By Aziz Haniffa
—WASHINGTON, D.C.
he multi-media per-
formance that filled the
stage at the First
Congressional United
Church of Christ on
Sept. 9 was a concert
that proved rare and unique: It
melded dance, music, poetry
and visual arts, featuring artist
Nimi Trehan of Potomac,
Maryland, painting accompanied
by a dance performance present-
ed with the poignant poetry of
Satya Palaparty.
It was called “A Symphony of
Temple Bells” and was presented by the multi-arts organization
Spilling Ink, which blends the
artistic disciplines as a way of
sharing the talents of India and
the diaspora. The program was
supported by the D.C.
Commission on the Arts &
Humanities.
With Palaparty’s poetry as its
inspiration, the D.C.-based nonprofit Spilling Ink choreographed
the encounter against a backdrop of social turmoil, making of
a performance that provided the
opportunity for introspection
and an interaction on a variety of
topics on the worldly human
condition, from feminism to
nature.
Performers included
Sudeshna Basu, vocals, Vijay
Ganesh, percussion, Manjula
Kumar, theater, Pavani
Mallajosyula, violin, Vijay
Palaparty, dance, Palaparty,
poetry, Srivathsa Pasumarthi,
flute, Kaushika Prakash, dance,
Nalini Prakash, dance, Krithika
Subrahmanian, dance, and
Trehan, visual art.
Palaparty said her
“Symphony” — her first published poetry collection — is the
outcome of a lifetime of creative
expressions — a collection of
poems on a wide range of social
impact subjects, including feminist issues and the significance
of the insignificant.
Evoking memories of India
and her own cross-cultural expe-
riences as an immigrant, she
calls the poems a pathway to
know the self as well as the
world.
Spilling Ink, directed by Vijay
Palaparty and Nalini Prakash,
says its mission is “to interpret,
create, perform, and present performing, visual and literary arts
of India and the diaspora”
through an interdisciplinary
approach.
Trehan, who was working in
interior designing, expanded her
efforts to art about a decade ago.
Since then, she has held solo as
well as group exhibits both locally and internationally. Her paintings have been
exhibited and auctioned at fundraisers for charitable
organizations that
raise money for
education of the
underprivileged
and disabled students. Those
groups include
Upakar, an organization more than
two decades old
that offers college
scholarships to
needy Indian and
Indian-American
students.
“Throughout my life, my
instincts have compelled me to
return to art to express my
observations and emotions on
canvas. I create expressionist fig-
urative work and complex
abstract forms in my paintings,
valuing expression over perfec-
tion,” she said. “My art is a visu-
al journal of personal observa-
tions, life experi-
ences and socio-
political issues.
Using dynamic
brush strokes,
vibrant colors and
tactile textures, I
create a complex
tapestry of abstract
and iconographic
images that are jux-
taposed in multiple
layers incorporating
mystical symbolism,
inviting the viewer
to observe, reflect,
and respond. “
She said she had
often thought of creating in com-
bination with other art forms
and welcomed the chance to be a
part of “A Symphony of Temple
Bells.”
“I immersed myself in the
T
Nimi Trehan paints in response to
the dancers' gestures at a
multi-media concert at the First
Congressional United Church of
Christ in Washington, D.C., Sept. 9.
A ‘Symphony’
of Indian
Expression
Spilling Ink presents a mix of poetry,
dance and artwork
MEDLEY
Portrait
of diaspora
culture
emerges as
Nimi Trehan
paints on
stage
Vijay Palaparty and Nalini
Prakash dancing for “A
Symphony of Temple Bells,"
at a multi-media concert at
the First Congressional
United Church of Christ in
Washington, D.C., Sept. 9.
Potomac, Md.-based artist
Nimi Trehan.
INDIA ABROAD October 6, 2017 29 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
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