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The Hindu
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
A feminist retelling of ‘The Mahabharata' by K Srilata
'The Mahabharata contains stories within stories... just when you think you are all caught up, a new tale or an old one differently told resurfaces,' says an excerpt from KSrilata's new book of poems, Footnotes to the Mahabharata, publishedby WestLand. The book was recently launched at the Goethe Institut, Chennai, in association with the Prakriti Foundation, where the writer- academician engaged in a conversation with theatre artiste V Balakrishna, on what inspired her to write the book, and her view on the feminist retelling of the epic. Srilata spoke about how she stumbled upon the subject accidentally. 'I am not a Sankritist, I dont work in the space of mythology or epics, it came at a time when I had given up my 20 years of intense career as a full-time professor, ' she says. While dusting her bookshelf she found exactly what she was looking for to write about. 'I discovered a brand-new copy of Parva, SL Bhrappa's Kannada novel based on The Mahabharata and translated into English by Raghavendra Rao.' She found herself completely lost in its pages, which ultimately inspired this collection exploring the lives of the female characters from the epic— Alli, Hidimbi, Draupadi, Gandhari and Kunti. For Srilata, the female characters are a window to a feminist retelling. 'As somebody who was a working woman and a parent, there are so many things that women go through that remain completely untold. I ask myself, what if I were to slip into the characters of the women from The Mahabharata, what sort of poem would come from there? As I started writing more and more, I was convinced maybe there could be a book there,' says Srilata. The poem is also a reflection of the local Tamil retelling of the epic, for instance, the poem opens with Alli – a character, 'exclusive to the Tamil, Dravidian tradition, not found in the mainstream Mahabharata,' Srilata mentions in her book. The poems are steeped in haiku (a Japanese tradition of poetry). 'Around the time that I was working with these poems, I had also been working with another Haiku poet, Geetanjali Rajan. She mentored me, and that was the form I grew extremely fond of, so there was no other way but for that to seep into the writing of these poems,' says Srilata. In Srilata's poems, Sakhi (used to address a female friend) plays an important role. 'I realised that these women perhaps would have only been able to speak freely to their female friends, the Sakhi listens in silence as the heroine speaks.' Like when Draupadi speaks to her sakhi Nitambini about Krishna. The event ended with a poetry reading by Srilata and Balakrishna. Footnotes to the Mahabharata is available in online bookstores.
Boston Globe
02-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Free things to do this week: ‘Mickey 17′ screening, historical experiences, and more
FOR FREEDOM By just walking through Boston's preserved historic sites, locals and tourists are immersed in America's history. One especially important site, the Old South Meeting House, will be looking back to the Boston Massacre, which took place in the location 255 years ago. March 5, 5:30 p.m. Free. Old South Meeting House, 310 Washington St. Julia Werntz's "Wreaths" and John Aylward's opera film "Oblivion" will premiere at the Goethe Institut's Contemporary Music Festival on March 6. Julia Werntz/John Aylward Advertisement CONCERT OPERA FILM Concert films make performances re-livable and accessible, providing a front row seat without a front row ticket price. The Goethe-Institut is encouraging music lovers to support productions featuring emerging artists during their Contemporary Music Festival. Composer March 6, 8 p.m. Free. 170 Beacon St. 'MAYHEM' ALBUM PARTY When Lady Gaga's 'Abracadabra' debuted during the Grammys, Little Monsters everywhere collectively freaked out. The debut marked the pop sensation's return to music and was followed by the announcement of her upcoming album, 'Mayhem,' set to release March 7. At Trina's Starlite Lounge, they're counting down until the minute, bringing in DJ Frazzo to spin pop classics until the clock strikes midnight, upon which 'Mayhem' will play until the closing track. March 6-7, 9 p.m.-1 a.m. Free. 3 Beacon St., Somerville. Advertisement INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY MOVIE NIGHT March 8 is International Women's Day, but Ula Café is inviting community members to celebrate a day earlier at their after-hours movie night. In partnership with Wanderful, a women's travel group, Ula will be hosting a free screening of 'Wadjda,' a Saudi Arabian film by Haifaa al-Mansour, the first Saudi woman to direct a feature-length picture. Watchers will follow Wadjda's (Waad Mohammed) heartfelt story as she journeys to scrounge up the money to purchase a green bicycle that caught her eye. Those interested can reserve their seat at the March 7, 6 p.m. Free. Ula Café, 284 Amory St, Jamaica Plain. The Guild of Boston Artists will be hosting a free "Sparking Creativity" art class for children on March 8. Guild of Boston Artists CHILDREN'S ART CLASS If your child has reached the age where their drawings have stopped looking like scribbles, helping them develop their creative spirit may just give them the push they need to be one of the greats. At the Guild of Boston Artists' Sparking Creativity event, children ages 5-12 can explore how artists get inspiration through a scavenger hunt of small details from paintings in the Guild's gallery. During the second half of the night, the young artists can explore what inspires them through thumbnail sketches. Interested families should reserve their sport at the March 8, 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. Free. 162 Newbury St. BOOK SIGNING AT LOVESTRUCK This Sunday, Lovestruck hosts 'Dragon Scales' author L.R. Lam to Brattle Street where she will be signing copies of the final installment of the series, 'Emberclaw'. The event is part of the bookstore's Meet the Author series, which brings new release writers to the location for signings, Q&A's, and meet-and-greets. Attending the event is free, but the store requests interested parties March 9, 4-6 p.m. Free. 44 Brattle St., Cambridge. Advertisement Marianna Orozco can be reached at
Euronews
18-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
'Degenerate art' denounced by Nazis goes on show in Paris
A new exhibition on the 'degenerate' art disavowed by the Nazis has opened in Paris. 'L'art dégénéré' is now on at the Musée Picasso in Paris and is the first show in France dedicated to the art which came under attack during the Nazi regime. At the forefront of the expo is an examination of the 'Entartete Kunst' (degenerate art) exhibition that ran in Munich in 1937 showing more than 600 works by artists persecuted by the Nazis. 'Entartete Kunst' was designed to disgust the German public at the output of artists from backgrounds rejected by the fascist state, such as Jews, Bolsheviks and homosexuals. Many of the artists included in the exhibition are now considered crucial avant-garde members of modern art such as Otto Dix, Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee. The 1937 show was the culmination of a series of exhibitions promoted by the Nazi state to 'purge' the degenerate art that was a threat to German 'purity'. It followed exhibitions in Dresden, Mannheim, Karlsruhe and others across Germany that ran from the party's election in 1933. As part of the German government's sweep, over 20,000 works of art from artists including Vincent Van Gogh, Marc Chagall and Pablo Picasso were withdrawn, sold or destroyed. 'L'art dégénéré' runs at the Musée Picasso from 18 February to 25 May and features many of the works targeted during the era. It examines the way fascist governments persecute people through art and targeting artists. Other artists featured in the exhibition include George Grosz, Paul Klee and Oskar Kokoschka. There's also a section dedicated to the persecution of Jewish artists by the Nazi regime, focused around two paintings from Jewish French-Russian artist Marc Chagall. It's the first time a French museum has dedicated an exhibition to the art branded degenerate by the Nazis aside from a small exhibition by the Goethe Institut in 1989. Other countries have run similar exhibitions in the past, including a major Berlin retrospective in 1992. Some of the artworks on display were thought to have been lost forever during the war. Sculptures by German sculptor Emy Roeder that were found during a 2010 archaeological dig in Berlin are on show. Other works catalogue the journey through the war, from ownership by Jewish art patrons to their theft by the Nazis and eventual return to the original owner's descendants. 'La Prise (Rabbin)', a painting by Chagall which takes its title from a short story by Yiddish writer Isaac Leib Peretz was acquired by the Kunsthalle of Mannheim in 1928. As both the painter and the painting's subject embodied Jewish culture, the work was paraded through Mannheim's streets in 1933 with the message 'You who pay taxes, you should know where your money is spent' before it was shown in the 1937 'Degenerate Art' exhibition. There are also letters from artists like Dix throughout the exhibition that paint a picture of life as an artist during the Nazi era. It also tells the stories of the artists persecuted by the regime. As the exhibition debuts in Paris, the exhibition is a powerful historical document of how fascist regimes persecute culture through its art. 'L'art dégénéré' runs at the Musée Picasso Paris until 25 May.
