The University and the Community

Convener: Amrita Gupta Singh
Speakers: H.A. Anilkumar, Nikhil Chopra, Annapurna Garimella, Sanchayan Ghosh, Tushar Joag, George Jose, Parvez Kabir, Johny ML, Sudhir Patwardhan, and Abhay Sardesai

August 20 to 25, 2007 | 11.30 am to 4.30 pm
Audio Visual Room, National Centre for the Performing Arts, Mumbai

What is the idea of a University? What is the ideal site for a University? Are there walls implied in the University’s ideal of openness? Is the University an abstraction? The University has been traditionally described as an arena of universal learning, to create an intellectual culture and ways of original thinking, an enjoyment of divergent knowledge systems, the development of a philosophical orientation, a space of free debate, joint enquiry, oppositional forums and ideological divides, in a liberal environment. But with the changing scenario of globalization, commoditization of education and the nebulous realms of information technology, the ‘philosophy of utility’ has replaced earlier visions of education and the role of learned societies, of scholars, of academic leaders and ‘liberal’ practitioners is increasingly put to question. The role of the political economy, aggressively capitalist, cannot be undermined in today’s context and as a norm for all higher education, the idea of a University also contains within itself a tension of defining and interpreting the ethical components of a ‘site’, especially in the context of the 21st century academy and the conservatism of the State’s directives. In this context, the ideas of ‘freedom’ and ‘original thinking’ become politically neutral, in an erosion of autonomy and sinking standards in ‘the dominion of the dons.’

While there is a community within the University, of faculties, students and administrative staff, there is also a community outside the University. How do these two communities interact with each other? What are the meeting zones and the corrosive sites? The University is seen as a sanctified space, a key community asset, a provider of higher education, culture and values, but is also viewed with suspicion, and this raises the question of life beyond the campus. How much of an external-internal complementarity exists between the two, or the encroachments that trigger frictions between these two communities. What is the role of the University in their socio-cultural and regional contexts? Is the University a self-regarding space, cut out from the outside world, and are liberal forms of thinking exclusive to its borders?

With the above observations in mind, a discussion cum workshop will focus on the dimensions of Fine Arts faculties’ vis-à-vis the role of Art. The studio spaces of students in these faculties are akin to a laboratory where experimentation of form, content and material are encouraged. Is the practice of art private? Art is full of paradoxes and functions as praxis, open to multiple interpretations. In the domains of culture, art practice is considered to be ‘free’, ‘radical’ and ‘liberal’, circumventing and collapsing existing ideologies, creating ruptures and fissures. Such possibilities of collapse often engender reactionary agencies, violent in their implications, with issues of censorship and moral policing coming to the fore. Art practice and intellectual freedom are marginalized and become minority oriented, in friction with the larger community outside the campus, with the play of regional politics, especially in the context of Indian universities. What is the definition of art or the position of the artist in society? Can the artist be an agent of social change, or does art exist for its own sake? What are the dialectical relationships between art, art education and society? Is art secular? How do artists relate in an increasingly intolerant public sphere?

Questions of liberty, responsibility, censorship, creative freedom versus national morality, liberal cosmopolitanism of an institutional space, fundamentalism and urban violence, the debates over merits and differences of works of art and how art institutions have always engaged with such debates will be addressed in this workshop, ideated as a studio-space, is proposed for thirty bachelors’ and masters’ course art students from the final and penultimate years of various art schools. Interested public are also welcome to join after registration at the Center.

Guest speakers have been invited to speak on the above issues and an open forum of collaboration and cohesion is encouraged among the participants. The Studio will conclude with documentary film screenings.