The aim of bauhaus imaginista: Corresponding With exhibition seeks to develop a conversation about two parallel yet different relationships to Bauhaus pedagogy in India and Japan, namely the art school in Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan, India between 1919 and the present, and in the experimental pedagogical atelier, the Research Institute of Life Construction, later known as School of New Architecture and Design lead by architect Renshichirō Kawakita in Tokyo, Japan from 1931 to 1936.
The participants in the symposium will explore the impact of the Bauhaus in Japan and India in the transwar era (1930s-1950s) and beyond, to the present. Participants will variously present theoretical and historical statements, reflections on their experiences and work, and further their own practice in the form of artistic interventions or performances. This Symposium is a part of bauhaus imaginista, a series of exhibitions and events by the Bauhaus Kooperation Berlin Dessau Weimar, the Goethe-Institut and Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) in Berlin on the occasion of 100 Jahre Bauhaus. The symposium is organized by the Goethe-Institut Tokyo.
Three contemporary artists – Luca Frei (visual art), Kyoka (sound art) and Tsuyoshi Shirai (dance) – will create original art works for the event based on their relationship to Bauhaus concepts, forms and practices. The art historian and curator Helena Čapková and architect Taku Sakaushi will moderate this event.