILACI is the supervisor and guide on the project. The FTII student-filmmaker selected for this project is Ms. Sreya Chatterjee. She travelled to  EICTV in Havana for masterclasses on the documentary (directed by the Australian filmmaker, Russell Porter)  and has completed shooting in Calcutta, among a community of idol-makers in Kumartuli.  

UNESCO  Asian Documentary Workshop 


ILACI organised in early April 2010, a 6-day international workshop for Asian documentary filmmakers which imparted skills and resources in relation to accessing European funds for making films on Indian subjects. The workshop was hosted by Whistling Woods International Institute of Film & Media Arts in Mumbai's Film City and was supported by UNESCO d'Igualada in Spain. It was conducted by the Dutch filmmaker Wiek Lenssen who had earlier made several films in Latin America and shared that experience with the participants. 

Ongoing ILACI Projects

• Ser un Ser Humano / To Be a Human Being : This is a  documentary feature coproduction involving six major film schools in six different continents. Through this documentary, we are trying to explore what it means to be a human being in the 21st century across cultures and civilizations that are apparently distinct and diverse. While ILACI is one of the production guides and coproducers, the project is being led by EICTV (Cuba). Among the other partners are CUNY, Red Sea  Institute of Cinematic Arts in Jordan, NIC in Spain, etc. The Indian segment is being directed by Ms. Sreya Chatterjee, a current student of editing at FTII (Film & TV Institute of India, Pune) and is being financed by FTII. The 3-hour long film will be ready by the end of 2011. 

• 'India From The Inside': This is a series of six in-depth documentaries  by different Indian filmmakers about India for Western audiences, produced by the Dutch filmmaker Wiek Lenssen and financed by a network of European TV channels. This project is now in development.  ILACI is the producer from India. 

• Chiapas Media Project in India: ILACI has entered into an agreement to disseminate the videos of the Chiapas Media Project in India on non-commercial basis. CMP/ Promedios is an award winning, bi-national partnership that provides video equipment, computers and training enabling marginalized indigenous communities in Southern Mexico (specifically, the Zapatista communities in Chiapas) to create their own media.  Alexandra Halkin is the Founding Director/International Coordinator of the project. 
  
  These videos, made since 1998, deal with agricultural collectives, fair trade coffee, women’s collectives, autonomous education, traditional healing and the history of their struggle for land. These 6000 indigenously produced videos have been screened at universities, museums, and film and video festivals worldwide.
  According to Ms. Halkin, the idea of the CMP came from an Indian video on micro-credits and empowerment of women and now these CMP videos carry a lot of resonance for India. Any request for screening of these videos in India can be sent to Indranil Chakravarty. 
  
  

Forthcoming ILACI Projects

• A major cultural event on the occasion of the Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore's 150th anniversary, bringing together all the cultural manifestations in Spain around Tagore on one common platform over a period of two days in the weekend around the poet’s death anniversary (August 6 & 7, 2011). This will happen in at least two major cities - Madrid and Barcelona. The event will include Latin Americans living in Spain. It will be a two/three-day event filled with discussions, debates, poetry readings, music and dance, celebrating and rejuvenating the memory of Tagore in the Spanish-speaking world where he is still loved and cherished. 

• Starting from December 2011, ILACI will be organising a bi-annual travelling festival of Indian cinema in Latin America and a similar travelling festival of Latin American cinema in Indian cities. This festival would be called 'LAMINAS' and will be supported by a major Iberian film production company.

• A documentary film exploring the years of the Mexican Nobel Laureate poet and essayist, Octavio Paz's years in India and the impact of Indian culture on his work. This film will be produced by a Mexican producer. 

• As an extension of the UNESCO seminar with Asian documentary filmmakers, ILACI is in the fundraising stage for a series of eight documentaries on the UN's Millennium Development Goals. This would be made by filmmakers across Asia with ILACI and a Dutch producer who has made several of his films in Latin America. This project is currently seeking funding support. 

• In the long run, ILACI intends to create a House of Iberian Culture in Goa which is an ex-Portuguese colony in the western coast of India and still maintains a charming Latin character. It can thus be considered as a cultural bridge between India and the Latin/Iberian world.

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