Art is also an effective form to raise awareness about the world around us: an awareness about the society we live in, and how one could act individually and collectively. The annual cultural event of RANG titled ‘Indian Cultural Night’ for 2019 at Chalmers University of Technology reminded the audience through a mime about the world’s water crisis by 2030 and how one could act by reducing one’s water consumption in day-to-day use.
MIME: WATER IN 2030
The organisers of the event reminded through this artistic performance that the two-thirds of the world population would face severe water shortages though three-fourths of the planet Earth is covered in water. Mime is an artistic technique of portraying an idea, or a character, or a mood or narration by gestures and body movements. The performers in the mime were clad in dark garments and white masks: bleakness, darkness, gloominess…the world would witness if the water crisis and Climate Change issue is not addressed. The mime brought forth to the audience about the world’s response to climate change and water like a Roman or Greek farce. It was written and directed by Arjun Krishna Murthy who is a Master’s student at Chalmers University of Technology and President of RANG. He said water scarcity and water shortage is an irrefutable fact. He observed, “It is happening everywhere. We also see people wasting water through everyday usage and our assumption that water resource is eternal but it is not. We have taken Mother Nature for granted for many years and one of the examples is water consumption and water wastage. This aspects inspired me to write and direct WATER in 2030.”
Tejas Venkatesh Vice President of RANG said the cultural night went according to the plans and regretted for failing to accommodate more people as there were requests for tickets for the cultural night held on Sunday evening on 1 December 2019 even after the ticket counter, offline and online, were closed due to logistics. He said the organisers felt satisfied with the comments from the audience who praised the Indian Cultural Night for its holistic approach to a cultural festival: a mix of entertainment and social message. Altogether 270 people attended the cultural night celebrated at two venues of Chalmers University of Technology.
PK Mahanandia, Advisor to the Government of Sweden on Arts and Culture graced the occasion along with his wife Charlotte von Schedvin. Suresh Kumar, First Secretary, Embassy of India in Sweden was also the chief guest for the cultural festival.
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