Vidya Shah Emotion - Music - Emotion: Feeling Music. Classical Indian singing at the Bode Museum
Press release from 10/06/2008
An event "On the way to the Humboldt Forum" Concert on 10 October 2008, 7 pm Venue: Basilica of the Bode Museum, Museum Island Berlin Admission free Organiser: Max Planck Institute for Human Development and Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
Greetings:
Hermann Parzinger, President of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
Ute Frevert, Director and Head of the Research Department "History of Emotions" at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development
Introduction:
Margrit Pernau, Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development
The theme of the concert by the well-known Indian musician Vidya Shah is shringar, one of the nine rasa, the emotional states or essences that permeate all Indian arts. Shringar means love in a comprehensive sense, from romantic to erotic love to mystical union with the divine. The singing is complemented and related to paintings and photographs by Indian artists as visual representations of the same range of emotions. The basilica of the Bode Museum with its Christian-religious exhibits provides an exciting counterpoint.
At the centre of the evening are questions about the expression of feelings in different cultures: Is emotional expression in music universally legible? Can music become a means of communication across cultural and language barriers? Can we identify and translate non-verbal emotions, and if so, how? How are emotions characterised by their expressive possibilities?
The concert marks the end of a research workshop organised by the "History of Emotions" research area at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development. The future HUMBOLDT Forum, with its focus on non-European cultures, will also deal with topics such as these.
Background information
Vidya Shah
Vidya Shah lives in Delhi. Her repertoire encompasses an unusual range of styles of Indian music. After training in Carnatic (South Indian) music, she learnt classical Hindustani (North Indian singing) from Shubha Mudgal and thumri, dadra and ghazal gayaki from Shanti Hiranand. In recent years, she has increasingly turned to music from the mystical bhakti and Sufi traditions. She regularly sings for Indian television and radio, and her concert tours have taken her to many countries in Asia and America. Her music has been released by various Indian and international labels, her latest CD Ham Sab - Celebrating Cultures of Resistance was released in January 2008.
MPI for Human Development
The Max Planck Institute for Human Development was founded in Berlin in 1963 and is an interdisciplinary research organisation dedicated to the study of human development and education. The Institute is part of the Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science, one of the leading organisations for basic research in Europe.
The research area "History of Emotions" at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development is headed by Prof Dr Ute Frevert. One of the main concerns of the research area is to trace the standardisation and variability of emotions - feelings and their expression. In terms of time, the analysis focuses on the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries; in terms of space, the aim is to contrast European-Western and South Asian societies.
Humboldt Forum
In the Humboldt Forum on Schlossplatz in Berlin, the collections of non-European art and culture of the National Museums in Berlin - Prussian Cultural Heritage will be at the centre of attention in future. The Humboldt University's collections on the history of science and the corresponding holdings of the Central and State Library are further components of this centre of knowledge production and dissemination. The Agora will play a central role as a place for lively art and cultural experiences, for theatre, film, music and symposia.
Contact:
Max Planck Institute for Human Development
Press and Public Relations
Dr Petra Fox-Kuchenbecker
Phone: 030-824 06-211
Email
Website of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development
Website of the Max Planck Society
Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation
Press and Public Relations
Dr Stefanie Heinlein
Phone: 030-25463-206
E-mail
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