META 18 Creative Arts Programme Bangalore All Arts Combined

META 18: Creative Arts Programme In Bangalore

A full time certification course in creativity, visual and performing arts

META 18 is a creative arts programme designed to develop hybrid approaches in the field of multidisciplinary arts with a focus at movement arts and visual intelligence.

The course spans over 6 weeks Monday to Friday 10 am to 5 pm. This year we begin on June 11th 2018 and end the program on July 21st 2018.

Focus

The focus area at META 18 lies in a transformative process of creation through experimentation amongst groups guided and mentored by artists from various different fields.

With movement at its core (though not a necessary element), META 18 constantly strives to bring in fields of research including philosophy, cinema, dream work, gender studies, music and sound, installations, art appreciation and theory in anatomy as well as in art.

Unification

This creative arts programme is driven by a strong emphasis on the art of art-making not as a way to create to confuse but to create to express and declare thoughts that can be assimilated, discussed, revealed and revered.

META 18 creative arts programme aims at creating pieces of art that are discomforting, challenging, in the realm of body and sound, sound and projection, written script, script and illustration, photography series, film, site specific work, a monologue, installation (body or otherwise) and how it all comes together as one unified artistic approach to creation.

Facilitation

The program is facilitated by 5 facilitators. Get ready to be immersed in a 6 week experience in creation and performance after an informed theory and practice of various artistic disciplines.

Insight

META 18 creative arts programme is more than just an educational program. The format combines emphasis on out of the box thinking , creative learning, nonlinear narrative understanding, creative writing through special focus on story board and scripting, and flexibility of thought by pushing abstract thinking.

Action

This creative arts programme is not just focused on providing the students with these unique and varied artistic tools, but to see to it that they understand and truly embody group-work and hence a large area of focus is around team-work, group-solidarity, human relationships and real meaning of an artistic life that can be achieved even without competition through genuine collaborations.

Values

Transparent communication, self discipline, shared ideas, collaborations, joy of community driven language, creation for a dialogue are a few things that we encourage at META 18.

META 18 creative arts programme is curated by Meeraqi, an arts organization, in collaboration with some very inspiring facilitators, with focus on multidisciplinary approaches to art-making and creation.

Meet the Facilitators
:
Sahiba Singh (ART OF WRITING ART)

Sahiba Singh is a contemporary dancer and a writer. She is the creative director at Meeraqi, an arts organization in Bangalore.

Sessions facilitated by Sahiba at META 18 creative arts programme will be about bringing all the creative thoughts abstract, realistic, surrealistic, expressionistic and impressionistic in nature, on a simple paper, decoded through words.

Sahiba will be facilitating a movement improvisation and creative writing workshop to inform a narrative thread that will tie the process of creation.

Sahiba believes in expression through the awareness of the body with a thread of written narrative at its core.

Hence her sessions will focus at opening up the body, the joints, spine manipulation, understanding basics of release technique and de-coding all of that into text. Abstract, dreamlike and ecstatic!

A short chat with Sahiba about art and creativity:

What motivates you as an artist?

The power of expression and what it can do after the art is expressed. The ripple effect of change is always long lasting. Art has removed boundaries, made people fall in love, as well as started and ended wars. It s the single most powerful harmless weapon.

Why do you combine writing and movement?

Movement is an abstract form of artistic narrative. Writing however has both qualities in it. It can be as straight forward as we like or abstract if need be. Text gives movement a direction and a reason.

What do you plan to achieve from META 18?

META 18 is a project that instills the idea of collaborations and cross disciplinary art. Both these things are not only inspiring to explore, they are also the need of the hour. If we do not learn to collaborate, we may lead an artistic life of isolation. It s not the fear of loneliness that I worry about as much as lack of experiences and hence out of the box thinking that one can miss out on in absolute isolation.

Sudeep Bhattacharya (DECONSTRUCTING PATTERNS)
Artistic creation with emphasis on cinema and photography

Sudeep will be engaged with film curation and visual programming at META 18 creative arts programme.

Sudeep Bhattacharya is a film maker/photographer. He is the director of Meeraqi, an arts organisation.

He is driven to create a strong storytelling artistic mind through the medium of visual arts Photography and Film. Sudeep will be curating movies to be seen, photo walks, and artistic discussions on films and other media involving storytelling.

A short interview with Sudeep about his vision as an artist and a facilitator:

How to you define creation?

I wonder if it s even possible to define creation. Isn t it purer when it s undefined and takes shape organically? I believe creation and creativity come from a place of wonder and curiosity, a passionate journey into our own sense of self, and how we understand phenomena in and around us.

Why is a multidisciplinary approach important?

If one were to learn to cook, would cooking one dish day in and out, and eating that very dish for the rest of our lives truly satiate us? We are in equal parts scared and excited about the unknown. Our evolution of thought and form has always been driven by pushing ourselves further into the unfamiliar. I believe the same applies to art, where delving into different disciplines allows us to understand ourselves physically, emotionally, spiritually and intellectually better. From this understanding comes a greater sense of the whole, and learning to speak different languages of art allows us to express more beautifully and without limitation.

What has been your inspiration to creation?

I believe there is nothing more inspiring than the life and the consciousness we have been endowed with. We exist in a constant and ever-changing state of observation, interpretation, and expression.

How do you envision and build an artistic mind that thinks out of the box?

I think the beginning of a truly artistic mind comes from shunning what we know and diving into the world of curiosity and imagination against a mindset of faith and belief. It s easy to create something that is expected and understood, but it s way more fulfilling to create something that is unexpected, and what most never thought possible.

What do you intend to facilitate at META 18?

I would like to help participants learn to truly observe themselves and environments minutely and in isolation, and discover how these two elements can come together in a myriad of ways from which we derive stories. We will be looking at narrative structures, visual breakdowns, the role of sound in driving emotion, and how often the elements of the unseen and unheard can be used effectively to convey powerfully and effectively.

Nakula Somana (VISUAL MOVEMENT DESIGN)

Nakula is a movement artist, founder of The Kha foundation. In META 18 creative arts programme he will be facilitating release technique along with visual design for complex choreographic structures.

A short chat with Nakula:

What is creativity for you?

I think we all do what we do because we enjoy those moments of self-forgetting when skill and promptings from unknown spaces help us do design. Design helps us arrange ourselves better.

I would like to think it has some craft or skill behind it.

Where have you learned your best art from?

I think I have learnt the most watching others move. In that sense everyone is a teacher except when I am blind or indifferent.

I am trying to figure out what community arts work could mean here in Bangalore for instance, through setting up of the Kha Foundation.

Why would you prefer a multidisciplinary approach?

Personally I would like to understand composition better than I do now, and make work that has different disciplines enter the work.

What motivates you?

Nature within us and around us is a primary motivator.

There is no great designer though man keeps trying to find Him.

At META 18 creative arts programme, Nakula Somana will be taking you through sessions of physical training along with visual design that embodies the physical characteristics of the body.

Raam Kumar (Kalaripayattu and Voice Training)

Raam is a Kalaripayattu artist, which is a martial art form from Kerala. He is also a contemporary dancer and a physical theatre performer who works extensively with the concept of voice with movement and body reflexes to find a new vocabulary which is what he will be facilitating at META 18 creative arts programme.

A short chat with Raam Kumar:

Define creativity.

Creation and creativity is as natural as it can get. These two always work in tandem with each other and are all around us. They are the most subconscious elements lying deep within our psyche.

What do you feel about movement?

Movement is in fluidity. Our body s existence is because of air and water. Both can be manipulated but cannot be restricted.

Can you elaborate on your creative process?

All three movement, Kalaripayattu and voice-work are just advantages or techniques that add a flavor to my creative background. I strongly believe in an informed and artistic thought process and I use these techniques to further enhance my thoughts.

What drives you to create?

What excites me is the constant change, progression, without which we will be nothing more than inanimate objects.

Also observing what s happening around me and learning constantly is what motivates me the most.

Why do you use voice and movement together?

Movement and breath are two elements that work hand in hand. Now if you concentrate and focus a bit more on your breath, it spontaneously opens up an arena for voice.

Vinod Ravindran (Finding Stories through Theatre)

Vinod is a theatre director, actor and producer with some of his plays touring extensively one of them titled How Cow Now Cow .

Vinod believes that everything happening around is theatrical that can be expressed on stage given the right tools and understanding of performance. At META 18 creative arts programme, Vinod will be working on acting, narratives, storytelling, intention, scripting and much more.

Programme Dates:

June 11th 2018 to July 21st 2018 (6 weeks)

Programme Timings:

10:00 AM 5:00 PM (Monday to Friday)

Programme Price:

INR 18,000