Preface
constitution building is a specialist's job; it involves a dream, a passion, and a will to implement an almost impossible aim. The task of the individual becomes difficult when he/she has to find a Location, because without that the purpose becomes a utopian dream. Rabindranath Tagore found such a location for which we must credit his Father Maharshi Debendranath Tagore who on his sojurn to the Himalaya took a different path and discovered a barren land with which he fell in love. It was an ideal place for his meditation. The unused land became the Idea of Santiniketan. It is said that the name Santiniketan already existed before Debendranath bought the land from the local zamindar. However, this has not been supported by any archival or any other relevant documents. To transform this virgin land into an educational institution needed a herculean task. Rabindranath's vision of an educational institution needed not only the philosophical inclination of giving shape to the ideals that he pursued, but also a very pragmatic approach to give a meaning to that unused Land. Tagore worked like a farmer or a labourer to see that what he desired or dreamt found meaning and bore fruits to become an International Institution of rare value. Value is the key word. What values did Rabindranath want to inculcate among his fellow countrymen, a citizen of a subservient culture or an international citizen who knew his soil well? At a time when the country was struggling to free itself from the Colonial rule, Tagore realised that the best way to liberate one was to make men of values rather than following the stereotypes. He nurtured the values of the ordinary, the unchartered territory of inquiry into the life-world hitherto unknown. This required immense patience, the choice of the right man to Head the Institution and subsequently search and discover the right persons who could not only teach in the Institution but also become one with the values of the Institution, to be one with the nature, the environment and people who willingly joined the School and became a Ashramite. Tagore travelled far and wide, from the far East to the West, picked up what was best in that country's cultural tradition and also made a choice of the artists and scholars, convinced them to join Santiniketan. especially, Kala Bhavana. It must be said that the first Department Tagore started in Santiniketan was Kala Bhavana and Sangeet Bhavan, the two pillars of culture which he thought would contribute immensely in making the complete man, and how prophetic it turned out to be. These two departments brought a variety of artists from different cultural backgrounds to Santiniketan. Kala Bhavana was started in 1919, it is a hundred years history now we are inherited and lived with, but I must say, that the life force of Kala Bhavana, its tradition of modernity will be highly valued for centuries to come. Lalit Kala Akademi is happy and proud to be part of this wonderful tradition by way of publishing a book on the history, idea and the art practice which has given us a galaxy of brilliant artists which have made us proud of our tradition of modernity. I hope this book will be well received by the artists community across the globe.
About The Book
Why do people/individuals take the trouble of making institutions? One can understand why Governments take initiative to build institutions in a given social and political situation but individuals rarely take such an initiative. Rabindranath Tagore was a special man and he took it upon himself to make an institution of rare characteristic. Tagore, Normally considered as a poet of great sensitivity, took it upon himself to start a new institution called Kala Bhavana in Santiniketan. He conceptualised a different institution compared to the ones created by British in Kolkata known as Government College of Art and Crafts. Kala Bhavana is now 100 years old. Going through its history, we can clearly say it has contributed in making a new Modern art India. This book published by Lalit Kala Akademi is a comprehensive document of the history, the ideas and open practice which is seductive and the same time autonomous in nature.
Introduction
Tagore under Scanners Rabi Tagore-Suspect no. 11 The Dainik Basumati (Calcutta) of the 30th August, 1915 writes: "Sir Rabindranath Tagore is honoured both in this country and by the outside world. Shortly before obtaining his title, he was even seen to be visiting Mr. Gounlay, the Governor's private Secretary. Nevertheless, the police persist in regarding him as an old suspect ......We hear that when he comes to Calcutta, the beat Reports at the Jorasanko that 'Rabi Tagore. Suspect no 11 is at Calcutta. This excites both laughter and anger." Courtesy: A Tribute to Rabindranath Tagore Glimpses from Archival Reconds. Directorate of State Archives, Government of West Bengal. 2011. There were Secret Police Report and information about Rabindranath Tagore's Santiniketan and Visva-Bharati at Bolpur, District Birbhum. The report gave details of kind of educational activities, the names of the persons involved in the teachings at Santiniketan. A secret letter/memo of the office of the IB Department, Government of Bengal talks of an agent (student) who was placed in the hostel of Kala Bhavana to report back to the police about each and every student residing in the Hostel. File no. coll. 743 of the Intelligence Branch (File no285/1925), reveals that a registered letter from Germany to Rabindranath Tagore was received by him in Santiniketan which had another letter from Dacca in Bengali in the same envelope. This itself was a matter of suspicion and sufficiently mysterious otherwise how a letter from Germany and another one in Bengali from Dacca was found in the same envelope? The probability is that both the letters addressed to Tagore were opened in some Government office at Calcutta. The fact remains that Tagore's correspondences were under scrutiny by the British. In a letter from T A Sloan, Home Department to the Secretary, P&J department, India Office dated 22nd October, 1925 (Home Political) Dept. File no 181/1925 (A. N. I), there is a detailed report on Sir Rabindranath Tagore's School in Bolpur which says: "In the present instance... I consider that it is necessary to keep Sir Rabindranath Tagore's Institution under observation and in the event of management passing into other hands its activities may demand very close attention... Courtesy: A Tribute to Rabindranath Glimpses from Archival Records, Directorate of State Archives, Government of West Bengal. 2011. ... a File no 4. A/26 copy of a London Report of the Intelligence Branch (File no. 285/1925) discusses in great details about Lisa Louisa von Pott, painter and sculptress desiring to visit Santiniketan to work as Secretary of Sir Rabindranath Tagore. Eventually, she was also teaching at Kala Bhavana, and one of the first European artists to come to Santiniketan. She was considered quite inoffensive from the Allied point of view, the intelligence report was not so considerate about her sister who was the Chief of the Secret Police of the Austrian Legation in Brussels. An extract from the report of an I.B officer dated Chandernagore, 11th February, 1931 give details of two Japanese teachers present in Santiniketan, one of them, Mr. Takagaki, a jujutsu teacher and the other name is Mr Konosan, who was teaching carpentry in Surul (Sriniketan) with family. Apart from this information, the Intelligence Branch had every detail of Rabindranath's lectures in India as well as his foreign travels and the lectures he delivered there.
About The Author
Amit Mukhopadhyay Studied Art Criticism and Art History from Faculty of Fine Arts, M. S. University, Vadodara. Junior Research Fellow of the ICHR from 1978-1981. Fellow, Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla from 1987-1989. Senior Fellow, Department of Culture, Government of India from 2013-2015. Published a book on 'Fragmented Text' in 1993. Founder Member of the REALIST Group established in 1987. Curated several exhibitions of Contemporary Art including Edge of the Century in 1999-2000. Worked as Editor of Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi looking after the Contemporary publications in English Language, especially the Journal "Lalit Kala Contemporary." Worked as Editor and Curator, Emami Chisel Art, Kolkata from 2008-2011. Recent interests are in Critical Theory with specific interests in the works of Theodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer and Jurgen Habermas of the Frankfurt School. Published an e book on "Theodor W Adorno's Wall Clock', 2021. Developing interests in the works of Enlightenment thinkers like Voltaire and Diderot.
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