Cinema of Prayoga: A critique of ‘avant-garde’ and the ‘experimental’ in Indian cinematic modernity
September 19, 4:00 PM
4070 Vilas Hall
Presentation description
In film critic Amrit Ganger’s introductory essay on “Cinema of Prayoga” published in the Tate Modern exhibition catalogue in 2006, his main concern is twofold. First is his criticism of the terms experimental and avant-garde as inadequate typological, categorical or framing conceptual devices to be used in Indian context. Second is his attempt at creating an alternative theoretical framework for Indian cinematic modernity. In this talk, I provide a historical and theoretical foundation for his first contention. I first locate the discordance between the multiple theories of avant-garde in the history of western art and aesthetics and then show that their uncritical import into the context of Indian cinematic modernity is at best an uncritical mimesis and at worst inefficacious postulation. I argue that the theoretical armature of Cinema of Prayoga provides a definitive critique of the cavalier employment of the terms avant-garde and experimental in Indian cinematic modernity. I assert that Cinema of Prayoga provides an alternative theoretical framework to comprehend especially the idiosyncrasies of Indian cinematic modernity. It emphasizes that a mere derivative appropriation or a credulous transference of western art historical theories, models and conceptual framework is not adequate to grasp, explain or theorize filmic archives that have been erroneously categorized in India as experimental or avant-garde.
About the Speaker
Ashish Avikunthak is Indian avant-garde filmmaker, film theorist, archaeologist and cultural anthropologist. His works have been screened at art galleries and private screenings, including Tate Modern, Centre George Pompidou, and Pacific Film Archive, along with Rotterdam, Locarno, and London film festivals. He is also the author of “Bureaucratic Archaeology: State, Science, and Past in Postcolonial India” published by Cambridge University Press in 2021. He is a Professor of film media at Harrington School of Communication, University of Rhode Island.