Harsha Vinay, Dr. Johannes Beltz
Drone view of Varanga Jain temple, Varanga, Karnataka, 2021.
The series of films, Asceticism – a day in the life of…, Vihara – a path to salvation, and The Crow and the Palm Fruit, showcases the lives of ascetic monks and nuns from the Jain community in South and Central India. They give an insight into their lived ascetic practices of pilgrimage, renunciation, non-violence and Sallekhana or the practice of voluntary fasting unto death. Filmed over a period of two years (2020 – 2022), across four states of India, the films were conceived specifically for the exhibition, Being Jain: Art and Culture of an Indian Religion by Museum Rietberg, Zurich in collaboration with Green Barbet, India.
The film screenings will be followed by an informal conversation by Dr. Johannes Beltz, Deputy Director and Curator of South Asian art at the Museum Rietberg, Zurich, and Harsha Vinay, Co-curator and Director, Green Barbet India Ltd, with an audience Q&A.
The film screenings have been curated under Living Cultures, MAP’s public programming theme for the quarter. Through this theme, we explore the practices and evolution of cultures: shaping identity, representing beliefs, but also reimagined and revived by new encounters and changing contexts.
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