Science & Technology meets Arts – Faculty and students of IITGN and seasoned artists come together to present ‘Swar Sangam’

Bringing forward their creative side, the faculty members and students of the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) collaborated with other seasoned artists to present ‘Swar Sangam: an evening of Ragas’ on May 13, 2023.

The event organised by Art@IITGN was held at the Jasubhai Memorial Auditorium on the IITGN campus. ‘Swar Sangam: an evening of Ragas’ featured a diverse lineup of performances by talented artists who showcased their exceptional skills and enthralling musical processes. It exhibited the magic of individual as well as Jugalbandi performances by aspiring and seasoned performers. This event was open to all music enthusiasts.

The artists who performed at the event included:

• Prof Mithun Radhakrishna, Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering, IITGN. He performed with his Electric Mandolin at the event. Hailing from Mysore, Karnataka, Prof Mithun Radhakrishna is a professionally trained Carnatic Mandolin player. Since 2009, he has been under the tutelage of the renowned Violinist Vid TKV Ramanajacharyulu from Trichy. He has also performed in over 50 concerts in both India & the USA, including during the famous Chennai Music Festival in Chennai.
• Prof Soumyabrata Chakrabarty, Visiting professor, Electrical Engineering, IITGN. He performed with a Violin at the event. Prof Soumyabrata Chakraborty started his formal training in Hindustani classical music on violin under the tutelage of the Late Debdas Barman, a renowned violinist of Assam, when he was in the first year of his Engineering studies at NIT Silchar.  Prof Soumyabrata also holds a Visharad Degree in first class on violin Hindustani classical music from the Akhil Bharat Gandharva Mahavidyalaya. He has also participated in various music conferences as a solo player as well as in an ensemble for the last three decades.
• Shri Ananth Menon, an independent classical dancer and musician (Mrudangist /Percussionist), played Mridangam at the event. Ananth Menon is an established Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, and Kathakali performer and dance Guru. He is also the Young Director at Mudra School of Indian Classical Dances, a 50-year-old institute for Indian classical dances in Ahmedabad. As an established musician, he has performed globally with many famous artists, including Violin Maestro Shri L Subramanium Ji and given concerts in Frankfurt (Germany), Vienna (Austria), Prague, Budapest, and so on.
• Shri Hemant Joshi, a Tabla player from Delhi and Farukhabad Gharana and disciple of the Late Ustad Raheman Khan Saheb and Ustad Kadar Khan Saheb. Hemant Joshi started performing from the age of 11 years and has performed in different parts of India as well as in the USA. He has performed with renowned artists and has won several medals, awards, and competitions for his music. He is an approved artist on the panel of All India Radio and Doordarshan and performs regularly for different broadcasting media in India.
• Shri Harvansh Dandelia, a PhD scholar in mechanical Engineering, IITGN, performed with Electric Bass during the programme. Harvansh Dandelia is a self-trained musician and has been playing musical instruments since the age of 12 years. He has been an active member of the music clubs during BTech at NIT Raipur and MTech at IIT Gandhinagar. Throughout the year, Harvansh can be seen performing at various events across the Institute. He has also had the opportunity to represent his Institute at the Inter-IIT Cultural Meet and other inter-college events. Some of the instruments that he plays include a keyboard, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass, drums, and dholak. Although he plays various genres, he is more interested in Indian classical fused with Western music.

Sharing the thought behind the event, Prof Jaison Manjaly, Head of the Humanities and Social Sciences discipline and the founder of Art@IITGN initiative said, “This event is a celebration of the power of music as an art form that unites individuals and communities. Through the Art@IITGN initiative, we want to bring together people from various walks of life and provide them with a platform to explore their creative potential collectively.”

Avani Varia, Art curator at IITGN, shared, “It is always our aim to facilitate and nurture inter-community and collaborative art activities at IIT Gandhinagar. This event is a milestone for Art@IITGN and personally for me that the audience witnessed enthralling creative collaboration between IITGN professors, students, and other artists who performed on the same stage. I am looking forward to more collaborative projects within the IITGN community and artists from outside the campus.”

About Art@IITGN Initiative:

Art at IIT Gandhinagar is an initiative that promotes and facilitates artistic expressions and engagements on campus. Art as a medium and practice nurtures liberal, inclusive, interdisciplinary, and futuristic values. This initiative provides spaces on campus that enhance and create more avenues for students and community members to experiment with artistic possibilities. It aims to reimagine the cultural landscape of the IIT Gandhinagar campus and give direction to forms of expressions in a manner that is inclusive, energising and most importantly, unique in its approach. With Art@IITGN, we envision an environment which will allow for ingenuity to thrive while simultaneously bridging the transference of intergenerational knowledge systems.

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• Chitralekha