A three-part series produced by BBC 4 

In a series about the extraordinary stories behind maps, Professor Jerry Brotton, British historian, Professor of Renaissance Studies, Queen Mary University of London uncovers how maps aren't simply about getting from A to B, but are revealing snapshots of defining moments in history and tools of political power and persuasion.

Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession – Episode 1:

Windows on the World | (60 min; 2010; English) | ( Click here to watch )
Director: Rosie Schellenberg

Professor Jerry Brotton explains the creation and importance of maps, discovering the latest technology being used to improve the cartographer's art and revolutionise mankind's knowledge of the world. On a visit to the oldest known map, etched into a hillside 3,000 years ago, he considers how different cultures have approached map-making over millennia, often as a tool for expansionism and political control.
 

Mozart: Requiem Mass in D minor, K. 626 (50 min)
Recorded live at Grieghallen in 6 October 2017 with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra

Requiem Mass by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart who composed a part of the Requiem in 1791 in Vienna but it was unfinished at his death on 5 December the same year. It was completed in 1792 by Franz Xaver Süssmayr. Mozart's Requiem is a choral masterpiece whose genesis is shrouded in mystery – one that makes the piece all the more fascinating and emotionally stirring.

Conductor: Thierry Fischer
With Ann-Helen Moen (soprano); Kristina Hammarström (mezzo soprano); Thorbjørn Gulbrandsøy (tenor); and Leon Kosavic (bass baritone)

Bergen Philharmonic Chorus; and Edvard Grieg Choir
Chorus Master: Håkon Matti Skrede

W.B. Yeats: No Country for Old Men (Ireland) | (55 min; 2012; English)
Director: Maurice Sweeney

Maurice Sweeney’s documentary about the Irish poet W.B. Yeats concentrates on his later work and the themes that inspired him as he aged. His best-known poetry is his early work, but it is now acknowledged that perhaps his greatest poems followed his Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.

In the Shadow of Time (Samayara Chhaire) | (59 min; 2016; Oriya with English subtitles)

Director: Shankhajeet De

Recipient of the 64th National Film Award for Best Documentary on Art and Culture, National Film Awards 2017. Feature length documentary film that explores the journey of the Ravanna Chhaya, shadow puppet form practised in Odisha. Popular for its interplay of translucent dark shadows, and the use of lyrical Odiya poetic rendition of the Ramayana. The fil puts forwards a persuasive voice of the present-day puppeteer reflecting the changes the tradition has undergone in the last 40 years in the name of keeping it alive.

https://www.facebook.com/IGNCA/videos/1046960122383158/

 FILMS BY NINA SABANI

Hum Chitra Banate Hain | (8.50 min; 2015; with English subtitles)
A film by Nina Sabnani

“Hum Chitra Banate Hain” is an animated interpretation of an origin myth from the Bhil community in Madhya Pradesh, India. For the Bhil community painting is like offering a prayer and the film reveals why. The film is a collaboration between the indigenous artist Sher Singh from the Bhil community and film maker Nina Sabnani where they explore ways of telling together. The film won the National Award Rajat Kamal for the Best Animation Film for 2016.

https://youtu.be/s7S3wpf-XDM

Tanko Bole Chhe | (The Stiches Speak; 12.04 min; with English subtitles)
A film by Nina Sabnani

Tanko Bole Chhe is an animated documentary which celebrates the art and passion of the Kutch artisans associated with Kala Raksha. The film traces multiple journeys made by the participants towards defining their identities and towards forming the Kala Raksha Trust and the School for Design. The film uses their narrative art of appliqué and embroideries through which they articulate their responses to life, and events as traumatic as the earthquake and as joyful as flying a kite. Through conversations and memories four voices share their involvement in the evolution of a craft tradition.

https://youtu.be/CfjReP7SlnA

Baat Wahi Hai (It’s the same story/13.38 min)
A film by Nina Sabnani

In the film Baat Wahi Hai two storytellers argue about their version of a story on Shravan Kumar, as listeners are free to interpret it in their own ways. The art for the film uses the painted images from the wooden portable shrine called the Kaavad. The film is a collaborative work between traditional Kaavad storytellers and the Kaavad artists from Rajasthan, together with the filmmaker. A combination of animation and live-action, the film is an interpretation of two stories told by the storytellers, which are fused in the act of telling and retelling.

https://youtu.be/ab47VL1DAYY

Mukund and Riyaz (8.26 min)
A film by Nina Sabnani

Mukand and Riaz is a story based on the fragmented memories of Mukand who remembers and misses his friend Riaz, his childhood friend. Although their interests were different they were the best of friends. Riaz always looked out for Mukand and was very protective of him. When the partition of India and Pakistan happened in 1947, Riaz helped Mukand and his family to escape safely. Mukand was fourteen when he waved goodbye to his friend. The two friends never met again and the hope is that this film may bring them together.

https://youtu.be/g6C9HWVsNd0

Organised in collaboration with New Imaginations, Jindal School of Journalism and Communication. Curated by Kishalay Bhattacharjee, Associate Professor and Director, New Imaginations, O. P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat

This year’s edition of the festival, Tell me a Story will be held as a virtual festival focusing on the theme of storytelling. The festival will showcase a slice of folk/traditional craft and contemporary art that were originally storytelling rituals with a visual and performative aspect that overtime became a practise. The virtual festival includes exhibitions, film screenings, and talks/discussions. 

Art as Storytelling
Online exhibition of paintings, photographs and photographic collages, illustrations, texts and video installation.

Works by Prakash Patra, Pattachitra artist from Bhubaneswar; photographic collages and painting by Isaac Tsetan Gergan from Ladakh; illustrations by Sirawon Tulisen Khathing from Shillong with texts by Rachel Lyngdoh; crafting stories by Siddhartha Das; and photographs and video installation by Parasher Baruah

https://artspaces.kunstmatrix.com/node/7467108

Illustrated lecture by Siddhartha Das, curator, designer, visual artist and teacher

Siddhartha Das will share some of the projects done in the last 20 years, where he has created spaces, installations and products collaborating with traditional craftspeople and artists from across the country

The lecture will be accessible from 10 am on 12th August 2021 until 7 pm on 14th August 2021 

Special video recording of the lecture for ArtEast 2021

https://youtu.be/xrF46mYhl5M

Living Stories: Storytelling Traditions of India | (26 min; 2011; English and with subtitles)
Director: Neela Venkataraman

The film takes us on a journey to different parts of India, to explore the different kinds of storytelling arts in India – from Pandvani, a storytelling art in Chhattisgarh to Kathakali in Kerala

https://youtu.be/QgcCsh_8f50

Unfolding the Pata Story | (54 min; 2014; Bengali with English subtitles)
Director: Supriyo Sen

The film celebrates the unique life and dynamic spirit of the Patua community - of Rupban, Rani, Dukhushyam and other traditional scroll painter, who have fought all odds to redefine their position as social commentators in the global world.

https://youtu.be/m9yUY0sRa50

Janambhumi Charaoli (Leaving my Motherland) | (12 min; 2021; English subtitles)
Director: Parasher Baruah

A short documentary on the songs of the Adivasi community working in the tea gardens of Assam. The film explores the history of migration and displacement through their songs. The film examines popular songs like Choi Mini Assam Jabo and how they identify themselves in a home where they are forever outsiders
                

https://youtu.be/ZPHvZgVCoQA

Divinity Cloth – Mata ni Pachedi ( 7 min)
Director: Partha Protim Baruah

This short film is an introduction to the making of Mata ni Pachedi, an impressive form of textile art that serves the purpose of a shrine for the marginalized and excluded.

https://youtu.be/9icNrvcejcI

Of Bards and Beggars (30 min; 2003; English subtitles)
Directors: Shweta Kishore, Yask Desai 

Of Bards and Beggars documents in detail a musical ritual called Pabuji Jaagran, an all-night epic recitation by Rajasthani folk musicians. This story centres around a folk deity called Pabuji, a protector of livestock. The Pabuji legend is widely popular in Western Rajasthan among a shepherd community from the Rebari (Raika) caste. An oral tradition passed from generation to generation by word of mouth, the entire Pabuji epic would take 36 hours to recite.

The film will be accessible from 10 am on 12th August 2021 until 7 pm on 14th August 2021 

https://youtu.be/DHwyVFlkMwA