Following the Way Of Tagore. Public Discussion

A talk about the exhibition The World in a Single Nest: Following the Way of Tagore with art historians, artists, and the project’s curators.

Moderator

Alisa Prudnikova, Programme Director of GES-2 House of Culture.

One of the leading figures of the summer season at GES-2 is Rabindranath Tagore—the Indian thinker, poet, artist, educator, and public figure. His most active creative period spanned the late nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries. In his work, he succeeded in combining pioneering ideas with Indian tradition, drawing great inspiration from the collision of different cultures and viewpoints.

Rabindranath Tagore. Untitled (“Man and Bird”), 1931–1932

The exhibition offers a look at Tagore’s legacy through six themes: nature, agriculture, pedagogy, collective creativity, versatility, and internationalism. These topics are not exhaustive, but they allow us to chart a path through a complex and diverse body of work—from Tagore’s own texts and artworks to archival materials and pieces by contemporary artists.

Together with art historians, curators, and exhibition participants, we will discuss why these specific themes formed the basis of the project and how they are interpreted in contemporary art practices. What does it mean to engage with Tagore’s legacy today? Which of his ideas continue to live on in the modern world, and which require rethinking?

Speakers

Sanchayan Ghosh — artist, educator, graduate, and professor of the Kala Bhavana art school. He creates installations and collaborative mapping projects, involving communities in the creative process and employing pedagogical tools.

Samit Das — artist, graduate of the Kala Bhavana art school and Camberwell College of Arts in London. He works with painting, photography, and artist’s books, exploring the legacy of Tagore and Santiniketan through engagement with archives.

Anshuman Dasgupta — curator, art historian, and lecturer in art history at the Kala Bhavana art school. He researches the legacy of Santiniketan and Indian modernism, and has curated a number of major international exhibitions dedicated to twentieth-century Indian art and Tagore’s legacy.

Lisa Neklessa — artist and poet, author and illustrator of poetry books. She explores the relationship between image and poetic text, aiming to present them as equivalent structures of a single whole.

Prasanta Sahu — artist, graduate and teacher at the Painting Department of the Kala Bhavana art school. He works with painting, installation, and photography, often incorporating local context into his projects and exploring the divide between urban and rural life.

Artem Timonov — curator of exhibition programmes at GES-2 House of Culture.

Marina Shults — Head of the Contemporary Art Department at the State Hermitage Museum.

Elena Yaichnikova — art historian and curator of exhibition programmes at GES-2 House of Culture.