DRSTI, Visual Knowledge

[Harsha Dehejia]

DRSTI

Experiencing Knowledge,  Visually.


While shruti or the oral word ,is the supreme source of knowledge, drsti or 
what is seen has its
own unique place in the apprehension, experience and realisation of ultimate 
reality or atmajnana
in the Indian tradition. Whether it is through motifs and metaphors, icons 
and images represented
on mud walls or temples, fabrics or manuscripts, the hasta mudras and 
abhinaya of dance, the
narrative tradition of murals or scrolls, the visual poetry of miniature 
paintings, the subliminal
messages of contemporary paintings, the suggestions arising from spaces 
sacred or secular, they
all become sources of visual knowledge. Drsti by-passes the rational mode of 
knowledge such as
language and appeals intuitively to the inner mind and leads to anubhava or 
an instant experience,
While drsti leads to darshana, the contemplative and intuitive drsti leads 
to atmajnana.

Drsti is a two way process, the first is the optics which registers 
impressions on the eye from the
outer world. However drsti requires the mind to perceive and infer these 
sensual impressions into
a meaningful experience. It is the latter process of perception and 
inference that brings in
subjectivity to the process of seeing. Thus this could bring in differences 
between the traditional
and the modern in the modes of drsti. Drsti therefore is half seen and half 
perceived.

The seminar and workshop will explore various aspects of drsti in the Indian 
tradition, both
traditional and modern and feature panel discussions,  exhibitions and 
performances that will
highlight drsti in its manifold aspects.

You are asked to submit your proposal as soon as possible, to be followed by 
your paper of about
3000 words, to either of us by August 2006. The first ten submissions will 
be considered for
travel grants.

The provisional dates for the seminar are January 4,5,6 2007 and it will be 
held at the Habitat
Centre in New Delhi.



Prof. Harsha Dehejia, College of Humanities, Carleton University, Ottawa, 
ON., Canada.
harshadehejia at hotmail.com