meethapani

Art and Censorship   As a norm, society does not take art or artists very seriously – entertaining,   stimulating, thought provoking, patronized by a select few , but hardly in the same company as economists, politicians and other influential professionals . It then comes as a surprise when art is removed, censored or destroyed, implying it has great power or influence on the very society that marginalizes its relevance.   More direct criticism is expressed by journalists and politicians, whereas the artist is essentially pleading for a sense of humanity to prevail. The most influential analysis of censorship is John Milton’s   Aeropagitca ( 1644) in which he asserts censorship inhibits the search for truth.   He gave four reasons for censorship. The first is a moral reason, to protect the Supreme Idea – the values of a society taught from childhood and constantly re-affirmed .   An artist must not threaten social discipline which is based on uniformity of views or Ordo Mund

The   Art   of Forgetting Most people experience the anxiety and fear of losing their memory.    School children, orators, stage actors, and performers cultivate personal systems to ensure they can recall facts, scripts or sequences. The moment our elders struggle with recall, we assume the onset of Alzheimer’s or Dementia.   Perhaps it’s a residual belief from Greek mythology   of   Lethe, the River of Forgetfulness   of the Underworld   that leads to a state of complete oblivion. So much research has been done on methods to sharpen one’s memory as an essential ingredient   for developing intelligence.   However, more and more research is focusing on the benefits of forgetting. Ingrid Wickelgren, author of Forgetting is Key to a Healthy Mind   argues “The ability to let go of thoughts and remembrances supports a sound state of mind, a sharp intellect— and even superior memory”.   Neuroscientists, Blake Richards and Paul Frankland, suggest   forgetting enhances intelligent d

The Fate of Stolen Treasures Should art and artifacts that were looted, or dubiously purchased   during colonial periods be returned to their countries of origin? That was the topic of debate at a recent dinner hosted for a German   visitor working at the controversial new Humboldt ethnographic   Museum in Berlin.   The Parthenon Marbles of Greece, and the Egyptian Rosetta Stone at the British Museum: the bust of Egyptian Queen Nefertiti   and the Babylonian Ishtar Gate   in Berlin, the Kohinoor   Diamond now in the crown of the Queen of England   are the more known objects at the centre of the tug of war.   However there are tens of thousands of objects in Museums and private collections across the world that were taken by force or subterfuge. In Roman times museums or ‘seat of the muses’, were places for philosophical discussion. By the 17 C European museums housed curiosities collected from all over the world.   The public display of artifacts as a consequence of war

Nurturing Creative Children How do families deal with children who show an inclination to the arts? Drawing and painting, singing, playing music or dancing is sweet when they are young, but troubling when they don’t grow out of it. One of our final year Fine Art students had his drawings regularly torn up by his father who wanted him to concentrate on a career in Engineering. Many famous artists developed their passion at odds with their families. Degas’ father wanted him to join law school, Gauguin   gave up his life as a stockbroker, Cezanne attempted to become a banker as desired by his father; Miro attended commercial college and after two years as a clerk, had a mental breakdown before his parents let him attend art school.   While Toulouse Lautrec’s aristocratic parents did not prevent him from studying art, his physical deformity after fracturing both femurs in childhood made him feel more at home in Bohemian Montmartre amongst the outcasts of the music halls and brot

Building Bridges Bridges mean many things to many people . One can see our life journey as the building of bridges such as establishing relationships, developing a language to communicate, teaching, composing music , writing letters, publishing   books, praying   to God or engaging in peace talks. Each generation is also a bridge between the past and the future. The author, Les Coleman, points out “a bridge has no allegiance to either side”    It is neutral, connecting and   enabling both sides. There may be uncertainty about crossing a bridge, expressed by the French anthropologist, Jean-Pierre Vernant,    as leaving the familiar and entering   the unknown. Most myths about life after death   involve the crossing of a dangerous river – the Greek river Styx, the   Mesopotamian Hubur, the Norse Gjoll,   the Vaitarna in Hinduism. In Muslim traditions after the Day of Judgement, all persons will walk across a bridge thinner than a hair called Pul -e- Siraat.   True believers

The Culture of Cleanliness During the recent combination of flooding rains and Eid-ul-Azha in Karachi, social media was rife with desperate requests to dispose offal responsibly to prevent the spread of disease. Desperate because it is assumed, quite correctly, that the plea would go unheeded - strange in the land of the great Indus Civilization that gave the world its first planned cities and sanitation systems. One thinks of cleanliness as a management issue – the responsibility of a city municipality.   However cleanliness is also an attitude with cultural, spiritual, psychological and religious significances. Many religions have ritualistic cleansing – tahara, wudu, and ghusal in Islam, baptism in Christianity, mikvah in Judaism, misogi in Shinto, bathing in sacred rivers in Hinduism. Here cleansing is not simply the cleaning of physical dirt but entering a state of spiritual purity.   Water is also presented as a metaphysical force. Narratives of dramatic floods

Protecting our Wild Side Much of our lives are lived in conformity with family, social structures, local laws, political and economic   realities, religious pressures, geography and climate. Most, if not all of us, conform outwardly, while as individuals we may share some but not all the values we publically profess to.   Some people suppress their individuality, others are determined to express it; some fall in line, others rebel; some transfer traditional   values to their children, others decide to establish new ones. These opposing behaviours are like the waves of oceans – that can be gentle troughs and crests or alarmingly polarized, threatening to overwhelm societies. Extreme individuality is considered disruptive. The exception is culture, art, science, and technology - all expected to generate new ideas, or the ability to see things differently and generally seen as a positive force. Creativity has been called the harnessing of ‘the wild mind’. The term ‘wild’

Fame   or Anonymity? Andy Warhol famously said "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes", to which Banksy has responded "In the future, everyone will be anonymous for 15 minutes." Fame and anonymity are two opposing aspirations, examples of which are found in the long history of creativity. We live in an Age of Celebrity with photo ops, paparazzi, internet, fan mail, brand ambassadors and book signing, creating opportunities for those who seek fame or who have fame - or infamy - imposed upon them. At the other end of the spectrum is what Tom Geue calls the “Technology of Absence” – the desire for anonymity. The identity of Protest graffiti artists is hidden as is that of cybercriminals, and users of   the Dark Web. Technological innovation is often developed by teams and the product is known by the company they work for rather than the inventors, who remain anonymous to the public. We rarely know the names of the designers

Who Decides Who Decides? This question   is easily answered when it refers to politics or business whereby   the authority to be a decision maker in   politics comes from the ballot, the civil service , or   some may say, the deep state;   and in business from   savants of the business world . It becomes far more complex when it comes to Culture – who decides what culture is?   the   academic?   the government? the Community? The word has been defined and redefined over the ages, invoked for nationalism and tourism, restrained by religious beliefs, deconstructed by sociologists and reconstructed by artists.     Geert Hofstede says “Management can never change a national culture, it can only understand and use it” .He proposes that Culture as a collective identity is manifested through symbols, heroes,   rituals and values. The most enduring are values - which are determined within the first 10 years of our lives. Historically, the culture of a civilization was defined

Art and the State Art is often seen as existing outside the state. In Europe this concept emerged with   the Impressionist Movement of the 19 C which introduced the role of art for objective observation rather than a visual expression of the religious, social or political values of a society. In South Asia, art separated from the state when the post 1857 British occupiers of the Mughal court dismissed the many artists on the court payroll. All the rulers of India patronized the arts reaching a high point with the Mughals. Not only did they gather together the best artists, many acquired creative skills, from Akbar who was taught   drawing as a child by the miniature painter Khwaja   Abdus   Samad,    to Aurangzeb who learnt calligraphy from Syed Ali Tabrizi.   Women of the palace, courtiers and rulers of smaller kingdoms   took a   keen interest in architecture, garden design, crafts and clothing design.    The artist was integral to all societies from the earliest recor

Groupthink and Outliers How often have we sat in on meetings, or in social gatherings and felt pressured to agree with the majority? Or fallen silent on social media when we disagree with the tirade of shared accusations? This holds true for government policy or national security meetings, corporate board meetings, academic institutions, trade unions, political parties, drawing room conversations and of course social media. This phenomenon has come to be known as Groupthink.   The term “Groupthink” first appeared in a 1952 Fortune magazine article by social analyst, William H Whyte, a concept expanded by psychologist Irving L. Janis in his book   “Victims of Groupthink” . While consensus is important for implementation of any form of progress in state, community or family matters, Groupthink refers specifically to the priority given to maintaining unity for emotional rather than rational reasons. Groupthinkers   feel morally right, foster an “us versus them” attitude. It

Superheroes and Vigilantes Marvel is planning to release 3 to 4 superhero movies a year, with possibly 23 in the pipeline .   Solo superhero movies   – Superman, Spiderman, Hulk, Iron Man,   seeming inadequate as evil   grows, gives way to collective forces -    X Men, Transformers, Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avengers . What has created this obsessive need for Superheroes?   From the earliest recorded literature, the gods, angels and heroes were always invoked at times of war or natural disasters.   Gilgamesh, Odysseus, the Knights of the Round Table or Rustum have epitomized courage facing fierce opponents and supernatural beings.   We all have a deep-seated need to be taken care of – by a parent, a teacher, a friend, a spouse or a government.   The perceived powerlessness of governments and their justice systems is compensated by the fantasy of heroes with extraordinary powers who can protect us. Psychologists suggest that superheroes validate the collective mor

Age Matters If the stern majesty of Queen Victoria   defined   the 19 th Century, the   20 th Century   royal icon was   the captivating youth and fragility of Princess Diana. Youth was not a subject of social concern before the 20 th Century.   The term “teenage years” did not make an appearance till 1941. Today one could say the hourglass has reversed and it is old age that has receded into the shadows. Old age once associated with wisdom and power, is today seen as a disability. The stereotype of an older person as passive, insulated from the everyday demands of life, is reinforced in popular culture, advertising, the fashion industry, and television dramas. The workplace, education, even the art world, place faith exclusively in the under 35s. In 1992 the advertising mogul, Charles Saatchi and his brother Maurice, began promoting young artists, an influence that spread across the art world. It is difficult to imagine a Rembrandt   today, making   more than ninety self

Heaven and Hell The three major religions with the most similar concepts of heaven and hell are Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam.   In Eastern religions, heaven is not a place but freedom from rebirth – moksha or Nirvana when the soul is reunited with the Maker. The most visually developed imagery of Heaven is that of Islam with luxurious peaceful gardens with 8 gates described in elaborate detail. Although Hell is described as a place of great suffering, Muslims   prefer to focus on the promise of Heaven, and have a deep-seated belief that even those Muslims who are sent to Hell will eventually be allowed to enter Heaven. The longing for Heaven or Jannah   has inspired the designs of gardens , carpets, architecture,   and devotional songs such as qawali and naats and, controversially, jihad. Earning sawab ( reward) rather than avoiding damnation is the great motivator. Most Muslims avoid discussing or even thinking about the sufferings of the spiritual underworld or t

Curbing Cultural Exchange   There are 195 countries in the world today. There was a time when the word “country” meant the countryside, the area surrounding a walled city. Civilization and Empire are words used to describe those political and cultural identities whose expanses of power or authority had ever changing boundaries.   Today’s “Country” is a political term used to describe a territory with well-defined and heavily protected borders. Countries or nation states, emerged with the growth of capitalist economies, the Age of Discovery when the competition between monarchs for discovering new lands and trade rights, led to the formal demarcation of kingdoms and realms. As Ali Khan writes in his paper “Extinction of Nation States”, the King of the French became King of France.   In the 16 C the Dutch jurist, Hugo Grotius, developed the idea of territorial sovereignty which became the framework for the modern nation state.   Eurocentric colonialism and global economic