No-Form? Abstraction in Prabhakar Barwe’s and Paul Klee’s work

16th Nov 2024
8am-10:30am EST / 1pm-3:30pm GMT / 2pm-4:30pm CET / 6:30-9pm IST
There will be a break and time for discussion at the end. 
Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86056269988?pwd=ZDmgMpAM6jpwbZEWzaJibp0GPFj5kT.1


Do you want to know more about the project and the artists? This first webinar will give an overview about the program Intersections & Interventions: Barwe & Klee that it is part of.

Raju Sutar (Zapurza Museum, Pune) will introduce on Prabhakar Barwe (1936-1995), a painter of the second wave of Indian modernism based in Maharashtra, and Marianne Keller Tschirren’s (Paul Klee Zentrum, Bern) will talk about Paul Klee (1879-1940), a Swiss-German modernist painter and teacher at the Bauhaus School in the 1920s in Germany. Both contributions will focus on the artists’ concept of form and formative processes: In his work, Barwe used surrealistic and neo-tantric tools to conceptualize form as a matter of thought and emotion, while Klee focused on the dynamics of movement within formative processes of painting as well as nature. For the following discussion we will be joined by art historian and curator Karin Zitzewitz (University of Maryland) whose research on (Indian) modernisms reflects the entanglement of nationhood, identity and abstract art. 

Speakers: Mira Hirtz (independent), Raju Sutar (Zapurza Museum, Pune) , Marianne Keller Tschirren (Paul Klee Zentrum, Bern)
Discussant: Karin Zitzewitz (University of Maryland)                       

About the Speakers:

Mira Hirtz is an independent curator, performance artist and movement practitioner. She looks at the intersections of art, health, ecology and science. Her work dives into concepts of body, care and the non-human, and takes many formats, from exhibitions and performances to paintings and workshops. Mira co-curated the program series “How do we care?” at Badischer Kunstverein 2020 and the touring exhibition “Critical Zones. In Search of a Common Ground”, initiated by the ZKM | Karlsruhe, the Goethe-Institut South Asia, and Bruno Latour. Currently, she is the access advisor for the arts-based charity Turf, London and co-curates this project, “Intersections & Interventions: Barwe & Klee”.                                                                                                         
Raju Sutar, an arts school graduate with over 30 years of experience in the art world, has gained recognition for his work both nationally and internationally. As a member of the Zapurza team, he contributes as a curator and actively participates in various events and exhibitions. Specializing in contemporary art, Raju focuses on creating large-scale paintings, sheet metal installations, and fine art photography alongside video installations. Additionally, he has curated significant exhibitions featuring artists from around the world and co-curates this project, “Intersections & Interventions: Barwe & Klee”.
 
Marianne Keller Tschirren initially studied music before taking up a degree in art history, German studies and history at the University of Bern in 2002. As part of a three-year research project on Paul Klee's teaching at the Bauhaus, she completed her doctorate with a thesis on his theory of colour in class. Together with Fabienne Eggelhöfer, she curated the 2012 exhibition "Meister Klee! Teachers at the Bauhaus" at the Zentrum Paul Klee. After several years working in cultural promotion, she has been head of the archive/library/research department at the Zentrum Paul Klee since the beginning of 2022.

Karin Zitzewitz is Professor and Chair of the Department of Art History and Archaeology at the University of Maryland. She is the author of Infrastructure and Form:  The Global Networks of Indian Contemporary Art, 1991-2008 (2022), The Art of Secularism: The Cultural Politics of Modernist Art in Contemporary India (2014) and The Perfect Frame, the 2003 memoirs of Mumbai gallerist Kekoo Gandhy. Her research has been supported by the European Research Council, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, the American Institute for Indian Studies, and the Fulbright program.