March/April 2018

Journalism Gender-Just

W

By STEVE FOX

SACHIN SONI

omen journalists in India and around the world have come a long way since the days when they were routinely assigned to cover flower and fashion shows. But, even though they now report on wars, civil strife, politics, finance, sports, science and many other topics, women journalists are generally paid less, are less likely to be the ones deciding who gets the assignments and still face certain challenges their male counterparts don’t.

That’s the verdict of Anubha Bhonsle, an Indian journalist whose career includes over

10 years of reporting on current affairs and gender issues for CNN-IBN, now called CNNNews18, where she led the “Citizen Journalist” show, and five years at NDTV. Author of the 2016 book, “Mother, Where’s My Country?: Looking for Light in the Darkness of Manipur,” which examines the long-standing civil strife in the state, Bhonsle has also been a fellow at the Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security and was the 2015-16 Hubert Humphrey Fellow at the University of Maryland, both in the United States.

Although the field of journalism has diversified to include more women, they still remain underrepresented and often face gender-based discrimination.

March/April 2018

V O LU M E L I X N U M B E R 2

https://span.state.gov

CHRIS PIZZELLO © AP Images/Invision

CONTENTS DAKOTA FINE

6 27



Gender-Just Journalism

27



Directing Marvels

6



A Museum of Her Own

32



Through a Different Lens

10



Curating Culture

35



Designing a Better Future

15



Capturing Screens

37



Fantastic Folklore

20



Unspoken Genius

40



Voila Violin

24



Defined by Dance

42



Gaming for Change

Courtesy Swarnamalya Ganesh

24 Left: Anubha Bhonsle reports from Punjab, on the Indian side of the international border with Pakistan.

37 Editor in Chief Craig L. Dicker

Printed and published by Jeffrey R. Sexton on behalf of the Government of the United States of America and printed at Thomson Press India Ltd., 18/35 Delhi Mathura Road, Faridabad, Haryana 121007 and published at the Public Affairs Section, American Embassy, American Center, 24 K.G. Marg, New Delhi 110001. Opinions expressed in this 44-page magazine do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Government.  Articles with a star may be reprinted with permission.

Those without a star are copyrighted and may not be reprinted.

Contact SPAN at 011-23472135 or editorspan@state.gov

TED Conference/Courtesy Flickr

2

Reviewing Editor Karl M. Adam

Editor Deepanjali Kakati Associate Editor Suparna Mukherji Hindi Editor Giriraj Agarwal Urdu Editor Syed Sulaiman Akhtar Copy Editors Bhawya Joshi, Shah Md. Tahsin Usmani Editorial Assistant Justina Bosco

Art Director Hemant Bhatnagar Deputy Art Directors Qasim Raza, Shah Faisal Khan Production/Circulation Manager Alok Kaushik Printing Assistant Manish Gandhi

Front cover: Indian American director Mindy Kaling is best known for creating, writing, producing and starring in the sitcom “The Mindy Project.” Photograph

by Chris Pizzello © AP Images/Invision.

Research Services : Bureau of International Information Programs, The American Library

“

Go Online Anubha Bhonsle www.anubhabhonsle.com

IFJ (Asia-Pacific) report https://goo.gl/s5TqQY

UNESCO report https://goo.gl/8LszC6

Women’s Media Center report https://goo.gl/1kSKQP

#GenderAnd http://indianexpress.com/ about/genderand/

4 MARCH/APRIL 2018

We have also had to fight against the great presumption that a woman journalist should only be covering women’s issues—that it’s a woman’s job. But, it’s not a woman’s job; it’s journalism.

“Women journalists before me fought extremely hard to be recognized, to combat sexism,” says Bhonsle. “There are many women reporters now, but when it comes to higher management, women are still few and far between. That’s particularly true with regional media. We have also had to fight against the great presumption that a woman journalist should only be covering women’s issues—that it’s a woman’s job. But, it’s not a woman’s job; it’s journalism.”

A number of studies support Bhonsle’s views. “Decision-making positions are out of reach for many women, and although some do make it to the top and there are incremental changes taking place, they are occurring too slowly for real change to be made,” according to a 2015 report, “Media and Gender in the Asia Pacific Region,” by the International Federation of Journalists (Asia-Pacific). That same year, a report from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), “Inside the News: Challenges and Aspirations of Women Journalists in Asia and the Pacific,” noted, “Overall, the numbers of women in media professions have increased in recent years, but gender imbalances remain acute in the upper echelons of media organizations.” A report by the Women’s Media Center, “The Status of Women in the U.S. Media 2017,” found that at 20 of America’s top news outlets, men produced 62.3 percent of the news reports analyzed during the study period, while women produced 37.7 percent of the news reports.

Gender bias aside, sexual harassment remains a fact of life for women journalists in India, both when they are in the field reporting on events and in the workplace, says Bhonsle.

“It’s something that women journalists have to deal with, and they do,” she says. “You don’t want to come back from an assignment and say you couldn’t get the story. You have to be pragmatic about it. You can’t be a journalist if you’re constantly thinking about safeguarding yourself. You are responsible for your own safety and you don’t want to approach every

”

story being afraid.”

Gender issues have come to the forefront recently in many countries, including the United States, where a number of prominent male journalists were fired after being accused of sexually harassing their female colleagues.

The terminations, which were front-page news, may ultimately lead to stricter standards in the workplace, Bhonsle believes.

“Because of the revelations, I feel now that there is no place to hide [for the perpetrators] in the U.S.,” she says. “In India, I have to say, the 2012 gang rape in Delhi changed the conversation completely. There is a whole new attitude about men in positions of power and sexual harassment. And similarly, there is no place to hide here.”

Bhonsle intends to keep the spotlight on gender issues in her current position directing the #GenderAnd project of The Indian Express, which the newspaper promises will “mainstream gender” with reportage, commentary, multimedia reports, data projects, reflecting on stories from history and reporting on lives of women and gender minorities today.

“Gender must inform policy and planning,” says Bhonsle. “It is indeed the concern of our time and must be covered, and it must be covered in a straightforward manner. We hope to bring to the subject the full arc of coverage, encompassing women’s issues at work, on corporate boards, in terms of climate change, justice, refugee situations—all the many axes across which gender intersects.”

From her position on the front lines of media, does Bhonsle anticipate progress on curbing gender inequalities that still exist in the industry?

“Yes, I am optimistic,” she says, “about a lot of structures being dismantled and about the opportunities that present, like the fact that gender issues are becoming a lot more important to news organizations.”

Steve Fox is a freelance writer, former newspaper publisher and reporter based in Ventura, California.

RAJESH BHARDWAJ SUNZU BACHASPATIMAYUM

Above: Anubha Bhonsle reports on the floods in Kashmir in 2014.

From above left: Bhonsle aboard INS Vikramaditya, at a National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) camp, and Heirangoithong in Manipur.

STATEMENT FORM IV

The following is a statement of ownership and other particulars about SPAN magazine as required under Section 19D(b) of the Press & Registration of Books Act, 1867, and under Rule 8 of the Registration of Newspaper (Central) Rules, 1956.

1. Place of Publication:

Public Affairs Section American Embassy American Center 24, Kasturba Gandhi Marg New Delhi 110001

2. Periodicity of Publication:

Bi-monthly

3. Printer’s Name: Nationality: Address:

C.J. Jassawala Indian Thomson Press India Ltd. 18/35, Delhi Mathura Road Faridabad 121007

4. Publisher’s Name: Nationality: Address:

Jeffrey R. Sexton American 24, Kasturba Gandhi Marg New Delhi 110001

5. Editor’s Name: Nationality: Address:

Deepanjali Kakati Indian 24, Kasturba Gandhi Marg New Delhi 110001

6. Name and address of The Government of the individuals who own United States of America the newspaper and partners or shareholders holding more than one percent of the total capital: I, Jeffrey R. Sexton, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Date: February 8, 2018

Jeffrey R. Sexton Signature of Publisher

To share articles go to https://span.state.gov MARCH/APRIL 2018 5

A Museum

Her Own

of

© Lalla Essaydi

By CARRIE LOEWENTHAL MASSEY

T

Above: “Bullets Revisited #3” by Lalla Essaydi, 2012, three chromogenic prints mounted on aluminum.

6 MARCH/APRIL 2018

here is no shortage of opportunity to view world-renowned art in Washington, D.C. A visit to the National Gallery of Art, all on its own, can provide a survey of magnificent paintings and sculptures. But, what if you’re looking for a zoomed-in perspective on a unique segment of the art world?

One option would be to explore the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), located on New York Avenue, in the heart of the capital city. It is the only major museum in the world solely dedicated to championing women through the arts. It features art created solely by women, with the goals of advocating “for better representation of women artists” and addressing “the gender imbalance in the presentation of art by bringing to light important women artists of the past while promoting great women artists working today,” says Stacy Meteer, the museum’s communications and marketing manager.

The museum’s collections offer paintings, sculptures, photographs and videos by artists

like Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun, Mary Stevenson Cassatt, Louise Bourgeois, Shirin Neshat, Faith Ringgold and Pipilotti Rist. The museum also holds the city’s only Frida Kahlo painting, “Self-Portrait Dedicated to Leon Trotsky,” a work Meteer suggests all visitors take some time to view.

Collection of connections The National Museum of Women in the Arts installs all of its collections thematically, rather than chronologically, emphasizing the connections between historical and contemporary art, says Meteer. In that vein, the exhibition “Women House,” on display from March 9 to May 28, 2018, explores different ideas about a woman’s “place” and the house as a feminine space. Organized across several themes, including “Desperate Housewives,” “Dollhouse” and “Mobile Homes,” the exhibition features more than 30 global artists who represent home not as a space solely for cultivating comfort and stability, but instead as

Photographs by THOMAS H. FIELD

DAKOTA FINE

Above: A collection gallery at the National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Right: The museum is conveniently located in the heart of Washington, D.C. Far right: The museum has several event spaces, including the Great Hall and Mezzanine, the Elisabeth A. Kasser Board Room, the Third Floor Gallery and the Performance Hall.

The National Museum of Women in the Arts

in

Washington, D.C., represents traditional and modern women artists from around the world, while catalyzing social change.

To share articles go to https://span.state.gov

MARCH/APRIL 2018

7

LEE STALSWORTH Courtesy National Museum of Women in the Arts

The National Museum of Women in the Arts installs all of its collections thematically, rather than chronologically, emphasizing the connections between historical and contemporary art.

a place for demonstration and liberation.

The artworks include photographs, videos, sculptures and room-like installations made of materials like felt and rubber bands.

From June 28 to September 16, 2018, the exhibition “Heavy Metal—Women to Watch 2018” will showcase contemporary women artists working in metal. It will be the fifth installment of this series the museum presents every three years. Metal work is unique in that its applications range from sculpture to jewelry to conceptual work, bridging fine art, design and craft—categories whose traditional definitions are rooted in gender discrimination.

Campaigns of change The focus on women’s roles at home, as artists, and in society forms the foundation of its role not only as an art museum, but also as a center for thought leadership, community engagement and social change, says Meteer. “We have many things to offer. In addition to our collection and rotating exhibitions, we also engage audiences online and through our dynamic public programs,” she says.

One such program is the museum’s #5WomenArtists campaign, now in its third year. The campaign challenges people to name five women artists and post them to their social media accounts. “It calls 8 MARCH/APRIL 2018

Above: Painted in 1885, “The Cage” typifies Berthe Morisot’s mature style.

attention to the inequities women artists face, inspires conversation and community, and brings awareness to a much larger audience than can ever visit the brick-andmortar museum,” says Meteer. In 2017, more than 10,000 individuals and 520 cultural institutions from 30 countries on all seven continents participated in the campaign, according to Meteer.

The museum’s Women, Arts and Social Change initiative provides another platform for discussing women and the arts as catalysts for social change. FRESH TALK, the signature program of the initiative, expands the dialogue on what it means to be champions of women through the arts.

It features curated conversations with leading innovators and thought leaders from diverse disciplines to discuss causedriven topics.

The program has included installations like Mexican artist and activist Mónica Mayer’s “El Tendedero/The Clothesline Project, D.C.,” which ran from November 2017 to January 2018 and asked visitors to answer questions like, “As a woman, where do you feel safe? Why?” and “Have you ever experienced violence or harassment? What happened?” Participants wrote their responses on pink cards, which they then hung on a clothesline—a traditionally feminine object that Mayer transformed into a tool for dialogue on the

LEE STALSWORTH

Above: Clara Peeters painted several variations on the theme of a live cat with fish and other seafood. This example is typical of her work produced after 1620.

Go Online

National Museum of Women in the Arts https://nmwa.org/

#5WomenArtists https://nmwa.org/ womens-history-month

Women, Arts and Social Change

Courtesy National Museum of Women in the Arts

https://goo.gl/FWtSHC

treatment of women.

On March 18, the Women, Arts and Social Change initiative will host its third annual “Fresh Talk: Righting the Balance” event, a discussion on the possibility of gender parity in museums.

Creating core The National Museum of Women in the Arts was incorporated in 1981 as a private, nonprofit museum, and opened the doors of its permanent location in 1987. It began as a private collection of works by women artists, the owners of which, Wilhelmina Cole Holladay and her husband Wallace F. Holladay, began collecting art in the 1960’s. Around this time, scholars and art historians were beginning to discuss the underrepresentation of women, and various

racial and ethnic groups, in museums and art exhibitions. By 1980, Mrs. Holladay began working toward her goal of creating a museum to showcase women artists. The Holladay Collection became the core of the institution’s permanent collection.

The National Museum of Women in the Arts is open Monday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Admission is $10 (Rs. 640 approximately) for adults, and $8 (Rs. 500 approximately) for students and visitors over age 65. Entry is free for museum members and youth aged 18 or less. Free Community Day is on the first Sunday of every month.

Above left: “They call me Redbone but I’d rather be Strawberry Shortcake;” 2009; oil on canvas; by Amy Sherald.

Above: “Après la tempête (After the Storm)” by Sarah Bernhardt, created circa 1876.

Carrie Loewenthal Massey is a New York City-based freelance writer.

MARCH/APRIL 2018

9

EVAN VUCCI © AP Images

Curating Cult Cul

By MICHAEL GALLANT

10 MARCH/APRIL 2018

As a curator at the Freer|Sackler galleries,

Debra Diamond shares the history and culture of Asian art with the world.

D

Photographs courtesy the Freer|Sackler galleries

ebra Diamond spends her days giving millions of visitors to Smithsonian’s Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, or simply Freer|Sackler, something that they may never otherwise experience—a window into the living heart of a vibrant culture, half a world away.

“The core of my job is taking care of objects, artworks, sculptures and paintings from India and Southeast Asia; interpreting them; and displaying them so that they reveal the importance and relevance of the cultures to the public and to scholars,” says Diamond.

Above right: The Freer|Sackler galleries display beautiful examples of Buddhistthemed art.

Right: New York University students interact in the storage area of the Freer|Sackler galleries.

ture lture

To share articles go to https://span.state.gov

MARCH/APRIL 2018

11

Photographs courtesy the Freer|Sackler galleries

“ �

To some visitors, an exhibit could be introducing India for the first time. They may know absolutely nothing about the country. I want them to realize that it is one of the great world cultures, and that they should be moved, fascinated and respectful.

12 MARCH/APRIL 2018

Digitizing the experiences

As the curator of the South and Southeast Asian art at Freer|Sackler galleries, Diamond displays those beautiful works in ways that appeal to the radically diverse array of museum-goers who pour through the galleries’ doors every day.

For instance, “to some visitors, an exhibit could be introducing India for the first time,” she says. “They may know absolutely nothing about the country. I want them to realize that it is one of the great world cultures, and that they should be moved, fascinated and respectful.”

“For others,” she continues, “our exhibits might cultivate a feeling of pride in their own

For Diamond’s future curatorial plans, a key goal is translating collaboration into innovation.

“New technologies enable us to reach more people. I’m very proud to say that every single object that we have in our collection is online and available for people to see from anywhere in the world,” she says. The online collection went live in 2015, Diamond continues, making the galleries the first Asian art museum, and the first museum at the Smithsonian, to offer such widespread, tech-enabled access.

In the past, Diamond describes, curatorship often meant simply placing beautiful objects in beautiful rooms. While that paradigm still

culture and the chance to see it from a new perspective.”

Diamond’s efforts are fueled by her wideranging education. She holds a Ph.D. in South Asian art history from Columbia University and has studied post-colonial theory and Sanskrit as well. “You need all of that and more,” she says with a laugh, “because the art we’re working with is so rich and diverse.”

To understand and present that art in a meaningful way, Diamond must collaborate, often on a daily basis, with conservators, editors, educators, security staff, fundraisers, photographers and more. “My work is completely collaborative, and I often function as a team leader,” says Diamond. “I may have to be the bridge between graphic designers and religious scholars, for example, making sure that cross-disciplinary collaboration is happening and moving projects forward.

Getting to work with so many interesting people is great and is one of the most fun aspects of my job.”

moves many people, digital technologies open the door for even richer experiences. “In a recent exhibition, we took all of the questions that visitors had generally been asking for years and put the answers on tablets,” she says.

“Why is the Buddha’s hair blue? How did this object get into this museum? You can now pick up a tablet, while you’re walking through the exhibit, and find the answers.”

For another exhibition, the museum created what Diamond describes as a “walk-in, digital environment, so it seems like you’re in Sri Lanka. You can juxtapose that experience with the artworks on display. It allows us to tell stories better and on different levels than we used to.”

Such efforts are just the beginning. Diamond plans to implement expanded integrated, immersive technologies by 2020.

Debra Diamond

Go Online

Introducing the new

https://goo.gl/BESr5F

Freer|Sackler

www.freersackler.si.edu

Columbia University

www.columbia.edu

Above left: Visitors at the Freer|Sackler galleries.

Left and above: Asian art on display at the Freer|Sackler galleries.

Questioning gender roles As an innovative and accomplished female leader in the world of museum curatorship, MARCH/APRIL 2018

13

Diamond finds herself in good company. “Working in a museum and being a curator, in terms of being a woman, is kind of like being a teacher,” she says. “So many women go into this field. When there is a glass ceiling in this world, it’s largely in terms of unequal salaries. But as a field as a whole, it’s a good place for women to make careers.”

While women do occupy curatorships in museums around the world, Diamond hopes to see more women leading their financial and strategic branches as well. “There are lots of things about curatorship that better fit traditional, stereotypical women’s roles,” she says, “but when it comes to being museum directors, men are still largely considered better leaders.”

“Anyone who has studied art in the U.S. recently knows how art encodes and communicates ideas about patriarchy,” says Diamond. “So, it’s a field that at least enables us to think about how power and gender operate.”

Michael Gallant is the founder and chief executive officer of Gallant Music. He lives in New York City.

Photographs courtesy the Freer|Sackler galleries

Top: Festivities to celebrate the Freer|Sackler galleries’ reopening in 2017 included a performance by the Silk Road Ensemble (above) and a night market (below).

14 MARCH/APRIL 2018

Capturing

Screens Š AP Images/Star Max 2

By CANDICE YACONO

Mindy Kaling (right) and television host Stephen Colbert tape a sketch at Duane Reade in New York City.

Women are gaining prominence in roles behind and in front of the camera, especially in the world of television.

To share articles go to https://span.state.gov MARCH/APRIL 2018 15

Nicole Wilder/ABC

16 MARCH/APRIL 2018

have always been involved both behind and in front of the camera, yet not to the degree they are today and certainly not to the degree that men always have been.”

Kearney cites Lucille Ball as a rare example of a female success story from the television industry’s earliest times.

“She was a phenomenal comedic performer as well as a successful producer in TV; although her husband, Desi Arnaz, got a lot of credit for her work,” says Kearney. “Moreover, she’s probably the one female TV actor known globally, since ‘I Love Lucy’ has been broadcast in nearly every country, and continues to be rerun in a variety of places.”

Ball worked as a model and Broadway actor before moving to Hollywood. She also starred in several radio programs, including CBS Radio’s “My Favorite Husband.” Based on the success of the show, CBS asked Ball to develop it for television. In 1950, Ball and Arnaz formed Desilu Productions to work on this project, eventually known as “I Love Lucy.” Ball later became the first woman to head a television production company, Desilu, which was responsible for hits like “Star Trek,” “The Untouchables” and “Mission: Impossible,” and

Showtime

W

omen are calling the shots in American television studios, now more than ever.

In 2016-17, they comprised 42 percent of the speaking characters on television, and 28 percent of all creators, directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors and directors of photography, according to the San Diego State University Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film’s “Boxed In 2016-17: Women On Screen and Behind the Scenes in Television” report.

The Directors Guild of America’s 2016-17 Episodic TV Director Diversity Report found that 21 percent, or 955, of all television episodes were directed by women, another alltime high. The total number of individual women directors increased 45 percent, to 262, in the 2016-17 season.

“Television culture is vast and varied—from journalism and sports to reality-based shows, fictional shows and commercials—and TV now appears on a variety of platforms, including broadcast, cable and streaming,” says Mary Celeste Kearney, associate professor of film, television and theatre, and director of the gender studies program at the University of Notre Dame, Indiana. “Women

Left: Viola Davis, the first African American woman to win the lead actress in a drama series Emmy for “How to Get Away With Murder.”

Above right: Lucille Ball with her husband, Desi Arnaz.

Below: Edie Falco (center) and the cast of “Nurse Jackie.”

Below right: Producer, screenwriter and author Shonda Lynn Rhimes, who has superhit series like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal” to her credit.

TED Conference/Courtesy Flickr

TV Radio Mirror

“ ”

Women are more involved today in behind-the-scenes or production roles, especially producing.

was one of the largest independent production companies until being sold in 1967.

More recently, Kearney says, Edie Falco’s and Viola Davis’ careers stand out in her mind.

Falco is “an amazing performer who has appeared in a variety of roles, both dramatic and comedic. And, despite being a woman over 40, she’s also been able to perform as sexual, which is difficult, since older women in Hollywood are rarely given that chance. Same for Viola Davis, although she’s appeared mostly in dramas,” says Kearney.

Falco is best known for her television roles in “Nurse Jackie,” “The Sopranos” and “Oz.” Davis, also known for her role in the film “The Help,” is the first African American woman to win the lead actress in a drama series Emmy for “How to Get Away With Murder.” The show has been executive produced by yet another trailblazing television personality— Shonda Lynn Rhimes. She is a producer, screenwriter and author, and has superhit series like “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Scandal” to her credit.

Another example is an actor of Indian descent, Mindy Kaling, the first woman of color to create, executive produce and star in her own network show, “The Mindy Project.”

“When I made the show, there were no women of colour who were stars of their own show.

There was not even a man of colour…since like, I don’t even remember when. Now, my favorite shows [have women in the lead]...,” she says in an ELLE article.

“Creators and executive producers act as our cultural architects. Constructing a more inclusive televisual world on screen begins with employing a more inclusive behind-thescenes community,” says Martha M. Lauzen,

author of the “Boxed In” study, in an article in Variety magazine.

“Women are more involved today in behindthe-scenes or production roles, especially producing. But that varies by role, the type of shows and the type of platform. [Online] streaming offers a better entry point for younger or less experienced people in general.

So, we’re seeing a lot more women working there than in traditional broadcast roles,” says Kearney.

She mentions several showrunners like Tina Fey, Issa Rae and Jill Soloway who are able to blend acting, producing and writing in

ABC/Image Group LA

Go Online Boxed In 2016-17 report https://goo.gl/T4o3D4

2016-17 Episodic TV Director Diversity Report https://goo.gl/WWAjqu

18 MARCH/APRIL 2018

underrepresented groups from reaching their full potential.

“It’s important to note that not all women are the same, so we all don’t have the same opportunities. Women are multiply deprivileged when they are not white, not straight, not rich, not Western, not able-bodied,” says Kearney.

“So, it’s important to always pay attention to which women are getting ahead as well as which women are not.”

Martha M. Lauzen https://goo.gl/HW92dM

Mary Celeste Kearney https://goo.gl/Ca7D8v

Simon & Schuster

this new landscape.

“They’re all incredibly smart as well as funny and, I think, humor is a fantastic way to get people to think about serious issues,” she says.

Fey is best known for her television work on “Saturday Night Live,” “30 Rock” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.” She joined “Saturday Night Live” as a writer. Later, she became its first female head writer.

Rae is the creator of the “Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl” YouTube web series, which became a mega-hit because of its nonstereotypical portrayal of African American characters. Rae parlayed this success with the show into a platform on YouTube where she features shows and other content by people of color.

Soloway, who identifies as nonbinary, created, writes, executive produces and directs the Amazon original series “Transparent,” for which they have won two Emmy awards. They won the best director award at the Sundance Film Festival for directing and writing the film “Afternoon Delight.” Soloway is also part of the TIME’S UP initiative, which brings together about 300 women actors, talent agents, writers, directors, producers and entertainment executives to address the systemic inequality and injustice in the workplace that have kept

Above left: Jill Soloway accepts an award for the Amazon original series “Transparent” at the 68th Emmy Awards.

Left: Issa Rae, creator of the hit YouTube web series, “Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.”

Right: Tina Fey, best known for her television work on “Saturday Night Live,” “30 Rock” and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.”

Art Streiber/NBC

“ ”

As long as women are underrepresented and misrepresented in our symbolic world, that is problematic for women living in the real world.

In this scenario, even as studies report increases in the number of women involved in television, both behind and in front of the camera, several challenges remain. These include gender stereotypes like showing female characters as more likely to have personal goals, like being in a relationship, whereas male characters are more likely to have work-oriented goals. “It is so important when the symbolic world does not reflect the real world. This is certainly an employment issue for women working as directors, writers, editors, as well as actresses...” says Lauzen in a thinkprogress.org interview. “As long as women are underrepresented and misrepresented in our symbolic world, that is problematic for women living in the real world.”

Candice Yacono is a magazine and newspaper writer based in southern California.

MARCH/APRIL 2018

19

Unspoken Genius

F

By MICHAEL GALLANT

John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

or Annie Baker, the spaces in between words can say even more than the words themselves.

A playwright living in New York City, Baker is the creator of numerous works that have earned widespread recognition for their unique approach to language and communication. “Long stretches of charged silence fill her plays, lighting up the spaces between sentences,” described The Economist in a 2017 article. “They make awkward moments ever so slightly more awkward; quiet moments more noisily quiet.”

Case in point, Baker’s play, “The Aliens,” is described in its script as being silent for at least onethird of the performance time. Actors are directed to intentionally extend the quiet spaces between their lines for maximum, uncomfortable effect.

Baker’s unique approach to theater came via an indirect artistic journey. She originally aspired to be a novelist, “but my love of the beautiful sentence made it sort of impossible because my command of grammar and sentence structure is not great,” she told The Guardian in 2016. “I faltered. I constantly faltered.”

It was during her studies of dramatic writing at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and playwriting at Brooklyn College that Baker discovered the feeling of freedom in writing for theater.

“Starting to write dialogue was incredibly freeing...” she told The Guardian. “I feel like people don’t know what they’re saying—and don’t know why they’re

20 MARCH APRIL 2018

RICK TELLER

Playwright

Annie Baker

Courtesy Playwrights Horizons

uses artful words and powerful silences to redefine live theater.

Top: Annie Baker’s early play “Body Awareness” performed by the Chester Theatre Company in Massachusetts.

Above: Baker’s 2013 production, “The Flick,” is set in a decaying

Massachusetts movie theater. It gained widespread recognition, winning Baker the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, among other accolades.

To share articles go to https://span.state.gov

MARCH/APRIL 2018

21

John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

saying what they’re saying. That fascinates me and that’s my experience of the world. So playwriting was actually a way for me to celebrate my complete inability to write a sentence and speak a sentence.”

Baker’s offbeat explorations came to fruition in 2008 with her Off-Broadway debut, the oneact play, “Body Awareness.” Set in the fictional college town of Shirley, Vermont, the play applies Baker’s signature lingual approach to heated situations. Intellectual and emotional sparks fly when people with very different perspectives and strong emotions collide.

Baker’s style of writing has been described as highly realistic, sincere and immediate, yet challenging to viewers who are asked, through the characters and stories depicted on stage, to re-examine aspects of their own lives. In “Body Awareness,” the manifestations of that style were not only captivating and thoughtprovoking, but hilarious.

“My goal for the play is to not judge anyone, to get at that point where everyone is equally right and equally wrong,” Baker told The New York Times in 2008, “so the humor comes from that.”

Baker’s 2013 production, “The Flick,” is built on similar themes of loneliness, connection and the awkwardness of truly authentic conversations. Set in a decaying Massachusetts movie theater, the play follows the interactions of three employees as they clean floors and maintain equipment. “Their tiny battles and not-so-tiny heartbreaks play out in the empty aisles, becoming more gripping than the lackluster, second-run movies on screen,” describes Playwrights Horizon. “With keen insight and a finely-tuned comic eye, ‘The Flick’ is a hilarious and heart-rending cry for

22 MARCH/APRIL 2018

authenticity in a fast-changing world.”

“The Flick” gained widespread recognition, winning Baker the 2014 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, among other accolades. Three years later, she was awarded the highly coveted MacArthur Fellowship, often called the “genius grant.”

“We’re lucky to be living in the era of Annie Baker,” wrote The New Yorker in response to “The Flick,” “a playwright who listens to people so carefully, who re-creates human speech with such amusement and care, that her characters feel startlingly familiar—so familiar, in fact, that you might wonder at first why they’re the subjects of a play.”

Currently, Baker teaches playwriting at New York institutions, including Barnard College, New York University, Hunter College, and Stony Brook University. Beyond the Pulitzer and MacArthur honors, she has earned a Guggenheim Fellowship, American Academy of Arts and Letters Award, and multiple Obie Awards and Drama Desk nominations. She has seen her work produced in over 150 theaters in the United States and staged in over a dozen countries around the world.

Regardless of the stage or city, the artist’s vision shines through. “Baker’s extraordinary skill as an artist is to see the world accurately and to love it as it is, just as her characters love birds, a Red Sox cap, ‘Honeymoon in Vegas,’ or Vienna Fingers,” wrote The New Yorker.

“She sees them in their everyday wonder, without romanticizing, without criticizing, and shows us how to love them, too.”

Michael Gallant is the founder and chief executive officer of Gallant Music. He lives in New York City.

www.macfound.org/ fellows/982/

MacArthur Fellows Program www.macfound.org/ programs/fellows/

The Pulitzer Prizes www.pulitzer.org

Annie Baker’s style of writing has been described as highly realistic, sincere and immediate, yet challenging to viewers who are asked to reexamine aspects of their own lives.

MARCH/APRIL 2018

23

Go Online

Annie Baker

Photographs courtesy Swarnamalya Ganesh

Swarnamalya Ganesh

24 MARCH/APRIL 2018

http://swarnamalya ganesh.blogspot.com/

Fulbright-Nehru Fellowships

https://goo.gl/6UTxnc

University of California, Los Angeles

www.ucla.edu

San Jose State University www.sjsu.edu

Fulbrighter

Swarnamalya Ganesh highlights the importance of combining art with education and research for a life of continued learning.

Defined by

Dance

S

By PAROMITA PAIN

he was only 3 when her mother took her to her guru, K.J. Sarasa. Swarnamalya Ganesh believes that’s what set her on the creative trajectory of dance. “Dance is a natural extension of my identity,” she says. “It defines who I am.”

Ganesh’s engagement with the art goes beyond the stage. She is involved in researching different dance forms of India, primarily Bharatanatyam and its origins in Sadir Natyam.

After her doctorate from the University of Madras in Chennai, she had the opportunity to be a part of the Fulbright Program, the international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. State Department. She was a 2014-15 Fulbright-Nehru Scholar at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), minoring in world arts, cultures and dance.

Dance and education

Ranga Mandira Academy of World Dance/Performance and Indic Studies http://rangamandira.com/rma

Studying the art of dance in India, centered around Bharatanatyam, has always been a very conscious decision for Ganesh. “In fact, many people, including other dancers, are often aghast that I chose to study the art instead of just remaining with the performance aspect of it,” she says. Ganesh’s mother insisted she further her education, believing that, as a woman, nothing would empower her more than being a consummate artist with good educational credentials. “Besides K.J. Sarasa, my mother has had the most nurturing influence on my life and

To share articles go to https://span.state.gov MARCH/APRIL 2018 25

growth as a performer,” says Ganesh.

In addition to dance, Ganesh has a diploma in acting for camera from San Jose State University, California. “This happened quite by chance,” she says. Her dance had brought her offers to act in television shows. Films followed soon after.

“Alaipayuthey,” her first Tamil movie, with renowned director Mani Ratnam, made her a household name.

“I was very young, and it was all rather exciting,” she says. It had opened up cinema as an area of interest.

So, when she got the chance to study acting at the university in California, she was more than glad to accept it.

Dance and research Research, for Ganesh, is a chance to think in depth about dance forms, patterns and the different cultures related to them. “I have a spirit of inquiry,” she says. “During my M.A., I was drawn toward history and archaeology, so I started studying epigraphy.” Her multidisciplinary interests paved the way for further study.

Always interested in the Fulbright Program, Ganesh attended an event organized by the U.S.-India Educational Foundation in Chennai. After her Ph.D., she decided to apply for a teaching fellowship and reached out to previous Fulbrighters, wanting to better understand the application process and the overall experience. “Being interdisciplinary helped,” she says.

“I had a very clear vision of what I wanted to do.”

Ganesh’s doctoral research focused on the lost dance forms of India. She created a series of lectures and performances around the topic. But, she acknowledges that a great many issues and ideas still lie unexplored.

World Dance/Performance and Indic Studies, the academic wing of the Chennai-based Ranga Mandira Trust, which works in the areas of performing arts, arts education and community bonding through the arts.

“The larger audience connects best to the historicity and social change these art forms offer,” says Ganesh.

“My main thrust today lies in understanding how art can be a legitimate intervention in the daily politics of life and living.”

“

Ganesh’s interests expanded to the connections between social change, political activism and the arts.

At the University of California, Los Angeles, her work focused on the inherently inclusive and secular nature of Bharatanatyam, one of the oldest dance forms of South India, and how it has re-globalized itself.

At the university, Ganesh saw, first-hand, the deep influence of Indian philosophy and art on the academic community. “I also realized how important it is to be able to look at the broader picture,” she says. “Understanding the nuances of intersectionality is important since, as an art, dance isn’t restricted to one type or style of performance.”

The care and autonomy with which courses and classes were designed at the university inspired her.

She came back with many ideas she could implement as a faculty member at Ranga Mandira Academy of

26 MARCH/APRIL 2018

Photographs courtesy Swarnamalya Ganesh

Lessons learned

Paromita Pain is a journalist based in Austin, Texas.

My main thrust today lies in understanding how art can be a legitimate intervention in the daily politics of life and living.

”

Geerati/iStock/Thinkstock

Top: Directors Patty Jenkins (from left) of “Wonder Woman,” Kathryn Bigelow of “Detroit,” Greta Gerwig of “Lady Bird” and Dee Rees of “Mudbound.”

By NATASA MILAS © AP Images

Marvels

Women film directors

in the United States are carving out a space for themselves, but are yet to receive full recognition for their efforts.

To share articles go to https://span.state.gov

ruslanshramko/iStock/Thinkstock

Directing

MARCH/APRIL 2018

27

CHRIS PIZZELLO © AP Images/Invision

“

Equity means half of the projects being directed by women, and casts that reflect the real world—not just black people and white people, but brown people and Native people, Muslim people and people of all ages and sizes and body types.

—Ava DuVernay

”

Source: www.bust.com

I

n a popular American sketch comedy show “Portlandia,” Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein are seen hosting “the first ever Men’s Film Festival.” Seated in a small movie theater, the pair addresses an audience of “marginalized” men. “We’re in a crisis, you guys. I’m sure you know that. If you look at any newspaper, blog, television show…what do we hear about? Women in film.”

It is a satire, of course, making fun of any anxieties the prevailing culture may feel about women directors “overshadowing” their male counterparts. But, it also points to a real trend in Hollywood today: Women are emerging as film directors in increasing numbers.

Women directors have been breaking barriers in the U.S. film industry for decades, beginning with Dorothy Arzner, one of the first Hollywood female film directors, whose career spans from the 1920’s into the 1940’s— from the silent era to the talkies.

However, statistics show that despite the tremendous success of women directors and the media coverage they are now receiving, women are still largely underrepresented in the U.S. film industry. Research by the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University shows that in 2017, only 11 percent of the highest-grossing 250 films were directed by women. It is a little better with independent films, where women directors took 28 percent of the share in 2016-17.

28 MARCH/APRIL 2018

Also, women directors miss out on receiving acknowledgement for their work. This year’s Golden Globes, for instance, did not have even a single woman director nomination, as highlighted by actor and presenter Natalie Portman’s words, “Here are the all-male nominees,” for the best director award. In general, very few women are nominated for this category in major awards; fewer still win.

“Girl wonders [directors] have been considerably harder to come by, not because there haven’t been or aren’t incredibly talented women of all ages directing critically successful films and making important contributions to filmmaking, but because the mainstream film industry and its environs have been resistant to acknowledge the contributions of women who make films, or have excluded them from the discussion entirely,” says Martha M. Lauzen, author of the San Diego State University research report.

Despite this bleak picture, the success stories of female directors are inspiring. The recent successes range from Kathryn Bigelow’s Academy Award win in 2010 for her film, “The Hurt Locker,” to Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman,” which has made her the highest-paid female director in the history of U.S. films.

“I haven’t seen a lot of progress since when I started,” director Sofia Coppola told USA TODAY in an interview. “But at this moment,

“

I want to produce women’s films, because I think women want to see films made by people who know what they’re talking about, what the experience is.

—Greta Gerwig

Bottom: Director, actor, playwright and screenwriter Greta Gerwig. She is the fifth woman to ever be nominated for Best Director at the Oscars. She made her solo directorial debut with the critically-acclaimed film, “Lady Bird,” which won the award for Best Motion Picture—Musical or Comedy at the 75th Golden Globe Awards.

BRIAN ACH © AP Images/Invision

it feels like there’s a lot of talk and a shift.

I’m really gratified that ‘Wonder Woman’ did so well. It feels like it’s going in a positive direction.”

Many academics are also focusing on the issues related to gender and cinema, especially the representation of women both in front of and behind the camera. One such academic is Dijana Jelaca.

Jelaca is a professor of film and media at Fordham University in New York. She is also the co-editor of “The Routledge Companion to Cinema and Gender” (2017).

Excerpts from an interview.

Below: Dorothy Arzner (left), one of the first Hollywood female film directors, and actor Clara Bow on the set of their preCode film, “The Wild Party” (1929). To allow Bow to move freely on the film set, Arzner had technicians rig a microphone onto a fishing rod, essentially creating the first boom mike, though she did not patent the idea.

Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Wikipedia

Far left: Director, writer and producer Ava DuVernay. She is also a distributor of independent films. Her historical drama, “Selma” (left) had garnered four Golden Globe nominations and two Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Her upcoming works include the Disney fantasy epic, “A Wrinkle in Time” (left center).

”

Source: www.variety.com

MARCH/APRIL 2018

29

TAYLOR JEWELL © AP Images/Invision

(“Selma,” “A Wrinkle in Time”) and Dee Rees (“Pariah,” “Mudbound”) have come to prominence. A sustained effort to support their work needs to continue in order for long-term change to take root.

Is there a particularly more “feminine” versus “masculine” vision or perspective that is projected onto the screen by female and male directors?

I don’t think so. Which is not to say that female directors don’t bring their own ERIC CHARBONNEAU © AP Images/Invision for Warner Bros.

Do you see a shift in the U.S. film industry toward the inclusion of more women filmmakers?

I definitely see a shift. While some important milestones have been achieved—such as Patty Jenkins making history with the record-breaking run of “Wonder Woman”—the progress has been slow. Women are still vastly outnumbered by men in terms of directing movies. This is particularly the case when it comes to women of color. But, I am encouraged by the fact that, in recent years, directors such as Ava DuVernay

“

I’m sure there’s a long history of belief that certain jobs are masculine. But why a director would fall into that [category] makes me very confused. Because it feels like a very natural job for a woman.

—Patty Jenkins

”

Source: www.hollywood reporter.com

30 MARCH/APRIL 2018

CHRIS PIZZELLO © AP Images/Invision

Left: Sofia Coppola (left), writer and director of “The Beguiled,” with one of its lead actors, Nicole Kidman.

Far left: “Mudbound” director Dee Rees (from left) with its actors Garrett Hedlund, Rob Morgan, Mary J. Blige, Carey Mulligan (center) and Jason Mitchell (bottom) at the Sundance Film Festival 2017. Rees is the first black woman to be nominated for an Oscar in Best Adapted Screenplay category.

Below far left: Director Patty Jenkins (left) with “Wonder Woman” star Gal Godot at the film’s world premiere in Los Angeles. “Wonder Woman” has made Jenkins the highest-paid female director in the history of U.S. films.

Go Online Dijana Jelaca http://fordham.academia. edu/DijanaJelaca

Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film https://goo.gl/hpfLCG

Martha M. Lauzen https://goo.gl/HW92dM

perspective, which is often informed by their lived experiences as women. But it is difficult to generalize regarding decidedly “feminine” versus “masculine” visions and perspectives.

We can use the example of Kathryn Bigelow who, some might say, makes what could traditionally be referred to as “masculine” movies, even when they have women as their central protagonist. Bigelow’s work, therefore, directly challenges the stereotype that women cannot make such movies or that they are not interested in doing so.

Do you foresee more female directors being nominated and winning prestigious awards like the Academy Awards?

I certainly hope so. In this past year, in particular, there’s been a more sustained effort to bring the achievements of female directors to greater prominence through awards and recognitions.

Who are some of the U.S. female directors that you admire and think that they have created a path to follow for other female filmmakers?

I already mentioned Ava DuVernay and Dee

Rees who, I think, are making very important, socially-engaged films, and are paving the way for other women of color. Their direct predecessor is, of course, Julie Dash, whose iconic film “Daughters of the Dust” was the first film directed by an African American woman to receive a theatrical run in the U.S. Among other female directors whose work I admire are Sofia Coppola and Kelly Reichardt.

Each has developed her own unique style and sensibility that permeate all their films and earn them the title of “female auteurs.” * * * It is certainly the case, then, that the inclusion of female film directors is on the rise. This diversity of vision can only be good for an industry where attendance numbers are down and audiences continually express an interest in seeing a greater variety of worlds and worldviews depicted in contemporary Hollywood cinema. Perhaps, we soon won’t need, as “Portlandia” has joked, a special festival “to celebrate the accomplishments of men filmmakers.”

Natasa Milas is a freelance writer based in New York City.

MARCH/APRIL 2018

31

Through a

By CANDICE YACONO

Different

With movies like “Airlift” and “Chef” to her credit, cinematographer Priya Seth is breaking gender stereotypes in the Indian film industry.

T Photographs courtesy Priya Seth

his year marks the first time a woman has ever been nominated for an Oscar for cinematography—Rachel Morrison for Netflix’s “Mudbound.” Cinematography, which is essentially about a movie’s images and how these are captured through camerawork and lighting, was the only technical category in which the Oscars had never nominated a woman. But, after 90 long years, this glass ceiling has finally been broken by Morrison, whose works include “Confirmation” and “Black Panther.”

Halfway across the world, cinematographer Priya Seth is one of the women breaking these barriers in India. Seth, who has worked in the film industry for about 19 years, says the high point of her career was working on director Raja Krishna Menon’s 2016 film “Airlift,” starring Akshay Kumar. The big-budget Bollywood action movie, which was a runaway success at the box office, catapulted Seth into sudden, unexpected fame.

But Menon had to fight to hire Seth for the

32 MARCH/APRIL 2018

job. “There was a lot of resistance in the beginning,” says Seth.

In the spotlight Cinematographers, also known as directors of photography, usually serve as the directors’ number two on set. The job requires artistic talent as well as technical knowledge to manage the lighting, shots and crew members for each scene, along with the ability to heft an unwieldy camera.

There were doubts about the ability of a woman to manage such a physically-demanding job. “But I pick it [the camera] up the same as everybody else,” says Seth.

Seth was pleasantly surprised by the admiration she received from critics and film watchers. “I got hired for that job, and it turned out to be quite a breakthrough,” she says. “It did extremely well. I was actually caught offguard. Suddenly, I was getting a lot of attention. I guess, I was the first [woman] to shoot a major Bollywood film. But my work

Lens

International Collective of Female Cinematographers http://icfcfilm.com

Go Online

Priya Seth

www.priyaseth.com

New York University www.nyu.edu

Left: Cinematographer Priya Seth on the sets of “Airlift.”

Right: Seth is considered one of India’s foremost underwater directors of photography.

was what got the recognition.”

She says the film and its success finally allowed her to stop questioning her abilities.

“I was able to say, it’s not about a lack of talent; it’s about a lack of opportunity. Since then, it’s been different, to say the least.”

Her most recent project with Menon, with whom she has worked several times, was the Saif Ali Khan-starrer “Chef,” which was released in 2017. Seth has also shot commercials for brands like Dove, Mountain Dew and Oral B.

Lights, camera, action Seth was born in Amritsar and moved to Mumbai with her family as a child. She studied economics at St. Xavier’s College there, before going to New York University (NYU) to take a six-month filmmaking course.

“Maybe, if I had any idea of how difficult it [cinematography] would be, I might not have done it,” she jokes. “When I decided I wanted to be a cinematographer, my NYU professor To share articles go to https://span.state.gov

MARCH/APRIL 2018

33

”

Above right: Priya Seth studied filmmaking at New York University, after which she was hired as one of the very few female assistant cinematographers in India.

Courtesy Priya Seth

said, ‘I know this is gonna suck, but take it in the correct spirit—cinematography is not a career that women get into, even in the U.S.’ ” Seth stuck to her plan regardless, and says her experience at the university was profoundly impactful. “It was fantastic, and was such a fundamental foothold and base, I think, into my formal study in film. I wish I had done much more than I did,” she says.

Seth was shown that a career in films wasn’t merely a job; it was an entire universe. “You don’t get to turn it on or off, whether you’re a filmmaker or not,” she says.

Getting the picture When she returned to India following her time at New York University, Seth says she was fortunate to be hired by someone who specifically wanted a woman assistant cinematographer. She became one of the very few female assistant cinematographers in the country, just because someone gave her a shot.

“I think, if you have one half of the population whose voices aren’t heard, you get very skewed stories,” says Seth. “A story is about empathy at the end of the day. If you’ve got a woman shooting war, is she seeing it differently? What does violence look like from a woman’s point of view? Both sides need to be explored.”

Seth says she is hopeful that when women’s stories are told more, women will be able to watch or read them and think, “I’m not the crazy one. Other women feel this way too.”

Seth doesn’t expect immediate developments. Instead, she says, a larger problem must be tackled. “There’s going to be no sudden systemic change,” she says. “That requires changing the mindset everywhere.

Not just film, but all over the country.”

Candice Yacono is a magazine and newspaper writer based in southern California.

Courtesy Indian Women Cinematographers’ Collective

“

A story is about empathy at the end of the day. If you’ve got a woman shooting war, is she seeing it differently? What does violence look like from a woman’s point of view? Both sides need to be explored.

Right: Seth is part of the Indian Women Cinematographers’ Collective, which provides support to other female cinematographers as well as the women and girls interested in the field.

Women in Focus

34 MARCH/APRIL 2018

P

riya Seth is a member of the International Collective of Female Cinematographers, a collective of professional female cinematographers from around the world, including India and the United States, who provide each other with community support and industry advocacy. On the collective’s website, she is acknowledged as the “foremost underwater DP [director of photography] based out of India.”

In India, senior cinematographer Fowzia Fathima has created a similar network of more than 60 members, including Seth, called the Indian Women Cinematographers’ Collective.

Announced on International Women’s Day in 2017, it works to help other girls and women who are either interested in cinematography as a career or are already in it.

While there are online forums and other spaces for people to ask questions about cinematography, Seth says, women often feel they would be judged for asking these questions and be compared to men, who might ask the same questions with no pushback.

“We wanted somewhere that the young ones [in the field] could have someone to talk to,” says Seth. “They may not be able to go to their immediate boss, but we’re here. We’re not so much about helping people get work, but about creating a sense of community.”

The organization will showcase women cinematographers and their work, and allow members to explore questions and challenges through a telephone network, blogs, podcasts and discussion forums. It will also help women learn about related jobs in the industry. —C.Y.

www.bradenand mehta.com

URBZ

www.urbz.net

Geeta Mehta

Photographs courtesy Geeta Mehta

Braden & Mehta

Go Online

Geeta Mehta

https://goo.gl/45Xn2U

helps create buildings and urban areas that are good for communities and the environment.

Asia Initiatives

http://asiainitiatives.org

Designing a Better Future

By MICHAEL GALLANT

F

Above: Geeta Mehta (above right), an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, has worked on design projects in various countries, including the United States, India and Japan.

or Geeta Mehta, the twin disciplines of architecture and urban design are about far more than buildings, parks and street corners.

Rather, they represent the opportunity to transform the way we live.

Mehta is an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation in New York City.

She is a partner in the interior design firm Braden & Mehta, and a founding force behind nonprofit organizations URBZ and Asia

Initiatives. Through these, she tries to use her design skills to make life better for those who occupy the buildings and urban areas she helps create. And that process begins from the ground up.

“An urban designer represents the interest of the general public in designing parts of a city or a project,” she describes. “While architects may design a building for a specific client, an urban designer considers how that building would impact the city as a whole.”

To share articles go to https://span.state.gov

MARCH/APRIL 2018

35

Photographs courtesy Geeta Mehta

Above and right: Geeta Mehta, the founding force behind nonprofit organizations Asia Initiatives and URBZ, uses her design skills to make life better for those who live in the spaces she helps create.

“

While architects may design a building for a specific client, an urban designer considers how that building would impact the city as a whole.

36 MARCH/APRIL 2018

From Mehta’s point of view as an urban designer, a good building is one that, if combined with others like it, would help create a great city. “An urban designer considers the physical and social infrastructure in design, including public spaces, streets for pedestrians and cycles, transportation, utilities and public services,” she says. “Good urban design can put all these together and create very special and memorable places that people can love and live in.”

When it comes to creating those special and memorable places, Mehta always keeps the environment in mind. “Cities are one of the major generators of greenhouse gases, so ecological concerns are central to the work of architects and urban designers,” she says.

“However, green buildings with a low carbon footprint are not enough.”

Environment-friendly buildings need to be placed intelligently, she says, to reduce the need for people to travel long distances every day, while making travel as a whole easier and more sustainable. “I am a big fan of dense cities,” she says. “While urban sprawl is not only bad from an environmental point of view,

it also isolates people and breaks down their social capital.”

Mehta believes that the everyday experiences of residents constitute an essential knowledge for architecture, planning, urban development and policymaking. “I co-founded ‘URBZ: User Generated Cities’ with Matias Echanove and Rahul Srivastava [co-directors of the Institute of Urbanology], to work with underserved communities as they transform their neighborhoods through their own strengths,” she says. The diverse team of architects, designers, urban planners, anthropologists, economists and policymakers help shape projects from many perspectives.

Throughout her career, Mehta describes herself as lucky to have never encountered gender-based discrimination, or run up against a “glass ceiling.” “However, I did make choices in my career path because I am a woman,” she says. Mehta stopped work for a number of years to care for her young sons, and juggled part-time work and studying for her Ph.D., along with parenting duties, as her children became older. “So, my career path has woven through my family responsibilities. But I happily embraced them and, in retrospect, I am very pleased I made those choices.”

In general, Mehta sees workplace environments and opportunities improving for women, including those who want to raise families. “Since so much work can now be done long-distance, the ability of women to hold full-time jobs and do part of the work at home is also increasing, as are the possibilities of starting their own practices and competing with bigger firms,” says Mehta.

For young people who want to follow in Mehta’s footsteps, the architect and designer advises traveling as much as possible. “While most information is now available on the Internet, the reason for young people to go to college is not to learn facts, but to learn different ways of thinking, so as to decide what they want to do with their lives,” she says. “Traveling and reading intensively expose people to ideas that they can develop about who they want to be.”

Today’s world offers great opportunities for intrepid and creative young people to try new things, Mehta continues. “I would advise young people to be bold,” she says, “and not worry about failures, but consider each failure a part of learning on the way to accomplishing big things.”

Michael Gallant is the founder and chief executive officer of Gallant Music. He lives in New York City.

American author

Nnedi Okorafor uses fantasy to tell tales of life in Africa and to confront the continent’s social issues.

Fantastic

Folklore

N

By CARRIE LOEWENTHAL MASSEY

byronv2/Courtesy Flickr

nedi Okorafor didn’t initially set out to be a writer. The daughter of Nigerian immigrants, she was raised in Illinois with expectations, she says, that are typical of immigrant families: she would become a doctor, lawyer or engineer.

But, as Okorafor tells The New York Times, fate wouldn’t have it. She always loved science and was planning for a career as an entomologist. Then, at age 19, she underwent a surgery for scoliosis. The procedure left her temporarily paralyzed from the waist down. As she recovered, she wrote short stories to stay busy. When she returned to college at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she enrolled in a creative writing class, and never looked back.

Right: Nnedi Okorafor is an award-winning novelist of Africa-based science fiction, fantasy and magical realism for both children and adults (below).

CHEETAH WITCH/Courtesy Wikipedia

“

Science fiction is one of the greatest and most effective forms of political

writing.

”

38 MARCH/APRIL 2018

thereby compelling the reader “to pay close attention to international news and really wonder what is being done to stop genocide,” according to a review in The Christian Okorafor has published several science Science Monitor. fiction and fantasy novels for a readership Similarly, Okorafor’s novel “Akata Warrior” ranging from children to adults. Her cult looks at the idea of belonging, or not following has propelled her to become a belonging, to a society through the story of a mainstream sensation, with her most recent Nigerian American girl who moves from New projects including a three-issue storyline of York to Nigeria, where she discovers she Marvel Comics’ “Black Panther” series and a belongs to a secret group of people with Marvel comic, called “Blessing in Disguise.” magical abilities. “Akata Warrior” is the Set in Lagos, it features a Nigerian teenager second installment of Okorafor’s Akata series, named Ngozi, Venom Symbiote, Black Panther which some fans refer to as the “Nigerian and the Rhino. Also, HBO has revealed that it Harry Potter.” She has signed a deal to write is turning Okorafor’s novel “Who Fears the third Akata novel.

Death,” which is set in post-apocalyptic Sudan, Okorafor, who is a full professor of creative into a television series, with George R. R. writing at the University of Buffalo, New Martin, creator of the “Game of Thrones” York, refers to her brand of science fiction as series, as one of the executive producers.

“Afrofuturism” which, she says in her TED Okorafor has several projects underway in Talk, has a different “ancestral bloodline” than addition to her work with Marvel. She recently “Western-rooted science fiction, which is finished writing another novel, “Remote mostly white and male.” She tells The New Control,” which is a fantasy story set in nearYork Times that in her science fiction writing, future Ghana. She is also working on a “Nigeria is my muse. The idea of the world graphic novel that takes place in a tenement in being a magical place, a mystical place, is Brooklyn, New York. The building houses normal there.”

African immigrants, alongside aliens from So normal, in fact, that Okorafor doesn’t outer space. have to fantasize wildly to come up with many Okorafor has won numerous awards for her of the creations in her books. She explains in writing, including the World Fantasy Award, The New York Times article that in her Akata the Macmillan Writer’s Prize for Africa, and series, for example, several elements come the Nebula and Hugo Awards, both for the from Nigerian folklore, like “tungwas”— best novella category. glowing balls of flesh that float in the air and Science remains critically important to her explode into tufts of hair and handfuls of work, however. She uses the lenses of science teeth; Mami Wata, a water spirit; Ekwensu, a and fantasy to explore the social issues faced destructive goddess made of tightly packed by people in Africa. palm frond leaves; and Udide, a talking spider “Science fiction is one of the greatest and god. Udide appears in Okorafor’s novel most effective forms of political writing,” she “Lagoon” as well. says in a 2017 TED Talk.

In her TED Talk, she describes Udide as Many of Okorafor’s stories are set in West “the supreme spider artist…who was the size Africa and depict genocide, corruption, of a house and responsible for weaving the gender inequality, female genital mutilation past, present and future.” and environmental degradation. But, the “Like Udide, the spider artist, African depictions aren’t totally straightforward: science fiction’s blood runs deep and it’s old, “Who Fears Death,” for instance, incorporates and it’s ready to come forth, and when it does, juju magic and fights among sorcerers. These imagine the new technologies, ideas and elements of magical realism help the reader sociopolitical changes it’ll inspire,” says stay with the heaviness of the issues of rape Okorafor. “For Africans, homegrown science and genocide that the novel is really about. It fiction can be a will to power.” is “a story grounded in reality and embellished Carrie Loewenthal Massey is a New York Citywith magic, one that reads like a cautionary tale but with words designed to inspire hope,” based freelance writer.

Nnedi Okorafor http://nnedi.com

Okorafor’s TED Talk https://goo.gl/vpbuJH

To share articles go to https://span.state.gov MARCH/APRIL 2018 39

Go Online

Left: Nnedi Okorafor has several projects underway, including those with Marvel Comics and HBO.

VoilaViolin

By PAROMITA PAIN

Fulbrighter

Lalitha Muthuswamy takes Indian music to the world through her performances and research work.

Courtesy Lalitha Muthuswamy

Above: Lalitha (right) and Nandini Muthuswamy, popularly known as the violin sisters, have been performing nationally and internationally for over 30 years.

40 MARCH/APRIL 2018

Family heritage The violin sisters have been playing for over 30 years, nationally and internationally, ever since they picked up the instrument as children.

They are the fourth generation of musicians in a family that includes internationally-known violinists L.Vaidyanathan, L. Subramaniam and L. Shankar. The sisters’ grandfather, V. Lakshminarayana Iyer, was their first teacher.

“We grew up watching my mother, Subbulakshmi Muthuswamy, and my uncles learning and practicing under him,” says M. Lalitha. To the sisters, “he was a very indulgent grandfather and also an extremely strict teacher.” This inculcated a sense of discipline that the sisters cherish even today.

Their father, K. Muthuswamy, though not from a musical background, was extremely supportive. He also encouraged them to learn different languages, like French and German.

M. Lalitha’s first performance was as a 13year-old at Alliance Française of Madras in Chennai. Her younger sister, M. Nandini, is her long-time musical partner and collaborator.

“We have played together for so long that today, on stage, we can instinctively read each other’s minds,” says M. Lalitha.

Musical mix The sisters have a deep appreciation for world and fusion music. They specialize in different musical traditions from China, Africa and the Middle East, to name a few. “Fusion helps us take Carnatic music to the world,” says M. Lalitha.

Their fusion concerts usually feature their original compositions. They have experimented with various media like film, theater and dance, and their collaborations include those with the

Finnish band Piirpauke and musicians like Shahid Parvez Khan, Paul Peabody and Mike Albert.

Beyond performance Performances are not the only thing M. Lalitha focuses on. Her doctoral dissertation was published as a book, titled “Violin Techniques in Western and South Indian Classical Music: A Comparative Study,” in 2005. Both the sisters received the highest grades in Western violin, in theory and practice, from Trinity College, London. In 2012, M. Lalitha got a production grant from the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, for researching and presenting a series of episodes on rare musical instruments in divinity.

The research covered about 250 instruments used in temples, which are now becoming obsolete, some with just about one artist left.

The sisters write a column for The Hindu newspaper on these musical instruments and the rituals connected with them.

M. Lalitha is also the head of the department of violin at The Music Academy in Chennai.

Researching different musical instruments and genres, and understanding their history and growth are integral parts of her musical oeuvre.

“I just love research,” she says. “It gives greater meaning to my art.”

Go Online

T

he “violin sisters” Lalitha and Nandini Muthuswamy have been widely deemed as the only female duo in Asia to perform world music, South Indian classical, fusion and Western classical music. Virtuoso performers they may be, but they believe in rigorous practice. “It’s like an exam,” laughs M. Lalitha. “We must always play our best for our audiences.”

A senior violinist as well as a researcher of her art, M. Lalitha was a Fulbright-Nehru visiting scholar at the University of Iowa in 2013-14, where she focused on aspects of South Indian music with emphasis on melodic, rhythmic and musical structures. She is also the director of the Chennai-based MS Academy of Global Music.

Lalitha Muthuswamy

https://goo.gl/SL4e3M

Violin Sisters

https://goo.gl/yHd6L1

Fulbright-Nehru Fellowships

https://goo.gl/6UTxnc

The University of Iowa https://uiowa.edu/

Fulbright fellowships For her 2005 Fulbright Fellowship in Performing Arts at the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, M. Lalitha researched “composition writing in fusion music.” In 2013-14, during her second fellowship, she created syllabi to teach Indian music and gave lectures on Carnatic music in different departments at the University of Iowa.

“Iowa [University] has a wonderful ethnomusicology department,” says M. Lalitha. “The students had many questions about the evolution of Indian music and the different features of Carnatic music.” Her knowledge of Western classical helped her explain Indian music in terms that her students could easily understand. She encouraged them to create compositions using their own styles and Indians ragas. This was quite challenging, but “they did some amazing work,” she says. “The students here are taught to question, and this makes classes so much more effective.”

Paromita Pain is a journalist based in Austin, Texas.

To share articles go to https://span.state.gov

MARCH/APRIL 2018

41

CHRISTINA GANDOLFO

Game designer Tracy Fullerton is working to break the glass ceiling that exists in the male-dominated gaming industry.

Gaming Change

V

ideo gaming is no more a mere pastime; it’s now a thriving industry.

Globally, it has been developing at a fast pace and is now worth billions of dollars.

But this tremendous growth has not been equitable. Gaming is considered a “male domain,” including in terms of market audience, player base, in-game character representation and game designing. At a time when an entire generation is taking its cultural cues and influences from games, ensuring gender equity has become vital.

Against this backdrop, the work and achievements of Tracy Fullerton stand out.

Fullerton is a game designer, educator and author. She is a professor and the chair of the Interactive Media & Games Division of the University of Southern California’s (USC) School of Cinematic Arts. She is the director of the USC Games program, a collaboration between the university’s School of Cinematic Arts and the Viterbi School of Engineering’s Department of Computer Science.

Fullerton’s research center, the Game Innovation Lab, has produced several influential independent games, including “Cloud,” “flOw,” “Darfur is Dying” and “The Night Journey,” with video artist 42 MARCH/APRIL 2018

By JASON CHIANG

Bill Viola. She has also worked on “Walden, a game,” an exploratory narrative and open world simulation of the life of American philosopher Henry David Thoreau during his experiment in self-reliant living at Walden Pond. It won the Game of the Year and the Most Significant Impact awards at the Games for Change Festival in New York in 2017.

Excerpts from an interview.

What early games or experiences inspired you to take on game designing as a career?

I was growing up just as the earliest home computer games and personal computers were coming out. So, I became interested in them early on. I had a Commodore VIC-20 and then a [Commodore] 64 with a tape drive, which allowed my siblings and I to program simple games. At the same time, I had a Kodak Super 8 camera with a stop motion feature that allowed us to create animations and special effects. As a kid, I was always making some kind of media. It was inevitable that I would gravitate toward digital media and games, given the creative play space I was allowed as a child.

Video game design is a relatively new academic field. How did the games program emerge at the University of Southern California?

I first began teaching game design at USC in 1999. At that time, there were only a couple of elective classes within the School of Cinematic Arts on games and interactive media. The idea of offering a degree in game design as an academic discipline, with rigorous theory combined with practical skills, was pretty unusual. As a graduate of the production division of the School of Cinematic Arts, I had a model of how you might design a program for games that had the same kind of integration between history, theory and professional, hands-on production skills for games. I was able to work with a number of other early professors at USC to design our games curriculum, so [the program] reflected this same multidisciplinary approach and struck a balance.

Gaming is sometimes thought of as a segment that is predominantly male.

Has this trend changed during your career in the industry?

Actually, when I first started playing and making games, they were not thought of as being a predominantly male

Far left: Tracy Fullerton has created games like “Walden, a game” (left, above left center and above far left), which won the Game of the Year and the Most Significant Impact awards at the Games for Change Festival in New York in 2017. Her Game Innovation Lab has produced several other influential independent games, including “The Night Journey” (above left), with video artist Bill Viola.

Go Online

Tracy Fullerton www.tracyfullerton.com

University of Southern California www.usc.edu

USC Games program http://games.usc.edu/

Game Innovation Lab https://goo.gl/V7sHuR

Walden, a game www.waldengame.com

entertainment. Back in the early days of Atari and other arcade games, they were thought of as fun for everyone. I think, it wasn’t until we saw the domination of the industry by the genre of first-person shooters that this idea arose that games were just for boys or men.

Now, we’re seeing new voices emerging with the opportunity to make independent games available to so many people. The tools are so ubiquitous that the barrier to entry has become almost nonexistent. I take that as a positive sign.

We’re going to see more and more games addressing those markets that got left out by the industry’s fascination with firstperson shooters.

Do you feel there is a “glass ceiling” in the gaming industry? What challenges do you feel need to be addressed first in your field?

I think, there is clearly an issue in our society overall, where woman are not hired into the same levels of responsibilities that men are, are not paid as well as men are, are not given the same level of access to press and publicity, and are generally not afforded the same opportunities overall. This is not specific to the game industry, but rather to our culture as a whole.

What has to change is that we need to want it to change and we need to actively work toward inclusion and opportunity for all at every level. It requires a will to have a better and more inclusive society in order for change to occur.

What advice would you give to young people interested in a career in gaming?

It’s a tremendous time for diverse voices entering the game industry, particularly, the independent game industry. There are tools and communities where you can find support and collaborators across so many different interests that it is really a renaissance of sorts.

Additionally, there are many academic programs where young people can learn important skills and develop their voices as creative leaders.

It’s never easy to get into the game industry, but there are good pathways now, which include academic work as well as independent work. These can give young designers and developers a way to distinguish themselves and find an entry point for their careers.

Jason Chiang is a freelance writer based in Silver Lake, Los Angeles.

To share articles go to https://span.state.gov

MARCH/APRIL 2018

43

Registered under RNI-6586/60

Below: “Naga Effigy,” 2017 Cast bronze with patinated eyes 9 1/4 x 8 x 6 inches Bottom center: “Giraffe Skull,” 2012 Cast bronze 18 1/4 x 26 x 12 inches Bottom far right: “Little Dancer,” 2017 Cast bronze and hair 8 1/4 x 4 3/4 x 2 1/2 inches

Go Online Sherrie Levine

https://goo.gl/hz1BHm

David Zwirner

www.davidzwirner.com

India Art Fair

Above, far right and center right: The creations of American artist Sherrie Levine, known for her photography and appropriation art, using watercolors, ink and photolithography, as well as computer technology. Her works were displayed

by David Zwirner, a contemporary art gallery with locations in New York, London and Hong Kong, at the India Art Fair (right) in February 2018. An annual event in New Delhi, the fair offers curated insights into the arts scene in India. It draws together galleries and artists, private foundations and arts charities, artists’ collectives, national institutions, cultural events and festivals. This year, the fair featured 78 galleries from 18 countries.

Photographs by HEMANT BHATNAGAR

http://indiaartfair.in