Rabindranath Tagore Exhibition, NYC

The Asia Society Museum in New York City is presenting an exhibition of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s paintings and drawings.

Titled, Rabindranath Tagore: The Last Harvest, the exhibition marks the 150th anniversary of Tagore’s birth, and is the first U.S. museum exhibition devoted to his artistic legacy. The exhibition comprises more than 60 works on paper, drawn from three collections in India.

The exhibition runs September 9 through December 31, 2011.

While I have a large volume of the collected works of Tagore’s poetry, which includes many illustrations, I must admit to being pretty much in the dark about his career as an artist. In deed, Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) is lauded around the world as a poet and writer, yet few outside India (including myself) know that he was also a highly regarded visual artist.

A transformative figure in the modern cultural history of India, Tagore began painting in 1924 at the age of 63 (there’s hope for me yet!). He had no formal training, but his artistic practice grew from his habits as a writer and poet, with revision marks and scratched out words on his manuscripts becoming free-form doodles.

He was encouraged to pursue art by his friend Victoria Ocampo, an Argentinian socialite and poet. With Ocampo’s help, Tagore mounted the first exhibition of his artwork in Paris in May 1930. The show then travelled to Europe, Russia and the United States, earning him much critical acclaim. He continued to paint until his death at the age of 80 in 1941.

Exhibition organization
The exhibition is divided into four thematic sections. A section titled The Beginning looks at the origins and development of his drawing and painting. Beyond the Pages explores Tagore’s landscape paintings. Discovery of Rhythm considers how his creative work in other fields, particularly music and dance, enabled Tagore to project movement and gestures into pattern, forms and fields of color in his drawings and paintings. The Faces of the World section explores Tagore’s representation of the human face, the most frequently recurring form in his painting.

About Tagore’s lifeBorn in 1861 to a wealthy and prominent Bengali family, Rabindranath Tagore published his first poetry collection at the age of 17. He attended school at the University College of London in 1878, but soon returned to India to manage his father’s agricultural estates. As Tagore’s fame grew in the West, he remained devoted to political and social progress in his home state of Bengal.

Tagore received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913—the first non-European to win the prize—for the English translation of his work Gitanjali. In 1915 he was knighted by the British government, but later renounced this title in protest of British involvement in the massacre of civilians in Punjab.

Rabindranath Tagore was a passionate advocate for the abolition of the caste system and for Indian independence, and he became good friends with Mohandas Gandhi, whom he was first to dub Mahatma (“great soul”). He wrote the national anthems of both India and Bangladesh. He died in 1941 without seeing an independent India.

Unfortunately, I won’t be anywhere near New York for the remainder of 2011, so I won’t be able to visit this exhibition, or take part in other events planned around the exhibition. However, if you are lucky enough to live in New York City, or are planning a visit between now and the end of the year, why not take the time to check out this exhibition during its four month run.

For more information about programs visit Asia Society…

About Asia Society Museum
Asia Society Museum is located at 725 Park Avenue (at 70th Street), New York City. The Museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m. and Friday from 11:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. Closed on Mondays and major holidays. General admission is $10, seniors $7, students $5 and free for members and persons under 16. Free admission Friday evenings, 6:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m. The Museum is closed Fridays after 6:00 p.m. from July 1 through September 15.

More Information
Rabindranath Tagore Exhibition…
Asia Society website…
Wikipedia…

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Below you will find a selection of the many books by and about Tagore on Amazon.Com. Click on the images to go directly to the Amazon page to explore further.

Project Gutenberg



Michael S. Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg

I don’t remember exactly when I first discovered the wonderful Project Gutenberg website, but it must have been several years ago, now. However, I do remember the sense of wonder and excitement a had exploring this treasure trove of public domain books. This online repository of eBooks, now consists of tens of thousands of titles, all of which are available for free.

I write about this today, because I have recently learned of the death of Michael Stern Hart, the founder and driving force behind Project Gutenberg. In memory of his passing, below I am reproducing in full an obituary written by Dr. Gregory B. Newby. 

Michael Stern Hart was born in Tacoma, Washington on March 8, 1947. He died on September 6, 2011 in his home in Urbana, Illinois, at the age of 64. His is survived by his mother, Alice, and brother, Bennett. Michael was an Eagle Scout (Urbana Troop 6 and Explorer Post 12), and served in the Army in Korea during the Vietnam era.

Hart was best known for his 1971 invention of electronic books, or eBooks. He founded Project Gutenberg, which is recognized as one of the earliest and longest-lasting online literary projects. He often told this story of how he had the idea for eBooks. He had been granted access to significant computing power at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. On July 4 1971, after being inspired by a free printed copy of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, he decided to type the text into a computer, and to transmit it to other users on the computer network. From this beginning, the digitization and distribution of literature was to be Hart's life's work, spanning over 40 years.

Hart was an ardent technologist and futurist. A lifetime tinkerer, he acquired hands-on expertise with the technologies of the day: radio, hi-fi stereo, video equipment, and of course computers. He constantly looked into the future, to anticipate technological advances. One of his favorite speculations was that someday, everyone would be able to have their own copy of the Project Gutenberg collection or whatever subset desired. This vision came true, thanks to the advent of large inexpensive computer disk drives, and to the ubiquity of portable mobile devices, such as cell phones.

Hart also predicted the enhancement of automatic translation, which would provide all of the world's literature in over a hundred languages. While this goal has not yet been reached, by the time of his death Project Gutenberg hosted eBooks in 60 different languages, and was frequently highlighted as one of the best Internet-based resources.

A lifetime intellectual, Hart was inspired by his parents, both professors at the University of Illinois, to seek truth and to question authority. One of his favorite recent quotes, credited to George Bernard Shaw, is characteristic of his approach to life:

"Reasonable people adapt themselves to the world. Unreasonable

people attempt to adapt the world to themselves. All progress,

therefore, depends on unreasonable people." 

Michael prided himself on being unreasonable, and only in the later years of life did he mellow sufficiently to occasionally refrain from debate. Yet, his passion for life, and all the things in it, never abated. 

Frugal to a fault, Michael glided through life with many possessions and friends, but very few expenses. He used home remedies rather than seeing doctors. He fixed his own house and car. He built many computers, stereos, and other gear, often from discarded components. 

Michael S. Hart left a major mark on the world. The invention of eBooks was not simply a technological innovation or precursor to the modern information environment. A more correct understanding is that eBooks are an efficient and effective way of unlimited free distribution of literature. Access to eBooks can thus provide opportunity for increased literacy. Literacy, and the ideas contained in literature, creates opportunity. 

In July 2011, Michael wrote these words, which summarize his goals and his lasting legacy: “One thing about eBooks that most people haven't thought much is that eBooks are the very first thing that we're all able to have as much as we want other than air. Think about that for a moment and you realize we are in the right job." He had this advice for those seeking to make literature available to all people, especially children: 

"Learning is its own reward. Nothing I can say is better than that." 

Michael is remembered as a dear friend, who sacrificed personal luxury to fight for literacy, and for preservation of public domain rights and resources, towards the greater good. 

This obituary is granted to the public domain by its author, Dr. Gregory B. Newby. 

Sitting on my iPhone as I write this are over 50 books, all of which have been downloaded via Project Gutenberg. Many other eBooks have been deleted from this device once read, and many more wait to be downloaded and added to my growing reading list. 

The book titles are as diverse as my interests are. The five ‘Deerslayer ‘novels of James Fenimore Cooper; seven books written by Willa Cather; another seven books written by the great naturalist and environmentalist, John Muir; Henry David Thoreau’s Walden; and Life on The Mississippi and Roughing It by Mark Twain. 

Maybe if Michael S. Hart had not created the first eBook and Project Gutenberg, someone else would have. Then again, rather than provide these books for free – someone else may have decided to profit by the idea, and found a way to monetize the concept (as others are trying to do now). 

It is a credit to Michael S. Hart that he did not choose this path, and because of this, he leaves a monumental legacy behind him. A legacy, I for one, am forever grateful for.

The Viewing List 2

Another selection of slide shows and video’s that have caught our attention and interest while trawling across the far reaches of the Internet over the past week. Enjoy…

George Harrison Documentary Premieres at Telluride
Charley Rogulewski, writing for Rolling Stone magazine reports on the new Martin Scorsese documentary on George Harrison called George Harrison: Living In a Material World.

If it is anything like Scorsese’s brilliant 2005 doco, Bob Dylan: No Direction Home, the 210 minute (3 1/2 hour) two-part documentary will be pretty much everything a George Harrison fan could wish for.

The film, which was five-years-in-the-making, premiered over American Labor Day weekend at the Telluride Film Festival, and coincides with the 10-year anniversary of Harrison's death in 2001 from lung cancer. The documentary, which will begin airing on HBO starting October 5th, was made with the full support and cooperation of Harrison’s widow, Olivia, and son Dhani, and includes interviews with her, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Klaus Voormann, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle and Eric Clapton, among others.

Below you can see the official trailer for George Harrison: Living in the Material World.

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Read the full Rolling Stone article here…

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Highlights of Harlem (slide show)
Starting with the City College of New York, and ending with the Harlem Market, the Travel Channel has put together a 17 stop slide show of the some of the best landmarks that Harlem has to offer. In between you get the iconic Apollo Theater, the Hue-Man Bookstore (said to be the largest African-American bookstore in the country), a selection of restaurants and eating establishments (Make My Cake, Chill Berry, and Food for Life Supreme), and arts and cultural institutions (the Studio Museum in Harlem, Lenox Lounge, and the Maysles Cinema).

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The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art
Recently I wrote about the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art on Staten Island, New York. Although the video below was broadcast on the Time Warner Cable program On The Beat, and talks in part about a now concluded 60th anniversary exhibition, it provides a great introduction to the museum.

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