Lovers, Demons and Kitchen Utensils - Two Millennia of Indian Ramayana Stories
Paula Richman
Monday 7 July 2008
Over the centuries and across the regions of India in its many languages, the extraordinary story of Rama and Sita has been told and enacted in ways that have kept listeners, readers, and audiences spellbound. Drawing on more than 25 years of research on renditions of the Ramayana, Paula Richman surveys tellings dating from the 8th century to the present, as told by poets, artists, playwrights, and grandparents from the hills of the Himalayas to the region where the Bay of Bengal meets the Arabian Sea.
Paula Richman is William H. Danforth Professor of South Asian Religions at Oberlin College, USA.
Event Time: 18.30-20.00
Location: Conference Centre, British Library
Price: £6 (concessions £4)
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The Big Bollywood Dance Class
Tuesday 8 July 2008
Led by Jay Kumar's DanceAsia as a part
of Big Dance 2008, a London-wide season that aims
to get everyone moving. Suitable for all ages and abilities.
Event Time: 13.00 - 14.00
Location: Piazza, British Library
Price: Free (advanced bookings not required)
Visualising the Ramayana - A Study Day
Tuesday 8 July 2008
Perhaps
more than any other story in world literature, the Bible included,
the Ramayana has been imaginatively represented
in a vast variety of different forms. From ancient painting and
sculpture, via shadow puppetry, dance, community plays and mask
drama, to contemporary shrines, calendars and diwali effigies. To
say nothing of an ever growing catalogue of TV series, films and
cartoons. A day of presentations and discussions exploring some
of this remarkable richness that still flourishes across Asia.
Contributors include Mary Brockington ,associate
of the Sanskrit Department, School of Asian Studies at the University
of Edinburgh; theatre directors Jatinder Verma (Tara
Arts) and Indhu Rubasingham; Matthew Cohen
(Wayang Kulit puppeteer and Senior Lecturer at
the Department of Drama and Theatre, UCL Holloway); Stuart
Blackburn (School of African and Oriental Studies, London)
Kathakali performer Kalamandalam Vijayakumar;
and animator Nina Paley, whose film Sita Sings
The Blues will be shown in the evening. Other participants
to be finalised.
Event Time: 10.00 - 16.30
Location: Conference Centre, British Library
Price: £25 (£15 concessions)
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Film: Sita Sings the Blues
Tuesday 8 July 2008
Nina Paley, USA , 2008, 82 mins
Sita is a goddess separated from her beloved Lord and husband
Rama. Nina is an animator whose husband moves to India, then dumps
her by email. Three hilarious shadow puppets narrate both ancient
tragedy and modern comedy in this dazzlingly animated new interpretation
of the Ramayana.
Set to the 1920s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw, Sita Sings
the Blues earns its tagline as "the greatest break-up
story ever told".
Directed, written, produced, designed and animated by Nina Paley, who will introduce the screening.
Event Time: 18.30 - 20.00
Location: Conference Centre, British Library
Price: £6 (£4 concessions)
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Rama's Story - How it Began
John Brockington
Wednesday 9 July 2008
Around the 5th century BC a gifted poet composed the basic story
which we know as the Ramayana. Ever since
its first telling, it has been growing and changing in response
to its audience's expectations.
Rama's story in its original conception and early transmission
reflects the interests and concerns of the warrior aristocracy:
Rama is a martial hero whose actions are accepted without question
as necessary and so justified. Next he becomes a moral hero, then
a regal but still human figure; later he becomes divine.
The styles, techniques and motives involved in this continuing
process of re-creation will be explored as it leads first to the
establishment of the text in written form and then to a generally
accepted full text during the high point of classical Indian culture,
the Gupta period, around the 4th century AD - the Sanskrit Ramayana
commonly ascribed to Valmiki.
John Brockington is Honorary Fellow, and former
Professor of Sanskrit at the University of Edinburgh.
Event Time: 18.30 - 20.00
Location: Conference Centre, British Library
Price: £6 (£4 concessions)
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Chhau Dance Performances
The Royal Rarhi Chhau Dancers
Thursday 10 - Monday 14 July 2008
A unique opportunity to experience the exuberance of chhau
- 'the masked dance of the ancient warrior', which is hugely
popular across the tr ibal areas of West Bengal and Bihar that make
up the former East Indian kingdom of Rarh. Magnificent outsized
masks, breathtaking acrobatics, wild combat and comedy scenes accompanied
by powerful drumming make these performances of the Ramayana
stories unmissable.
Suitable for all ages.
Photograph: Teresa Franco
Event Time: Weekdays at 17.45 - 19.00
Saturday at 14.30 - 15.45
Sunday at 13.00 - 14.15
Location: Piazza, British Library
Price: Free (advanced booking not required)
Film: Ramayana - The Legend of Prince Rama
Tuesday 15 July 2008
Yugo Sako, Ram Mohan, Japan/India, 1992, 170 mins
A fabulous animated version of the Ramayana
that combines the visual flair of Japanese manga and anime
(not unlike the work of Spirited Away director Miyazaki)
with Indian art forms, resulting a spectacular epic of battles scenes,
superhuman feats and magical weaponry that anticipates modern CGI
epics, yet remains faithful to Valmiki's original.
Suitable for all ages. Screened with thanks to Shringar Films
Event Time: 18.30 - 21.15
Location: Conference Centre, British Library
Price: £6 (£4 concessions)
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Film: Sampurna Ramayan
Monday 21 July 2008
Babuhai Mistry, 1961, India
One of the greatest film versions, awash with memorable music and starring Mahipal and Anita Guha as Rama and Sita.
Please note that screenings may be from DVD.
Event Time: 18.30 - 21.15
Location: Conference Centre, British Library
Price £6 (£4 concessions)
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Dance Performance
Monday 28 July 2008
A dance programme illustrating episodes from the Ramayana by young dancers from the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. Both North Indian Kathak Dance and South Indian Bharatanatyam Dance styles will be on display.
The Bhavan Centre is the largest centre for Indian
art and culture in the UK and they offer training at all levels
for dance, music, languages and yoga. In association with Trinity
College of Music (Trinity Laban), the Bhavan also offers a B.Mus
degree in Indian Music.
Event Time: 13.00-13.50
Location: Piazza, British Library
Price: Free (advanced booking not required)
Ramayana - The Triumph of Light Over Darkness
Vayu Naidu Company
Monday 28 and Tuesday 29 July 2008
Join us as we light up the timeless and enduring world of the Ramayana
with the flame of enchanting storytelling and the incense
of music. Meet a magical eagle, an amazing flying monkey who shrinks
and expands, a ghastly many-headed demon king and mythical warriors;
visit a mirror palace under the sea, enchanted gardens, and a monumental
bridge over the ocean between India and Sri Lanka.
Acclaimed storyteller Vayu Naidu re-imagines this much-loved story for all ages, and cultures.
Photograph: Robert Day
Event Time: Monday at 14.00 and 18.30; Tuesday
at 18.30
Location: Conference Centre, British Library
Price: £7.50 (£5 concessions, including 18 years and under)
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