Med ett växande intresse för Trädgården som plats för odling, konstnärliga aktiviteter och kontemplation har utställarna i sommarutställningen Nature: A Good Idea utgått från Naturen, som symbol, idé och biologisk fenomen. Konsthallen Trollhättan presenterar här verk av nio konstnärer från Sverige, Indien och USA. Nature: A Good Idea refererar till en berömd replik av Mahatma Ghandi då en brittisk journalist 1931 ställde frågan "Mr. Gandhi, what do you think of Western Civilization?" varpå Ghandi svarade:
I think it would be a good idea!
De utställda verken i Nature: A Good Idea, använder Naturen både som plats och fenomen, vilket kommer till uttryck i Ghandis replik - som någonting vi människor är med och skapar. Utställningens karaktär och utformning bygger härmed på innehållet i de deltagande konstnärernas individuella intressen och förståelse av temat natur. Medverkande konstnärer är: Prakash Belawadi, Nikolaj Cyon, Linus Gårdfeldt, Goran Hassanpour, Leslie Johnson, Peter Ojstersek, Anne Pira, Helena Samuelsson och Vivek Vilasini. Utställningen är curerad av Leslie Johnson och Peter Ojstersek. Till utställningen har poeten Linus Gårdfeldt skrivit texten
NATURE: A GOOD IDEA - MEN JAG ÄR INTE SKOG (EN MASSA SKRÄP) De indiska konstnärerna Prakash Belawadi och Vivek Vilasini bidrar till utställningen som en del i ett samarbete mellan Västra Götalandsregionen, Göteborgs Universitet och Bangalore, i Karnataka State, Indien. Prakash Belawadi A Delicate Balance: The four films below have been selected for these reasons: While they first appear to be about exotic wildlife and grand ecology, they actually deal with what actually sustains human life and our engagement with nature, in India. It is in the traditional spirituality of India to see everything in nature as sacred - the seasons, the rains, water and earth, places and animals. This was important for sustainability. It is speculated that as a geographical space, India receives the most rainfall among all countries. Some of wettest places on earth are in the country and three of the 10 wettest in the Western Ghats. Many Indians have faced famine and starvation of stunning proportions in the past when the monsoons have failed. This is the most dependable source of water - more to be trusted than the so-called perennial rivers - that Indians have and making the rains sacred is understandable. But a new, 'practical' push towards 'development' has meant that many of these sacred notions are being washed away, literally, by deforestation, encroachment and supplanting of a way of life that had negotiated co-existence with nature for centuries. The documentaries not only show the beauty and mystery of nature, its possibilities, but also the terrible consequences when this balance is threatened by political power, industrial enterprise and ignorance. In India Nature is not only a 'Good Idea'; indeed, it is an essential idea of survival itself. The presentations will illustrate with some old history and some new events the points raised in this argument on balance. The films and the makers: 1) Chilika - Jewel of ODISHA 21 mins | 2013 | Directed by Shekar Dattatri Vimeo Link: https://vimeo.com/86972725 This award-winning film captures the beauty, biodiversity and conservation challenges of Chilika Lake, Asia's largest brackish water lagoon. Situated on India's east coast, in the state of Odisha, Chilika is one of the most important wintering grounds for waterfowl on the Indian subcontinent, attracting migrants from Europe, Central Asia and Siberia. The lake is home to the highly endangered Irrawaddy dolphin, and is a treasure trove of other biodiversity. In 1981, it was designated as India's first Ramsar Site. However, by the late 1990s, due to changes in its ecological characteristics, it had become a weed-infested, dying lake. Today, thanks to science-driven restoration by the Chilika Development Authority, it is once again a reliable source of livelihood for local communities and a vibrant refuge for wildlife. 2) Nagarhole - Tales from an Indian Jungle 52 mins | 1997 | Directed by Shekar Dattatri The beautiful Nagarhole National Park in South India, is home to many most-endangered large mammals of India, including tigers. It has the single largest concentration of Asiatic elephants anywhere in the world. Human interference in forest habitats - illegal encroachments, deliberate forest fires and coffee plantations along elephant migratory paths - all are factors that threaten the survival of the region's wildlife. The film delves not just into the rich natural history of this south India forest, but also the problems that confront it and its inhabitants. About the Filmmaker: Shekar Dattatri Shekar Dattatri is a wildlife enthusiast, author and filmmaker from Chennai, India, He won the National Award in 1987 with his debut, ‘A Cooperative for Snake Catchers’ (Best Scientific Film). His next two documentaries were also National Award winners. Among his other award-winning films is ‘Silent Valley – An Indian Rainforest’ in 1991 (Special Jury Award - Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival in America; a top honor at the Sondrio International Film Festival on Parks and Protected Areas; and Best Nature Film Award at the Tokyo Earthvision Festival). Shekar has worked with Discovery Channel, National Geographic, and the BBC Natural History Unit, North South Productions, London, Scandinature Films, Natural History New Zealand, Icon Films, and Tigress Productions. In 1998, the UK trade magazine, Television Business International rated him as one of the top ten rising stars of wildlife filmmaking in the world. Shekar uses his skills as a filmmaker to make hard-hitting advocacy films on conservation issues. http://www.shekardattatri.com 3) Sahyadris: Mountains Of The Monsoon 48 Mins | 2008-09 | Directed by Sandesh Kadur Trailer: https://vimeo.com/46030193 http://www.felis.in/films/bbc_natural_world.htm#sthash.lSQ82MZE.dpuf The 1,600-kilometre long Western Ghats, from the tip of the Indian subcontinent to Gujarat in its northern end, are among the 10 great bio-diversity 'hotspots' on the planet, now recognised by UNESCO as a natural heritage site. These ancient mountains may only rise on average to 1,200 metres but they do for Southern India what the Himalayas do for the North of the country, they keep a dry land from drought. All of peninsula India’s major rivers rise in the Western Ghats and because it is a largely montane area that receives between 2,000 and 8,000 mm of rainfall annually the Mountains of the Monsoon are the water source for an estimated 300 million human souls. Amidst their unique beauty and mystery Sandesh Kadur sighted this strange, all-grey feline unlike anything he had ever seen before – but known by the local tribal people as the 'Pogeyan'. Whether or not this enigmatic cat-in-the-ghat really is a new species, the Pogeyan (Smoke Cat) has become for Sandesh a talisman – offering some hope for the future in nature’s ability to survive the unprecedented pressures which 21st century India is subjecting its last wild places to. This is the story of Sandesh Kadur’s journey through one of India’s last wildernesses and his quest to document and show why preserving such wild places matters to modern India. In making The Mountains of the Monsoon for the BBC 2 flagship Natural World series, Bangalore-based Sandesh Kadur, spent a year, working closely with Harry Marshall, a Bristol-based filmmaker - who, born in Bangalore, went to school in the Western Ghats - documenting the changing seasons and distinct places that make up the mountains. About the filmmaker: Sandesh Kadur An Associate Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers, Sandesh Kadur works as a photographer, filmmaker and author dealing with subjects ranging from king cobras to clouded leopards. His works have been featured by the BBC, Discovery, and National Geographic networks. Over the years, Sandesh’s work has garnered many top awards including the CIWEM Environmental Photographer of the Year, Nature’s Best Award, International Conservation Photographer Award, as well as twice being nominated for a Green Oscar at Wildscreen. www.sandeshkadur.com 4) Blood & Iron 137 Mins | 2010 | Directed by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta. A story of the convergence of crime, business and politics in the state of Karnataka in India. It highlights how iron ore mining in Bellary and Ananthapur has influenced politics in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and devastated the ecology of the region. The film is in three overlapping segments- New Republic of Bellary, Red Gold and Red Earth. About the Filmmaker: Paranjoy Guha Thakurta An Indian journalist and political author, his works have appeared in print, radio, television and documentaries. Through his career spanning over 30 years, he has been associated with major media houses like Business India, Businessworld, The Telegraph, India Today and The Pioneer. He also hosted the chat show India Talks on CNBC-India which ran over 1400 episodes. In 2013, he directed a short documentary film Coal Curse which highlighted the wrongs in the Indian coal mining industry. His 2014 book Gas Wars, co-authored with Subir Ghosh and Jyotirmoy Chaudhuri, dealt with alleged irregularities of the prices of natural gas in the Indian market. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranjoy_Guha_Thakurta 5) Naked Country to Garden City - Presentation 1 A talk with slides by Prakash Belawadi on how his hometown Bangalore city changed from being 'naked country' when surveyed in 1800 by the British to a 'Garden City', a soubriquet it is now set to lost with local newspapers beginning to rename it 'Garbage City'. It has been suggested that Bangalore, situated 920 metres above seal level, is the world's most prominent 'tank' civilisation, where most of its water-bodies were made by human engineering. 6) Between Faith and Power - A Himalayan Tragedy - Presentation 2 A talk with slides by Prakash Belawadi on the balance between faith of pilgrims about the sacred nature of the mountains, their home of the gods, and the urge towards development which have threatened the ecology of the Himalayas. Thousands of people died in floods exactly a year ago when dam waters and heavy rains ripped open the young and still-growing mountains.