The Hindu April 21 2016, Manipal, Karnataka
The Centre for Creative and Cultural Studies (CCCS), an initiative of the Manipal University, to promote interdisciplinary studies in the areas of art, culture and society, was launched here on Wednesday. (Manipal)
The Centre will offer Ph.D, Masters and Bachelor in Creative Communication along with short-term certificate courses.
Inaugurating the centre, H. Vinod Bhat, Vice-Chancellor of Manipal University, said that the university had set a target of 100 centres by 2020.
But already, the university had set up 38 centres and by the end of August, this figure would reach 50. Some of the centres set up included Centre for North East Studies and K.K. Hebbar Art Centre.
The CCCS will promote culture and art appreciation among the students in Manipal University and also conduct art outreach programmes, he said.
A book “Moving images, multiple realities,” authored by film and culture critic N. Manu Chakravarthy, was released by renowned writer Vaidehi on the occasion.
Delivering the keynote address, Prof. Chakravarthy gave a detailed outline of culture and creativity in the country. He spoke mainly about paintings and sculptures, music and cinema. He explained what it meant to understand creative processes and to understand the relationship between creativity and culture.
Talking about cinema, he said that the West was not a homogenous category. “Many kinds of experiences emerge from the West. However, considering certain kind of West, as universal and different non-West art forms as national or regional is anomalous. Something that is really native can also be universal,” he said.
Art, culture and science were all integrated. “Creativity is unfettered and a mystery which holds a future for the younger generation,” Prof. Chakravarthy said. Earlier, speaking about the book, “Moving images, multiple realities,” Varadesh Hiregange, Director of Gandhian and Peace Studies, said that the book was a serious critical analysis of cinema as genre and as part of culture. Prof. Chakravarthy had tried to look at the trends in cinema from non-Western perspective.
The title itself indicated that there was not just one reality but multiple experiential and existential realities.
Other Press release:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mangaluru/Manipal-University-Centre-for-Creative-and-Cultural-Studies-to-start-from-April-20/articleshow/51857109.cms
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/centre-for-creative-and-cultural-studies-at-manipal/article8488384.ece
The Hindu April 18, 2016
Pre-Launch Press release:
The Centre for Creative and Cultural Studies, a new initiative of Manipal University, will be inaugurated by H. Vinod Bhat, Vice Chancellor of the University here at 10 a.m. on April 20.
The focus of the Centre will be on developing studies in the broader areas of Art, Culture and Society with a holistic interdisciplinary approach of studies from various academic field such as Fine Arts, Cultural Studies and Sociology, stated a press release.
Perhaps, one of its kind in India, the Centre will develop various courses such as short term three credit certificate courses on Art Appreciation and Creative Arts, Masters in Creative Studies and will be established as a Centre for Excellence in research with Ph.D programmes along with regular activities such as workshops, lectures etc.
The Centre will be headed by Unni Krishnan K., Associate Professor, a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral and Professional Research Fellowship Alumnus and a recipient of gold medal from former President of India A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.
Book release
During the inauguration of the Centre, there will also be the release of the book “Moving Images, Multiple Realities,” authored by N. Manu Chakravarthy, renowned Film and Culture Critic. Writer Vaidehi will release the book. Prof. Chakravarthy will deliver the keynote address on “Culture and Creativity in contemporary India’ on the occasion.
“Moving Images Multiple Realities” is a book which deals with diverse cinematic traditions that produce a whole range of images, while portraying the complex historical realities of individuals, societies and cultures of the non-Western world. In this particular sense, the essays in the book reveal a fundamental concern with divergent cinematic traditions and the heterogeneous contexts they emerge from.
Prof. Chakravarthy, a renowned film and culture critic, is Head of the Department of English at NMKRV College for Women, Bengaluru. He has been teaching critical theory, film theory, and feminist theory for over three decades to undergraduate and postgraduate students.
He has written extensively on music, literature and cinema in English and Kannada.
He has received the “Swarna Kamal” for film criticism (2010), the Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award for his work on cultural theory.
He has authored and edited several books, including U.R. Ananthamurthy’s “Omnibus,” “Hunt bangle Chameleon,” “Rujuvathu,” “Bharatipura,” and a book on Girish Kasarvalli’s films “Culturing Realism.” He has worked on several scripts and screenplays for documentary and feature films.
Symposium
The Centre will also conduct a workshop on film criticism with a research symposium on “Culture and Creativity” with oral research presentation by the students of School of Communication here on April 21.
