Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Peabody Essex Museum Celebrates Sensational India!

This is an incredible line-up of events at the Peabody Essex Museum celebrating Indian culture - check it out...


SENSATIONAL INDIA!
Saturday, April 4 - Sunday, April 5 2009

The Peabody Essex Museum celebrates the art and culture of India in its many splendid forms with a weekend-long festival ─ Sensational India! Join us for this two-day event in our galleries and performance spaces where we’ll present India’s remarkable visual and performing arts. Expect remarkable dance, music, film, food, hands-on art activities and more. Find a moment of respite in our new exhibition ReVisions, Indian Artists Engaging Traditions – featuring works of painting and sculpture contemporary Indian artists and the masters who influenced them. Families, hear tales from India read by storytellers, learn your fortune from a parrot and make your own finger puppets!

All events included with museum admission. Program reservations by calling: 978-745-9500 x3011.

Sensational India! is made possible by Samir and Nilima Desai; The Desai Family Foundation.

SATURDAY, APRIL 4
Gallery Talks: ReVisions, Indian Artists Engaging Traditions
10-11 am, ReVisions Gallery
Reservations by April 2
Led by exhibition co-curators Susan Bean and Kimberly Masteller

Adult Cooking Demonstration
A Taste of India
11 am–noon, Bartlett Gallery
Reservations by April 2
Chef Shruti Mehta creates traditional Indian dishes and shares the secrets of this aromatic cuisine. Her demonstration and stories link the art of cooking with everyday life in India.

Film
The Jungle Book
1967, 78 minutes
11 am–12:30 pm, Morse Auditorium
Reservations by April 2
For all ages
Set in an Indian jungle, this song-filled adventure follows a boy named Mowgli on his way to the man-village with a variety of animal friends, including the lovable bear Baloo. Afterward, make your own finger puppets.

Musical Performances
Carnatic Ensemble
Noon–12:30 pm, Atrium
Durga Krishnan, a renowned veena player and director of the New England School of Carnatic Music, performs with her accomplished students. The ensemble includes flute, mridangam, veena and violin players, and vocalists.

Indo-American Fusion
12:30–1 pm, Atrium
The Bangalore Ensemble shares the sounds of Indo-American fusion, based on Hindustani (North Indian classical) music.
You couldn’t believe what you were seeing — dancing so rich, so deep diving! –The New Yorker

Dance Performance
Nrityagram Dance Ensemble
1:30–2:30 pm, Atrium
Nrityagram of India transports viewers to enchanted worlds of magic and spirituality with the sensuous flow of Odissi, one of the oldest of India’s classical dance forms.

Presentation
Indian Classical Dance and the Arts of India — A Conversation
3–4 pm, Morse Auditorium
For adults
Reservations by April 2
Susan Bean, curator of South Asian and Korean art, and Surupa Sen, artistic director of the renowned Nrityagram Dance Ensemble, discuss the interconnections between dance and other art forms in India, from music to poetry, architecture and painting.

Musical Performances
Hindustani
4–4:30 pm, Atrium
Shuchita Rao and students from the New England School of Carnatic Music present Hindustani music with vocalists, harmonium and tabla players.

Fusion of Jazz and Carnatic
4:30–5 pm, Atrium
The KrishnaRasi group presents of Indo-American fusion, based on Carnatic music, with jazz keyboard, veena, mridangam and tabla.


SUNDAY, APRIL 5

Gallery Talks: ReVisions, Indian Artists Engaging Traditions
10-11 am, ReVisions Gallery
Reservations by April 2

Film
Brick Lane
2008, 101 minutes, directed by Sarah Gavron
11 am–1:30 pm, Morse Auditorium
For adults
Reservations by April 2
A young South Asian woman arrives in 1980s London, leaving behind her beloved home for an arranged marriage and a new life. Trapped in a small apartment and loveless marriage, she struggles to accept her lifestyle and maintain her traditional ways.

Dance Workshop
Odissi
1:30–3 pm, East India Marine Hall
For teens and adults
Reservations by April 2
Learn the technique and nuances of movement in Odissi from Nrityagram dancers. Dance training is not required.

Dance Demonstrations and Performances
Traditional Indian Folk Dance
1–2 and 4–5 pm, Atrium
Dressed in lavish, traditional costumes, young members of Boston Bhangra perform lively agricultural folk dances from the Punjab region of India.

LECTURE
2:30 pm, Morse Auditorium
Award-Winning Author and Actress Madhur Jaffrey R
eservations by April 3
Regarded by many as the world authority on Indian food, Madhur Jaffrey is an award-winning actress and best-selling cookbook author. At PEM she discusses her newest work, Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India, an appealing account of an unusual childhood and a testament to the power of food to prompt memory. The book includes recipes for more than 30 delicious dishes that are recovered from Jaffrey’s childhood. A book signing follows the lecture. This program made possible in part by the George Swinnerton Parker Memorial Lecture Fund.

About the Peabody Essex Museum
The Peabody Essex Museum presents art and culture from New England and around the world. The museum's collections are among the finest of their kind, showcasing an unrivaled spectrum of American art and architecture (including four National Historic Landmark buildings) and outstanding Asian, Asian Export, Native American, African, Oceanic, Maritime and Photography collections. In addition to its vast collections, the museum offers a vibrant schedule of changing exhibitions and a hands-on education center. The museum campus features numerous parks, period gardens and 24 historic properties, including Yin Yu Tang, a 200-year-old house that is the only example of Chinese domestic architecture on display in the United States.

HOURS: Open Tuesday-Sunday and holiday Mondays, 10 am-5 pm. Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.

ADMISSION: Adults $15; seniors $13; students $11. Additional admission to Yin Yu Tang: $5. Members, youth 16 and under and residents of Salem enjoy free general admission and free admission to Yin Yu Tang.

INFO: Call 866-745-1876 or visit our Web site at http://www.pem.org/.

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