Mirabai:
Hindu Saint for a Global World
Southern California
October 3-6, 2002
Opening Slide Lecture: "The Heart Unveiled: Mirabai and the Saints of India in Art and Poetry"
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Brown Auditorium, Thursday, October 3, 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Enter the world of love and devotion of Mirabai and her fellow saints, vividly portrayed in painting and sculpture and voiced in their haunting poetry, through the opening event for the conference & festival. This slide-lecture will be delivered by Dr. Nancy Martin, the leading authority on Mirabai, and Rochelle Kessler, LACMA's Assistant Curator of South and Southeast Asian Art and an expert on Indian painting and saints.
Tours of the outstanding South Asia collection of the Museum, personally guided by the Museum's specialist docents, will follow the lecture.
Folk Musicians from the Deserts of
Rajasthan Sing Mirabai
Friday, Oct. 4, 8:00 p.m.
Schoenberg Hall,
UCLA
Spectacular folk singers from the western deserts of Rajasthan will perform the living song traditions of Mira to the haunting accompaniment of tandura, sarangi, kamaicha, and khartal, played by the finest musicians in the world on these folk instruments. Musicians and singers will include Meghwal, Manganiyar and Langa performers.
Mirabai in Dance:
Mallika Sarabhai and Daksha Mashruwala
Saturday, October 5, 3:00-5:00 p.m.
Bing Theater, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The extraordinary internationally recognized dancer Mallika Sarabhai will perform together with Daksha Mashruwala the life of Mirabai in a world premiere performance. Trained in Bharatanatyam and Kuchipuri classical dance styles, Mallika received international recognition for her highly acclaimed performance in Peter Brook’s stage production and film "The Mahabharata." She will perform with Daksha, an accomplished Odissi dancer and choreographer who has performed across India and internationally.
Mirabai in Film
Sunday, October 6, 11:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Bing Theater, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Documentary: "A Few Things I Know about Her"
Feature Film: "MEERA"
Bombay film director Anjali Panjabi will introduce the first American screening of her new award-winning documentary on the living traditions of Mirabai, entitled "A Few Things I Know about Her." Panjabi has extensive experience as a director, including first assistant director for Mira Nair’s "Monsoon Wedding." Her documentary film on Mirabai has already been awarded the Silver Conch at the 7th Mumbai International Film Festival. A showing of a feature length film on the life of Mirabai will follow.
Mirabai: Love in Indian Dance and Song
Sunday, Oct. 6, 6:00-9:00 p.m.
Terrace Theater, Long Beach Performing Arts Center
A Gala Performance featuring performances by the spectacular Rajasthani folk musicians and dancers, as well as Mallika Sarabhai and Daksha Mashruwala.
Art Installation
"Loves Many Moods: The Romantic Ideal in Indian Painting and Poetry"
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
An installation of Indian paintings draws the viewer into the emotional depths and dimensions of love that mark both human relations and personal devotion to God in Hinduism. This exhibit includes brilliant folios of a beautifully illustrated manuscript of the saint Mirabai’s life from a private collection.
International Conference
Friday, October 4, 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. &
Saturday, October 5, 9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Popper Auditorium, University of California, Los Angeles
Internationally acclaimed scholars of devotional Hinduism, Indian music, and comparative religion from Europe, India, Canada and the USA will gather for a three-day conference to present original research on this dynamic sixteenth-century woman saint of India.
Winand Callewaert, Katholieke Universiteit, Leuven, Belgium
Christopher Key Chapple, Loyola Marymount University
Rokus de Groot, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands
John Stratton Hawley, Columbia University
Varsha Joshi, Institute for Development Studies, India
Komal Kothari, Director, Folklore Institute of Rajasthan, India
Philip Lutgendorf, University of Iowa
Rebecca Manring, Indiana University
Nancy M. Martin, Chapman University
Parita Mukta, University of Warwick, England
Usha Nilsson, University of Wisconsin, Madison
Mekhala Navatar, Duke University
Heidi Pauwels, University of Washington
Joseph Runzo, Chapman University and Cambridge University
Joseph Schaller, Nazareth College
Y.S. Shastri, University of Gujarat, India
Kalyan Singh Shekhawat, University of Rajasthan, Jodhpur, India
Global Ethics and Religion Forum
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Southern Asian Art Council
UCLA School of Art and Architecture
UCLA Division of Social Sciences
Hamilton Brewart Insurance
Doshi Chair, UCLA Department of History
Student Karma Club, Chapman University
Southern California Seminar on South Asia
Friends of Sardar Patel Award Association
Jain Center of Southern California
Maharaja Gaj Singh II of Jodhpur
Rupayan Sansthan Folklore Institute of India
Mirabai Festival Board
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Mr. Navin Doshi -- Chairman
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Professor Nancy M. Martin -- Director of the Festival
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Professor Joseph Runzo -- Associate Director of the Festival and Executive Director of the Global Ethics and Religion Forum
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Professor Christopher Key Chapple -- Professor of Theological Studies and Director of Asian Pacific Studies, Loyola Marymount University
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Ms. Sonya Doshi-McCarthy -- Vice President Investments, UBS Paine Webber
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Professor Phyllis Herman -- Professor of Religious Studies, California State University, Northridge
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Dr. Anjana Kamdar, MD -- Nephrologist
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Padmasri Komal Kothari -- Director, Rajasthan Folklore Institute
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Mr. Anand Rao Lingayat -- Publisher, Community Leader
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Dr. Stephen A. Markel, PhD -- Curator and Department Head, South and Southeast Asian Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
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Mr. Jitu Mehta -- Structural Engineer
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Prof. Lance Nelson --Professor of Religious Studies, University of San Diego
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Professor Daniel Neuman -- Executive Vice-Chancellor, UCLA
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Dr. Narendra Parson, MD -- Anesthesiologist; Clinic Medical Director
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Ms. Shela Patel -- Former Graduate Advisor, Department of History, UCLA
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Professor D. R. SarDesai -- Emeritus Professor of History, UCLA
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Mr. Ajeet A. Shah, CPA -- Ajeet A. Shah Accountancy Corporation
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Mr. Virendra Shah -- Member of the Board and Former President, Jain Center of Southern California
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Dr. Pravin Sharma, MD -- Partner, Acharya and Sharma Medical Corporation
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Mr. Uka Solanki -- President and CEO, Big Saver Foods
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Professor Dale Wright -- David B. and Mary H. Gamble Professor of Religious Studies and Director of Asian Studies, Occidental College