Bharat Bhavan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal

Bharat Bhavan is a multi-arts complex without parallel in Bhopal, India housing a museum of the arts, an art gallery, a workshop for fine arts, a repertory theater, indoor and outdoor auditoria, rehearsal room, and libraries of Indian poetry, classical and folk musicproviding interactive proximity to the verbal, the visual and the performing arts. It is a place for contemporary articulation, exploration, reflection and innovation. Located near the picturesque bada talaab of Bhopal, Bharat Bhavan is a centre for innovative creativity, pursuit of classics and tradition and wide participation in a new cultural upsurge. It is an independent trust created by the Legislature of the State of Madhya Pradesh^[1]. The architect of Bharat Bhavan, Charles Correa^[2], says:

This art centre is located on a particularly beautiful site - a gently sloping plateau overlooking the Upper Lake and the historic city of Bhopal across the water^[1]

Bharat Bhavan consists of the following units^[3]:

Roopankar (Museum of fine arts) - Roopankar has been established with a view to set up a historic collection of urban, folk and tribal art and is the only museum of arts in India housing both contemporary urban and folk and tribal art. The museum has contemporary urban, folk and art of aboriginals, a ceramic workshop, litho workshop and facilities for stone craft and metal casting.
Rangmandal (A repertory) - Rangmandal is a professional repertory to create a sustained theatre movement that becomes a way of life rather than spasmodic activity. Numerous plays and stage shows are held here. Rangmandal has at its disposal an indoor theatre called Antrang and an outdoor theatre called Bahirang. It also has a rich library and play museum.
Vagarth (A centre of Indian poetry) - Vagarth has a library of more than 7,000 books of poetry in 14 Indian languages and recordings and video-cassettes of major poets. This centre provides an excellent platform to the writers for interaction through lecture, recitation, translation and publication.
Anhad (A library of classical and folk music) - Anhad work of documenting both classical and folk music and organises musical concerts.
Ashram - A residence for guest artists.

[edit] Controversy

In May 2007, Bharath Bhavan hosted a controversial exhibit of paintings by Kailash Tiwari. The paintings were dominated by images of muslim men participating in murder, gang-rape and acts of terrorism, and referring specifically to recent events such as the Godhra train burning and the Bombay train bombings. Local muslim groups protested, saying the images qualified as hate speech and should not be endorsed by a public institution.^[4]. The event was heavily attended by Hindu activists, particularly members of the Bajrang Dal.