Dharma/Arte is not a blog
Workshop with Meredith Monk and her Vocal Ensemble, produced by Dharma/Arte. Photo: Henrique Raucci By Carlos A. Inada / From São Paulo From time to time we share on Twitter and Facebook the link to the “About us” page on our site, considering it may be helpful for people to know what Dharma/Arte is, and what it is not. This is a challenging task, as we have new followers on Facebook and Twitter every week — but at the same time we don’t want to repeat the same story to the people who follow Dharma/Arte for some time. Recently, however, I’ve discussed this topic with some friends, and it became clear it’s worth to tell something more about Dharma/Arte — and to clarify that Dharma/Arte is not a magazine, and that it is not a blog. Dharma/Arte is formally a non-profit organization established in Brazil, and its main purpose is helping developing an international community interested in the arts, the creative processes and the role of these in contemporary societies — and interested in how ancient traditions, mainly those referred to as “contemplative traditions”, may help us to understand and in a way re-invent creativity. Dharma/Arte is inspired by dharma art teachings as presented by Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa, and we’re in close contact with some of his early students, who later became teachers, and with artists that were directed inspired by these teachings. But Dharma/Arte welcomes non-Buddhists and Buddhists of any tradition. We don’t deny our origins, but we try to be careful not to “sell” Buddhist traditions as superior to any other. At the same time, we try to create ways of making Chögyam Trungpa’s dharma art teachings available to those who have interest. One of our teachers once mentioned what he saw as the main requisite of a dharma art initiative: going “beyond the artificial territoriality of dogma”. Dharma/Arte — and dharma art — is not trying to “sell” an idea, we don’t want to make of this inspiration a commodity. On the ground of a shared inspiration, we’re sincerely interested in learning how others interpret and express this inspiration, using Buddhist forms or not. We think this exchange in itself is a wonderful manifestation of the wisdom that underlies all these traditions. In 2008, Dharma/Arte produced a series of events in Brazil with Meredith Monk and her Vocal Ensemble. It was a challenge, and at the same time it was very successful and an example of the potentials of Dharma/Arte. The events included performances, workshops and talk (you can see photos of these events here and here). The talk and the workshop were done in partnership with one of the most important and innovative Brazilian choreographers, Ivaldo Bertazzo — and we’re proud to have made possible an exchange between Meredith Monk and Ivaldo Bertazzo and his students. Also, we’re proud to have hosted, in partnership with the São Paulo Museum of Modern Art, a conversation between Meredith Monk and Frans Krajcberg, a Brazilian artist (born in Poland), on Buddhism, ecology, contemporary art and society. Later this conversation was published along 4 pages of Folha de S.Paulo, one of the main Brazilian newspapers. We think that important seeds were planted during those events and meetings, and some of their magic (word used by most people who were present at the events) have reached a larger audience through the newspapers and magazines. And this has much to do with “what Dharma/Arte is”. So our sites are only a part — a key part — of this context of sharing and exchanging. Having your participation — making comments, writing, sharing your work — is essential. If you’re inspired, having your participation beyond that, helping us to make possible our current and future projects, is also very important, so that we’re able to engage and reach others, revealing glimpses of this inherent creative wisdom we all share. If you have any question, please let me know. Share your comments, or send an email to redes@dharma.art.br. |
