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| PEM Hosts Sensational India |
Press Release
03/19/2009
Saturday and Sunday, April 4 and April 5 
10 am–5 pm
All events included with museum admission
Sensational India! honors PEM’s unparalleled 200-year legacy of cultural exchange with India. Join us for this two-day festival as we make connections between the rich Indian art and culture represented in our collections and India’s remarkable performing arts — traditional and contemporary — in its many exciting forms. We’ll celebrate with art, dance, music, film, food, hands-on art activities and more. Families, hear tales from India read by storytellers, learn your fortune from a parrot and create rangoli art.
Made possible by Samir and Nilima Desai; The Desai Family Foundation
View video, Sensational India!
Gallery Talks: ReVisions, Indian Artists Engaging Traditions
10–11 am, ReVisions Galleries
Reservations by April 2
Led by exhibition co-curators Susan Bean and Kimberly Masteller
Interactive Artist Demonstration
Warli Painting
11 am–4 pm, Atrium
The simple, geometric shapes of Warli mural painting produce complex designs, traditionally on the mud wall interiors of homes. Red ochre pigment formed the background, and white gum paste was applied with a bamboo reed. Artist Sunanda Sahay demonstrates the technique and invites visitors to contribute to a mural.
Family Gallery Explorations
India!
10:30 am and 3:30 pm, Indian Art Galleries
Visitors of all ages are invited on these 20-minute interactive tours of Indian art.
Family Art Activities
Torana Door Hangings
1–3 pm, Art Studios
Saturday, April 4 Only
Adult Cooking Demonstration
A Taste of India
11 am–noon, Bartlett Gallery
Reservations by April 2
Chef Shruti Mehta creates traditional Indian dishes and shares the secrets of this aromatic cuisine. Her demonstration and stories link the art of cooking with everyday life in India.
Film 
The Jungle Book
1967, 78 minutes
11 am–12:30 pm, Morse Auditorium
Reservations by April 2
For all ages
Set in an Indian jungle, this song-filled adventure follows a boy named Mowgli on his way to the man-village with a variety of animal friends, including the lovable bear Baloo. Afterward, make your own finger puppets.
Musical Performances
Carnatic Ensemble
Noon–12:30 pm, Atrium
Durga Krishnan, a renowned veena player and director of the New England School of Carnatic Music, performs with her accomplished students. The ensemble includes flute, mridangam, veena and violin players, and vocalists.
Indo-American Fusion
12:30–1 pm, Atrium
The Bangalore Ensemble shares the sounds of Indo-American fusion, based on Hindustani, North Indian classical music.
You couldn’t believe what you were seeing — dancing so rich, so deep diving!
–The New Yorker
Dance Performance
Nrityagram Dance Ensemble
1:30–2:30 pm, Atrium
Nrityagram of India transports viewers to enchanted worlds of magic and spirituality with the sensuous flow of Odissi, one of the oldest of India’s classical dance forms.
Presentation
Indian Classical Dance and the Arts of India — A Conversation
3–4 pm, Morse Auditorium
For adults
Reservations by April 2
Susan Bean, curator of South Asian and Korean art, and Surupa Sen, artistic director of the renowned Nrityagram Dance Ensemble, discuss the interconnections between dance and other art forms in India, from music to poetry, architecture and painting.
Musical Performances
Hindustani
4–4:30 pm, Atrium
Shuchita Rao and students from the New England School of Carnatic Music present Hindustani music with vocalists, harmonium and tabla players.
Fusion of Jazz and Carnatic
4:30–5 pm, Atrium
The KrishnaRasi group presents of Indo-American fusion, based on Carnatic music, with jazz keyboard, veena, mridangam and tabla.
Sunday, April 5 Only
Film
Brick Lane
2008, 101 minutes, directed by Sarah Gavron
11 am–1:30 pm, Morse Auditorium
For adults
Reservations by April 2
A young South Asian woman arrives in 1980s London, leaving behind her beloved home for an arranged marriage and a new life. Trapped in a small apartment and loveless marriage, she struggles to accept her lifestyle and maintain her traditional ways.
Dance Workshop
Odissi
1:30–3 pm, East India Marine Hall
For teens and adults
Reservations by April 2
Learn the technique and nuances of movement in Odissi from Nrityagram dancers. Dance training is not required.
Dance Demonstrations and Performances
Traditional Indian Folk Dance
1–2 and 4–5 pm, Atrium
Dressed in lavish, traditional costumes, young members of Boston Bhangra perform lively agricultural folk dances from the Punjab region of India.
Award-Winning Author and Actress Madhur Jaffrey
2:30 pm, Morse Auditorium
Reservations by April 3
Regarded by many as the world authority on Indian food, Madhur Jaffrey is an award-winning actress and best-selling cookbook author. At PEM she discusses her newest work, Climbing the Mango Trees: A Memoir of a Childhood in India, an appealing account of an unusual childhood and a testament to the power of food to prompt memory. The book includes recipes for more than 30 delicious dishes that are recovered from Jaffrey¹s childhood.
A book signing follows the lecture. This program made possible in part by the George Swinnerton Parker Memorial Lecture Fund.
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