SCREENING, ARTIST TALK, AND WORKSHOP: "Urban Nightscapes"

This is an Archive of a Past Event

SCREENING: APR 7 at 4PM | PROSSER STUDIO THEATER
ARTIST TALK WITH MAYA RAO: APR 8 at 4:15-5PM | ROOM 125, MEMORIAL HALL
WORKSHOP WITH MAYA RAO: APR 8 at 5-6PM | ROOM 129, MEMORIAL HALL 

We are proud to bring the Stanford community two of India’s leading contemporary artists: visual artist Pushpamala and solo performer Maya Rao. In a unique double bill, these two artists will present their work: Pushpamala’s film "Paris Autumn," followed by Maya Rao’s solo piece, "Walk." Together, these works explore noir and uncanny nightscapes of the urban India metropolis.

About Pushmapala and “Paris Autumn”
Since the mid 1990s, Pushmapala has been mainly working in photo performance and video, exhibiting widely all over India and internationally. She uses women's stories and women's material as a device to explore history, memory and contemporary society.

“Paris Autumn” is a work of fiction in the style of a gothic thriller. The idea for the work came to Pushpamala during a stay in Paris in 2006, where she was invited on a three month artist residency. While she rented a room in one of the oldest streets in the Marais district, strange happenings began to occur. It was then she realized she was living in the out-houses of the mansion that had once belonged to Gabrielle d'Estrées, King Henri IV's favourite mistress, who died, poisoned no doubt, at the age of twenty-six just as she was about to marry the king. From that moment on, Pushpamala had to find out about this woman who had come to such a tragic end. The action takes place at various points throughout Paris that Pushpamala, stroller and detective graced with the gift of ubiquity, assembles into a strange map.

About Maya Rao and “Walk”
Maya Rao is currently a professor of theatre in the School of the Arts, Shiv Nadar University (New Delhi). A believer of education through theater, she has also taught ‘Acting’ in the National School of Drama and is a recipient of The Sangeet Natak Akademi Award. Since the late 1970s, she has produced a body of work that has provoked her audiences to delve into social and political issues. She has also done stand-up comedy shows dedicated to social issues.

“Walk” was made in response to the horrific gang rape and tragic death of Jyoti Pande in December 2012.It not only articulates current concerns of issues relating to rape, sexual molestation, gender sensitivity and access to public spaces, but it also seeks to unite men and women regarding core humane issues. Says Rao, “I had to talk to people about what has gone wrong with our public life, our families, our civil behavior, our laws. ‘Walk’ was therefore a medium for the talk that I wanted to initiate.”

This event is sponsored by Stanford Global Studies, Center for South Asia, TAPS and San Jose Museum of Art.