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.