Dr. Ranjamrittika Bhowmik

Kino Babylon, Rosa-Luxemburg-Str. 30, 10178 Berlin

Film Screening and Discussion
Goddess Durga Unveiled: The Timeless Power of Emotion

This movie is based on the research of Dr. Ranjamrittika Bhowmik (PhD, University of Oxford, Postdoctoral Researcher, Humboldt University of Berlin) on museums as affective spaces and emotions.

Movie Description:
In the imposing halls of Western art museums, amidst the silent and contested guardianship of ancient artefacts, one finds a captivating presence—the Indian Goddess Durga. As a museum
object, Durga transcends the boundaries of time and culture, weaving a tapestry that elicits a myriad of emotions from those who encounter her form, which takes us on a journey back in
time. This research film highlights a selection of Durgā reliefs which are on display at the Museum for Asian Art in Berlin as well as museums in the UK, Netherlands and Hamburg. These date all the way back to 300 AD until the 12th century. This film asks how Durga’s alternative heritage(s) can be re-connected to those reliefs. The liveliness of Durga Pujas in Kolkata and Berlin, the creativity of sculpting workshops that make Durga figures for the annual festivities, the celebration of a militant feminine force and the readiness to dissolve images of the goddess every year anew are radically different to the kind of heritage generated in the museum via its frozen time, locked objects, and an authoritative Western scientific context. Looking at the lives of Durga as well as at myths of Durga’s origin allows us to narrate her story as an affective figure in Indian history and in different local cultural traditions that possess plural identities. This film contextualizes Durgā’s power as it multiplies: in the worship of a feminine force in Tantra, through the eyes of religious minorities in Bengal, the artisan potter community in Kumartuli in Kolkata. It explores the idea of the divine feminine through different subversive beliefs, performances and practices.

The event will be hosted in English.

Porgramme Overview:

6 pm - Movie Screening and Q&A
7:30 pm- 8 pm - Public Talk on the topic of working on and with ancient Goddesses in the East and West with guest speaker Annegret Klünker (classical archaeologist, Wissenschaftliche Museumsassistentin at the Altes Museum and the curator of the exhibition Göttinnen und Gattinnen Frauen im antiken Mythos at the Altes Museum)
Afterwards you are warmly invited to have a drink and debrief.