Cellular Silence Day_30th January 2009 Petition

Cellular Silence Day_30th January 2009 Petition

about time someone took this up

another platform of our movement

just another step

Bobby Darin - Simple Song of Freedom

a great experiment in public art intervention

vision statement and event flow

Vision statement for Rang Rasiya All India Art Competition:


The Rang Rasiya Freedom of Expression Art Competition aims to bring about a socio cultural movement which discovers new talent, and brings contemporary art into the discursive domain of the middle class. It attempts to create a domain for contemporary art outside the current dominant systems. Working in network partnerships with galleries, auction houses and state run art institutions, the competition aims to bridge the aesthetics of the common man with ‘high art’ tradition in the true spirit of the master painter Raja Ravi Varma. He succeeded in bringing art out of the clutches of the aristocracy and the and the orthodox temple priests. Making art an integral part of popular culture. Often celebrated as a reformer who brought God outside the confines of the temple, Raja Ravi Varma was successful in radicalising and energising the relationship between the audience and the painted image.

Highlights:
Ø The total prize money of the competition is INR(25,00,000). To be divided among the 20 finalists.
Ø Dedicated to the upliftment of the unknown Talents.
Ø The works of twenty finalists will be showcased in a traveling exhibition. The centers are: Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Guwahati, Trivandrum, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Hyderabad and Mumbai.
Ø The competition will be launched through a nationwide press, TV, FM and viral campaign will promote this competition. Promotion through Art India Magazine, Art and Deal Magazine, mattersofart.net, artconcerns.com, blogs on contemporary art, and extensive poster campaigns in art schools, regional Lalit Kala Academy Centers and art galleries.
Ø This competition will create the social awareness about the happenings in the society with the help of picture and convey the bond of togetherness.
Ø This reality show will be an interactive art projects being done in a sample community site, the competition creates a unique platform that pitches artistic freedom against public notions about what art is.

Value Additions:
Ø A televised panel discussion on the issue of censorship and freedom of expression. Would like personalities like Barkha Dutt, Arun Jaitly, Brinda Karat, Mahesh Bhatt, Ketan Mehta Dr. Rajiv Lochan and Sharmila Tagore.
Ø A televised panel discussion on the life and practices of Raja Ravi Varma, focusing on his life and the controversies.
Ø ‘Did You Know’ Raja Ravi Varma, art, and censorship. (In radio and news papers.)
Ø The art competition section of the website will have a social networking plug-in wherein participants will be able to network, showcase their other works, join discussion boards and chat rooms, and post urls of their web sites and blogs.


Event flow of Rang Rasiya Freedom of Expression Movement:

Total time span between 21st December to the end of March

Registration Process:
To participate artists have to register at the http://www.blogger.com/Application%20Data/Microsoft/Word/www.rangrasiya.com website and click on the link “freedom of expression competition” to obtain a registration code.

Registration and uploading of images are viewed as statement of interest to participate.
Importers and undeserving entries to be screened

Stage One
Based on their past work uploaded as a part of the registration process, the first round of selected participants will be informed by email of their selection as participants.
New project to be given
(5 options- choose and do a 1 feet X 1 feet painting)
Entries arrive with registration fees of Rs 250 - by 5th Feb Judging begins on 8th Feb.

Stage Two
Of the participants who submit the projects, the judges will shortlist 1000 participants based on the evaluation of their project. These 1000 shortlisted participants shall be asked to do painting on a given theme.
They shall be asked to come to their respective regional centres and present their work to the judges.

March – Delhi
March – Bhopal
March – Kolkata
March – Tiruvantapuram
March – Mumbai



Ø 20 contestants will be selected
Ø The selected 20 contestant will be brought to Mumbai.

The Final Competition –
The final competition is designed to test the participants beyond their painting skills and assess their vision, their ability to experiment and their ability to connect with the society.


Art as Function: (the warehouse round)
The twenty torch bearers are then brought to Mumbai and taken to a bare warehouse like space. They are explained that modular structures are available for them through which their studios and living areas can be constructed. In a hidden camera situation, the participants are asked to decide how the group and the individuals want their living and work spaces. Each participant is to submit a design of their work spaces, living areas and collectively submit a design for their screening/ interaction centers.
Art as Vision:
Is a two day round held at an archaeological site which will have Nandana Sen posing against a sculptural panel and a live musical + dance performance. The contestants will be asked to work within their mediums and capture the event as a cultural situation. They will be briefed to story tell and explore out of the box narrative structures.
Art and the Lived Environment
The final task of the competition is a community based workshop will be an interface between the artistic activity and the general public.

Ø The contestants will be told that they are required to choose a creative medium outside painting. The options given to them will be a) Photography, b) Graphic arts, c) Short Film Making and d) Performance.
Ø Then they are divided into 4 groups based on the mediums they choose.
Ø Each group will have a mentor assigned to them.
Ø A community will be taken into confidence and told that an art/aesthetic intervention will take place in their community. 20 contestants moving around as five teams will interact with them and execute creative projects.
Ø The groups in consultation with their mentors and the present jury members are asked to create an engagement with the community. The parameters given will be that these engagements should be done in a creative manner through participation in form of dialogues around beauty, form, function, context and audience.
Ø The four teams are supposed to interact among themselves and the community on an everyday basis where they are to take up public spaces like shop interiors, facades, community gathering squares.
Ø The participants are to get into a dialogue with the concerned individual members (the owners of the sites) not only to secure their permission but also to conceive and execute projects with an active aesthetic interchange with them.

Once these interactions are complete, there will emerge a winner of the top 20 finalists – the most talented and inspired artist of his generation. There will be a second place holder as well as a third place holder. The rest will be given consolation prizes. This prize distribution event shall be held at Mumbai at a Grand Gala.

ananth nag: a public performance...communicating public art