Priyanka Basu
Biographic Data
| ID | 3860155 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Priyanka Basu |
| GIVEN NAMES | Priyanka |
| FAMILY NAME | Basu |
| SIGNATURE | BASU P |
| AFFILIATIONS | King's College London |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2160-6568 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 7 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 17 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Women dancers of World War II
The years of World War II witnessed a trans-national network of dancers and theatre artists uplifting the morale of the troops stationed at war zones as well as citizens at home. In Britain, the formation of Entertainment National Services Association (ENSA) created a pool of artists who engaged with common people outside proscenium theatres. Catherine Wells, a distinguished ballet dancer, travelled in Gibraltar, North Africa, and India as part o…
The early film song booklet as visual art and the ‘intermedial scope’ of Indian cinema histories
Film song booklets or, more generally, cinema booklets have gained traction in recent years as archival resources contributing to the uncharted histories of Indian (and South Asian) cinema. They add to the rich repositories of cinema ephemera that underline the importance of extra-filmic material in writing such histories while focusing on themes of printing, circulation, consumption and thus the afterlives of films themselves. Beyond the immedia…
"Priyanka Basu. Review of "Art for Coexistence
Beyond Colonial Rupture
Scholarly discussions on Islam in print have focused predominantly on the role of Urdu in the development of North Indian Muslim publics (Dubrow, 2018; Robb, 2020), ʿulama and Islamic jurisprudence (Tareen, 2020) and relations between Islam and colonial modernity (Robinson, 2008; Osella & Osella, 2008) This special issue instead offers fine-grained investigations on technology and labour; print landscapes, networks and actors; subaltern languages…
Dance, Gender, and Activism in Pakistan
Sheema Kermani (1951-) is a performer and activist based in Karachi, Pakistan. Through her organisation, Tehrik-e-Niswan she has worked towards raising awareness of violence against women and women’s empowerment. Tehrik-e-Niswan is a cultural organisation invested in social justice through the arts. As a dancer and theatre actor, Sheema Kermani uses her training, choreography, and pedagogy to foreground the activist potential of performing arts. …
Performance, cultural resistance and social justice
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global cultural and creative sector has experienced major transformations in the way performances are conceived of, produced, packaged, and sustained. The involuntary shift to the online (and now hybrid) models and platforms of showcasing have compelled artists not just to rethink performance itself but also to address larger global and local socio-political and economic issues. This paper aims to…
The nightingale is a graceful dancer”
This article focusses on the cultural work of dancer Bulbul Chowdhury who performed extensively in East and West Pakistan (1950) and toured Europe with his troupe (1953). Chowdhury’s approach towards dance in newly formed Pakistan coincided with larger political events of WWII, Bengal Famine, Partition as well as the Language Movement. His methodology of dance encompassed a vision of “inter-Asia” in which he excavated Muslim pasts to create a voc…
Music and Intermediality in Trans-Border Performances
Climate crisis has emerged as an important theme in the performances of patachitra or scroll painting in West Bengal. Besides depicting contemporary subjects, the scrolls also tell traditional stories, such as that of the Manasamangal, through songs and visuals. Across the border, in Bangladesh, the Manasamangal narrative finds numerous embodiments in living traditions, thus closely highlighting a human–nature connection. This paper considers sev…
Introduction
Between presence and absence in Tuni Chatterji's Okul Nodi
This article examines the layers of vistas of landscape, archival audio, ambient sound and documentation of history and culture in Los Angeles-based filmmaker Tuni Chatterji's experimental documentary filmOkul Nodi(Endless River) (2012). Chatterji's film consists mainly of luminous shots of boatmen travelling along Bangladeshi rivers. During key sequences, recordings of Bangladeshi boatmen's songs known asbhatiyaliare heard on the soundtrack. Int…
The Observant Owl
The proliferation of print in mid nineteenth century Bengal witnessed several self-reflexive exercises in writing that tried to capture the incongruence between the colonial administration and indigenous everyday lives. Hutom Pyanchar Naksha (or The Observant Owl) written by Kaliprasanna Sinha (1862) is possibly the closest representation in print of such incongruities. This article focuses on the text of Hutom in relation to visual representatio…
Bauhaus Imaginista
An ‘authentic’ performance
Folk performance genres have long been adapted to shorter formats for festivals, films, television and the new media. Contemporary practices of Kobigaan (a verse-duelling/song theatre genre) reveal how it functions differently for different communities relying on their cultural/collective memory of the genre. This section of the article first engages with fair and festival performances of Kobigaan by looking at three case studies- the Poush Mela …
An “authentic„ performance
Kabigāna is a verse-duelling/song-theatre genre practiced in West Bengal (India) and Bangladesh. Often deemed as obsolete and extinct – following from urban perceptions and the canons of literary history – the genre is found to grapple with the questions of ‘authenticity’ across its multiple spaces of performances- rural rituals, urban fairs/festivals, cinematic representations as well as packages for television and the new media. This article in…
Archives of German Anthropology and Colonialism in Philip Scheffner’s The Halfmoon Files
This article examines German filmmaker Philip Scheffner’s 2007 film The Halfmoon Files: A Ghost Story about the Halfmoon Camp, a German WWI colonial prisoner-of-war camp. Extensive anthropological research was carried out upon its prisoners, and the camp was also the subject of popular colonial representations. Scholars and others made sound recordings, photographs, films, and drawings and recorded details of prisoners, this documentation now loc…
Becoming ‘folk’
The relationship between ‘folk’ performances and contemporary local/global sociopolitical conditions is intrinsic to the continuity of these genres. Kabigāna (or, ‘song of poets’) is one such ‘folk’ performance genre which in the first half of the twentieth century underwent a striking shift in terms of its content and presentation. Two performers, kabiẏāla Ramesh Sil in Chittagong (Bangladesh) and kabiẏāla Sheikh Gumani Dewan in Mursdhidabad (We…
Ornament and empathy in August Schmarsow's psychophysical history of art
This article uses Schmarsow’s essay to illuminate this group of linked problems in turn-of-the-century art theory, ethnology, and perceptual psychology, which were also long-standing issues in Schmarsow’s thought. It does so in its first part by means of sustained comparison of Schmarsow’s psychological approach with the earlier method of architect and theorist Gottfried Semper, whose 1860–63 Style in the Technical and Tectonic Arts; or, Practica…
An ‘authentic’ performance
Folk performance genres have long been adapted to shorter formats for festivals, films, television and the new media. Contemporary practices of Kobigaan (a verse-duelling/song theatre genre) reveal how it functions differently for different communities relying on their cultural/collective memory of the genre. This section of the article first engages with fair and festival performances of Kobigaan by looking at three case studies- the Poush Mela …
Becoming ‘folk’
The relationship between ‘folk’ performances and contemporary local/global sociopolitical conditions is intrinsic to the continuity of these genres. Kabigāna (or, ‘song of poets’) is one such ‘folk’ performance genre which in the first half of the twentieth century underwent a striking shift in terms of its content and presentation. Two performers, kabiẏāla Ramesh Sil in Chittagong (Bangladesh) and kabiẏāla Sheikh Gumani Dewan in Mursdhidabad (We…
The nightingale is a graceful dancer”
This article focusses on the cultural work of dancer Bulbul Chowdhury who performed extensively in East and West Pakistan (1950) and toured Europe with his troupe (1953). Chowdhury’s approach towards dance in newly formed Pakistan coincided with larger political events of WWII, Bengal Famine, Partition as well as the Language Movement. His methodology of dance encompassed a vision of “inter-Asia” in which he excavated Muslim pasts to create a voc…
Music and Intermediality in Trans-Border Performances
Climate crisis has emerged as an important theme in the performances of patachitra or scroll painting in West Bengal. Besides depicting contemporary subjects, the scrolls also tell traditional stories, such as that of the Manasamangal, through songs and visuals. Across the border, in Bangladesh, the Manasamangal narrative finds numerous embodiments in living traditions, thus closely highlighting a human–nature connection. This paper considers sev…
Introduction
Becoming ‘folk’
The relationship between ‘folk’ performances and contemporary local/global sociopolitical conditions is intrinsic to the continuity of these genres. Kabigāna (or, ‘song of poets’) is one such ‘folk’ performance genre which in the first half of the twentieth century underwent a striking shift in terms of its content and presentation. Two performers, kabiẏāla Ramesh Sil in Chittagong (Bangladesh) and kabiẏāla Sheikh Gumani Dewan in Mursdhidabad (We…
Ornament and empathy in August Schmarsow's psychophysical history of art
This article uses Schmarsow’s essay to illuminate this group of linked problems in turn-of-the-century art theory, ethnology, and perceptual psychology, which were also long-standing issues in Schmarsow’s thought. It does so in its first part by means of sustained comparison of Schmarsow’s psychological approach with the earlier method of architect and theorist Gottfried Semper, whose 1860–63 Style in the Technical and Tectonic Arts; or, Practica…
An “authentic„ performance
Kabigāna is a verse-duelling/song-theatre genre practiced in West Bengal (India) and Bangladesh. Often deemed as obsolete and extinct – following from urban perceptions and the canons of literary history – the genre is found to grapple with the questions of ‘authenticity’ across its multiple spaces of performances- rural rituals, urban fairs/festivals, cinematic representations as well as packages for television and the new media. This article in…
Archives of German Anthropology and Colonialism in Philip Scheffner’s The Halfmoon Files
This article examines German filmmaker Philip Scheffner’s 2007 film The Halfmoon Files: A Ghost Story about the Halfmoon Camp, a German WWI colonial prisoner-of-war camp. Extensive anthropological research was carried out upon its prisoners, and the camp was also the subject of popular colonial representations. Scholars and others made sound recordings, photographs, films, and drawings and recorded details of prisoners, this documentation now loc…
Bauhaus Imaginista
An ‘authentic’ performance
Folk performance genres have long been adapted to shorter formats for festivals, films, television and the new media. Contemporary practices of Kobigaan (a verse-duelling/song theatre genre) reveal how it functions differently for different communities relying on their cultural/collective memory of the genre. This section of the article first engages with fair and festival performances of Kobigaan by looking at three case studies- the Poush Mela …
The Observant Owl
The proliferation of print in mid nineteenth century Bengal witnessed several self-reflexive exercises in writing that tried to capture the incongruence between the colonial administration and indigenous everyday lives. Hutom Pyanchar Naksha (or The Observant Owl) written by Kaliprasanna Sinha (1862) is possibly the closest representation in print of such incongruities. This article focuses on the text of Hutom in relation to visual representatio…
The nightingale is a graceful dancer”
This article focusses on the cultural work of dancer Bulbul Chowdhury who performed extensively in East and West Pakistan (1950) and toured Europe with his troupe (1953). Chowdhury’s approach towards dance in newly formed Pakistan coincided with larger political events of WWII, Bengal Famine, Partition as well as the Language Movement. His methodology of dance encompassed a vision of “inter-Asia” in which he excavated Muslim pasts to create a voc…
Music and Intermediality in Trans-Border Performances
Climate crisis has emerged as an important theme in the performances of patachitra or scroll painting in West Bengal. Besides depicting contemporary subjects, the scrolls also tell traditional stories, such as that of the Manasamangal, through songs and visuals. Across the border, in Bangladesh, the Manasamangal narrative finds numerous embodiments in living traditions, thus closely highlighting a human–nature connection. This paper considers sev…
Introduction
Between presence and absence in Tuni Chatterji's Okul Nodi
This article examines the layers of vistas of landscape, archival audio, ambient sound and documentation of history and culture in Los Angeles-based filmmaker Tuni Chatterji's experimental documentary filmOkul Nodi(Endless River) (2012). Chatterji's film consists mainly of luminous shots of boatmen travelling along Bangladeshi rivers. During key sequences, recordings of Bangladeshi boatmen's songs known asbhatiyaliare heard on the soundtrack. Int…
Beyond Colonial Rupture
Scholarly discussions on Islam in print have focused predominantly on the role of Urdu in the development of North Indian Muslim publics (Dubrow, 2018; Robb, 2020), ʿulama and Islamic jurisprudence (Tareen, 2020) and relations between Islam and colonial modernity (Robinson, 2008; Osella & Osella, 2008) This special issue instead offers fine-grained investigations on technology and labour; print landscapes, networks and actors; subaltern languages…
Dance, Gender, and Activism in Pakistan
Sheema Kermani (1951-) is a performer and activist based in Karachi, Pakistan. Through her organisation, Tehrik-e-Niswan she has worked towards raising awareness of violence against women and women’s empowerment. Tehrik-e-Niswan is a cultural organisation invested in social justice through the arts. As a dancer and theatre actor, Sheema Kermani uses her training, choreography, and pedagogy to foreground the activist potential of performing arts. …
Performance, cultural resistance and social justice
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global cultural and creative sector has experienced major transformations in the way performances are conceived of, produced, packaged, and sustained. The involuntary shift to the online (and now hybrid) models and platforms of showcasing have compelled artists not just to rethink performance itself but also to address larger global and local socio-political and economic issues. This paper aims to…
"Priyanka Basu. Review of "Art for Coexistence
The early film song booklet as visual art and the ‘intermedial scope’ of Indian cinema histories
Film song booklets or, more generally, cinema booklets have gained traction in recent years as archival resources contributing to the uncharted histories of Indian (and South Asian) cinema. They add to the rich repositories of cinema ephemera that underline the importance of extra-filmic material in writing such histories while focusing on themes of printing, circulation, consumption and thus the afterlives of films themselves. Beyond the immedia…
Women dancers of World War II
The years of World War II witnessed a trans-national network of dancers and theatre artists uplifting the morale of the troops stationed at war zones as well as citizens at home. In Britain, the formation of Entertainment National Services Association (ENSA) created a pool of artists who engaged with common people outside proscenium theatres. Catherine Wells, a distinguished ballet dancer, travelled in Gibraltar, North Africa, and India as part o…
History (12 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Art (11 works) · Law (8 works) · History (7 works) · Political science (7 works) · Politics (7 works) · Visual arts (7 works) · Aesthetics (6 works) · Law (6 works)