IFA@Mumbai: Presentation | Earchaeology: Structure of Acoustic Spaces | School of Environment and Architecture | February 02, 2018
India Foundation for the Arts
in collaboration with the
School of Environment and Architecture (SEA), Mumbai
presents
Earchaeology: Structure of Acoustic Spaces
a presentation by Umashankar Mantravadi
followed by a discussion with Nida Ghouse
Friday, February 02, 2018 | 06:30 PM | School of Environment and Architecture
Eksar Road, Borivali (W), Mumbai - 400 091
Join us for an exciting lecture-demonstration that excavates the world of yore, as you hear about the acoustic properties of historical sites of performance, with a stalwart from the field of sound, Umashankar Mantravadi, on Friday, February 02, 2018 at the School of Environment and Architecture, Mumbai. Umashankar will be joined by his collaborator; writer and curator Nida Ghouse, for a discussion after the lecture.
Umashankar will not only talk about his project in archaeoacoustics, an area of research dealing with the acoustic properties of ancient performance spaces, but also demonstrate the working of his acoustic system at this exciting event!
For this project, Umashankar aurally mapped two ancient performance sites—Nagarjunakonda in Andhra Pradesh and Vadakkamnathan Temple in Kerala. The project attempts to challenge the dominant visual understanding of the history of these sites, to recognise the significance of their acoustic properties in the building and conservation. His study also examines the effects of industrialisation on our current listening practices. He will engage with these ideas, and talk about his inventions and experiences of the project.
Umashankar Mantravadi is a senior Indian sound technician and inventor, considered a maestro on sound recording and archiving. An enthusiast in electronics, he has been accredited with many inventions in sound technology. Some of these inventions, which are now in popular use in the industry, were created by him on shoestring budgets. He was also instrumental in setting up and maintaining the Archives and Research Centre for Ethnomusicology (part of the American Institute of Indian Studies, AIIS), Gurgaon. His latest invention is the ambisonic tetrahedral microphone system called Brahma.
Nida Ghouse is a writer and curator. Her current curatorial projects include 'Parapolitics: Cultural Freedom and the Cold War' (with Anselm Franke, Paz Guevara, and Antonia Majaca, 2017) and 'The Matrix of All Possible Narratives' (with Anselm Franke and Erhard Schüttpelz, forthcoming), both at Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin. Her ongoing writing project "Lotus Notes" has appeared variously in Mada Masr (Cairo 2014), After Year Zero (University of Chicago Press 2015), ARTMargins (MIT Press 2016), and Critical Writing Ensembles (Mousse Publishing 2016). Previously, she was director of Mumbai Art Room.
Do join us for tea and snacks before the event at 06:00 PM!
This grant, under the Arts Practice programme at India Foundation for the Arts, and the grant showcase received support from Titan Company Limited.
This grant showcase, SEA Conversations #51, is part of SEA City, an event stream featuring lectures/performances/screenings at the School of Environment and Architecture (SEA), Mumbai.