Who says Vivekananda is not relevant today? - Read This!

[webmaster rkmath.org]

Sep. 21, 2010 at 10:43am

chicago landmarksArt Institute of ChicagoJitish KallatWorld's Columbian Exposition

The public will definitely notice this

I am  dazzled by Public Notice #3, Jitish Kallat’s site specific installation at the Art Institute’s Grand Staircase, and not simply because it’s composed of thousands of LED lights.

The lights spell out the text of a speech calling for widespread acceptance of all religious beliefs that a Hindu cleric named Swami Vivekananda delivered before the World’s Parliament of Religions on September 11, 1893. [Yes.] The Parliament — the first of its kind — was actually a part of the World’s Columbian Exposition, and the Swami actually delivered his speech in what was then a spanking new Art Institute building’s Fullerton Hall — just steps away from the staircase in question.

The LED lights are shaded to represent the five color-coded levels of terrorist alert that the US Dept of Homeland Security established after the events of 9/11/2001.

This isn’t just conceptually brilliant — the conflation of the Art Institute and the 1893  Fair and the topic of religious tolerance with the post 9/11 atmosphere. It’s finely executed [despite its electric quality and the rainbow coloration of the lights against the black ground, it doesn’t scream at you] and visually powerful — a thrilling transformation of an iconic interior space.

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Jitish Kallat to Present Provocative Work of Art on Art Institute's Grand Staircase
Jitish Kallat visited the Art Institute a couple of weeks ago and installed a mock up of his installation.
CHICAGO, IL.- This fall, acclaimed contemporary artist Jitish Kallat turns the landmark Art Institute Grand Staircase into a meditation on religious tolerance, drawing on the museumʼs own history in concert with the most devastating terrorist attack on American soil. Public Notice 3, a site-specific installation, brings together two key historical moments: the first Parliament of the World’s Religions, opening on September 11, 1893, in what is now the museum’s Fullerton Hall, and the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon 108 years later, on that very date. Public Notice 3—the first major presentation of Kallat’s work in an American museum—will be on view September 11, 2010 through January 2, 2011.  The Art Institute of Chicago has long held a unique historical connection with India. In 1893, during the World's Columbian Exposition, the museum's building served as the site of one of the most important gatherings in the history of modern religion, the first World’s Parliament of Religions. One of the opening speakers was a young Hindu monk from India, Swami Vivekananda, who stunned and enthralled the audience of 7,000 with an address that opened one of the first dialogues between Eastern and Western traditions and, importantly, argued passionately for universalism and religious tolerance. Exactly 108 years before the attacks in New York City and Washington, DC, Swami Vivekananda called for an end to all “bigotry and fanaticism” and pleaded for brotherhood across all faiths, a speech that was met with a standing ovation and was heralded by journalists as one of the pivotal moments of the Exposition. (Even today, the stretch of Michigan Avenue in front of the Art Institute is the honorary “Swami Vivekananda Way.”)  Kallat has chosen this historical event as the basis and site for his monumental installation. For Public Notice 3, Kallat will convert the complete text of Vivekananda’s inspiring speech into LED displays on each of the 118 risers of the museum’s Woman’s Board Grand Staircase, which is itself adjacent to what is now Fullerton Hall, where Vivekananda made his original presentation. Drawing attention to the great chasm between this plea for tolerance of 1893 and the very different events of September 11, 2001, the text of the speech will be displayed in the five colors of the United States’ Department of Homeland Security alert system—red, orange, yellow, blue, and green.  This historical coincidence—and the fact that the speech was delivered at the earliest attempt to create a global dialogue of faiths—heightens the potency of Vivekananda’s persuasive words. The resulting work, Public Notice 3, creates a trenchant commentary on the evolution, or devolution, of religious tolerance across the 20th and 21st centuries. The installation will serve not as a passive commemorative act but rather as an actively contemplative space.  Public Notice 3 draws on Kallat’s earlier works, Public Notice and Public Notice 2, which also converted historic texts into large-scale installations. In Public Notice (2003), Kallat converted the text of Jawaharlal Nehru’s speech on the eve of Indian independence on August 15, 1947 into mutable rubber cement letters, which were then melted, burned, and installed against a reflective surface, lending the speech itself a violent, refractory cast. For Public Notice 2 (2008), Kallat recreated Mahatma Gandhi’s 1930 speech before the historic march protesting the British salt tax—which essentially outlined a manifesto for Indian independence on the foundation of civil disobedience—into 4500 fiberglass letters that appear to be bones. Public Notice 2 was recently one of the centerpieces of the Saatchi gift of contemporary art to the British nation.  Documenting the Art Institute’s undertaking of Public Notice 3 will be a full-color, 80-page book that will be the first full-scale exploration of Jitish Kallat's work published by a North American institution. The contents will include an article by curator Madhuvanti Ghose that contextualizes Public Notice 3 within the space of the museum; an essay by Shaheen Merali on Kallat's oeuvre that situates it within an international context, focusing on key themes and works; extensive images of Public Notice 3; a conversation with the artist and scholars, including Art Institute director James Cuno, Homi Bhabha (Harvard), Jeremy Strick, Geeta Kapur, James Rondeau (AIC), and Madhu Ghose (AIC); and a complete bibliography and exhibition history.

The Art Institute of Chicago | Jitish Kallat | Art Institute Grand Staircase |

[Shoubhik]

NOT ONLY IS VIVEKANANDA RELEVANT TODAY... BUT HIS VIEWS AND TEACHINGS
ARE GREATLY NEEDED IN TODAY'S MATERIALISTIC WORLD...

On Oct 31, 2:30 pm, "webmaster rkmath.org"

<webmasterrkmath....@gmail.com> wrote:
> Sep. 21, 2010 at

> 10:43am<http://visualculturist.tumblr.com/post/1161623923/the-public-will-def...>
> chicago landmarks<http://visualculturist.tumblr.com/tagged/chicago_landmarks>Art
> Institute of Chicago<http://visualculturist.tumblr.com/tagged/Art_Institute_of_Chicago>Jitish
> Kallat <http://visualculturist.tumblr.com/tagged/Jitish_Kallat>World's
> Columbian Exposition<http://visualculturist.tumblr.com/tagged/World%27s_Columbian_Exposition>

> The public will definitely notice

> this<http://visualculturist.tumblr.com/post/1161623923/the-public-will-def...>

>
> I am  dazzled by Public Notice #3, Jitish Kallat’s site specific
> installation at the Art Institute’s Grand Staircase, and not simply because
> it’s composed of thousands of LED lights.
>

> The lights spell out the text of a speech calling for widespread acceptance
> of all religious beliefs that a Hindu cleric named Swami Vivekananda
> delivered before the World’s Parliament of Religions on September 11, 1893.
> [Yes.] The Parliament — the first of its kind — was actually a part of the
> World’s Columbian Exposition, and the Swami actually delivered his speech in
> what was then a spanking new Art Institute building’s Fullerton Hall — just
> steps away from the staircase in question.
>
> The LED lights are shaded to represent the five color-coded levels of
> terrorist alert that the US Dept of Homeland Security established after the
> events of 9/11/2001.
>

> This isn’t just conceptually brilliant — the conflation of the Art Institute
> and the 1893  Fair and the topic of religious tolerance with the post 9/11
> atmosphere. It’s finely executed [despite its electric quality and the
> rainbow coloration of the lights against the black ground, it doesn’t scream
> at you] and visually powerful — a thrilling transformation of an iconic
> interior space.
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
>
> [image: Staircase with swamiji's speech.jpg]
>
> [image: Jitish.Kallat.27-1024x650.jpg]
>

> <http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php>Jitish Kallat to Present Provocative

> Work of Art on Art Institute's Grand Staircase
>

> Jitish Kallat visited the Art Institute a couple of weeks ago and installed
> a mock up of his installation.
>

> *CHICAGO, IL.-* This fall, acclaimed contemporary artist Jitish Kallat turns

> the landmark Art Institute Grand Staircase into a meditation on religious
> tolerance, drawing on the museumʼs own history in concert with the most
> devastating terrorist attack on American soil. Public Notice 3, a
> site-specific installation, brings together two key historical moments: the
> first Parliament of the World’s Religions, opening on September 11, 1893, in
> what is now the museum’s Fullerton Hall, and the terrorist attacks on the
> World Trade Center and the Pentagon 108 years later, on that very date.
> Public Notice 3—the first major presentation of Kallat’s work in an American

> museum—*will be on view September 11, 2010 through January 2, 2011.*
>
> The Art Institute of Chicago <http://www.artinstituteofchicago.org/> has

> long held a unique historical connection with India. In 1893, during the
> World's Columbian Exposition, the museum's building served as the site of
> one of the most important gatherings in the history of modern religion, the
> first World’s Parliament of Religions. One of the opening speakers was a
> young Hindu monk from India, Swami Vivekananda, who stunned and enthralled
> the audience of 7,000 with an address that opened one of the first dialogues
> between Eastern and Western traditions and, importantly, argued passionately
> for universalism and religious tolerance. Exactly 108 years before the
> attacks in New York City and Washington, DC, Swami Vivekananda called for an
> end to all “bigotry and fanaticism” and pleaded for brotherhood across all
> faiths, a speech that was met with a standing ovation and was heralded by

> journalists as one of the pivotal moments of the Exposition. (*Even today,

> the stretch of Michigan Avenue in front of the Art Institute is the honorary

> “Swami Vivekananda Way.”*)

> Chicago<http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=40542&int_modo=1>
>  | Jitish Kallat<http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=40542&int_modo=1>
>  | Art Institute Grand
> Staircase<http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=40542&int_modo=1>

>  |
>
>  Staircase with swamiji's speech.jpg

> 877KViewDownload
>
>  Jitish.Kallat.27-1024x650.jpg
> 287KViewDownload

[bileh choudhury]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lleco1mfYAY

--
SWADHYAYA PRAVACHANABHYAM NA PRAMADITAVYAM
{Be not negligent about the study and exposition of scriptures. - Taittriya Upanishad}
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[Bharat Churiwala]

Adarneeya Maharajji,
 
Saadar Pranaams.
 
I am actually OVER-WHELMED by this as well as Video of Kamarpukur Temple Commemoration and have no words to express my
personal gratitude for sharing such excellent posts!!!!
 
BHarat Churiwala