Talk on “Understanding Mythic Images”
by Dr Vidhya Kamat Parthan

Friday | 16 August 2019 | 5.00 pm – 6.30 pm

Organised by The International Centre Goa and Centre for Study of Mythology and Culture

Entry Free and Open to Public

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Understanding Mythic Images
The talk will try to decipher the meaning behind mythic symbols and metaphors. Though many of these images have lost their intended meaning and are often misread in contemporary times, they have continued to live on as powerful ciphers shaping our cultural (space) reality.

What is a mythic image? How does it differ from other images?
We have seen images of gods with multiple heads and arms? Why do gods have animal heads and human bodies? What does it mean ? What does the symbol of Ouroboros the serpent, swallowing its own tail stand for? Why are some goddesses shown without heads?

A mythic image is composed of a complex layering of symbols and metaphors. To understand these symbols we need to grasp the context in which these images were created, drawn, and painted.

Dr. Vidya Kamat is a contemporary visual artist, and research scholar. She holds a degree in fine arts (B.F.A.) and Ph.D. (Arts) from University of Bombay for her thesis on “Myths and Symbols seen in Sanskrit and Allied Literature”. Kamat has been a visiting faculty for the PGD course in Comparative Mythology with Department of Sanskrit at the University of Mumbai from 1994- 2014. She is a University of Mumbai recognized advisor for Ph.D students pursuing higher studies in Mythology since 2003.

She has published research papers on art, and comparative mythology in various national and international publications such as The Times of India, Indian Express, Journal of Asiatic Society to mention few. She was awarded a national cultural fellowship for her project on- “A Study and Documentation of Roadside shrines in Mumbai” by Majlis, through HIVOS, Netherlands during 2002-2004.

As an artist, her art practice articulates the friction between traditional Indian beliefs and urban Indian life as they come to terms with each other. Kamat questions the role of myths and traditional tales and their role in contemporary modern Indian social reality, and instigation of intolerance and violence.

Kamat’s select shows include, Palimpsests curated by Niru Ratnam, Aicon gallery New York, Through Other Eyes: Contemporary Art from South Asia, curated by Gerard Mermoz, Herbert Art gallery & Musuem, Coventry, England; Indian Contemporary Art Palais Benedictine de Fecamp Paris, curated by Ranjit Hoskote and Supriya Banerjee; Ethics of Encounters, Contemporary art from India and Thailand, Gallery Soulflower, Bangkok, curated by Pandit Chanrochanakit and Brian Curtin; Changing Skin curated By Marta Jakimowicz, I am a Saint, New Delhi, curated by Johny ML, Intimate Lives,by Anupa Mehta. And a public art project for the bicentenary celebration of Asiatic Society of Mumbai

Her works have been showcased in various prestigious international art fairs such as Istanbul art fair, Turkey; India At Fair, New Delhi, Santa Fe art fair, USA and Dhaka Art Summit, Bangladesh.

Currently, she is the founder and curator of ‘Talking Myths Project’- an online archive for traditional tales from the Indian sub-continent, and is the founding member and Secretary of ‘Centre for Study of Mythology and Culture’, a not for profit society dedicated to the study and research into Indian mythology.