Vision of Art & Culture in Auroville

The aesthetic faculties entering into the enjoyment of the world and the satisfaction of the vital instincts, the love of the beautiful in men and women, in food, in things, in articles of use and articles of pleasure, have done more than anything else to raise man from the beast, to refine and purge human passions and emotions and to lead him up through the heart and the imagination to the state of the intellectual man. Sri Aurobindo also stated that, on the path of yoga, arts can serve as a means of achieving cittasuddhi, the purification of the heart.

Auroville was conceived as a place where the arts will be both a means and an expression of human progress, refining and ultimately raising the consciousness above the vital, aesthetic or intellectual or levels, towards opening up to and manifesting the Supramental Force.

Auroville is a multi-cultural society that has evolved in the past 50 years. The mix of many cultures is a central characteristic of the Auroville environment which is set in southern, rural India. English is heard in many accents - French, Italian, German, Tamil, American, Bengali, Russian, Korean, etc, sometimes even British.

One can wake up at 6 am to village music and go for a ballet class at 9. Have sambar for lunch and work on a high speed computer till 5 pm. Discover that the motorbike has a puncture and either push it for two kilometres through the forest till the next workshop, or find a bullock cart to take it into Pondy. In the evening, there could be a talk on Future Poetry or the Vedas. Or one could go to a jazz concert, hear a rock band from Chennai, a Dhrupad recital, Bauls from Bengal, or Bach. There could be an all-night theatre festival in the village, Waiting for Godot, at the auditorium, or a dance performance in a temple lit up magically with lamps. The mix of the East and the West is a way of life in Auroville.

There are bonfires at the amphitheatre for Sri Aurobindo's and Auroville's birthdays, silent gatherings with flower decorations on Mother's birthday, firecrackers for Deepawali, or cakes during the fair on Christmas.

Primarily due to the heat and humidity, people tend to wear casual cotton clothes. For a special occasion, some may opt for elegant dresses and designer kurtas. Others wear trousers, lungis, or saris with jasmine in their hair depending on their preference, and on the vehicle they may be driving.

Life in Auroville, we dream, will one day be completely artistic. Each one will have the capacity to appreciate all the arts and crafts, their architecture and design, and have a spontaneous need and affinity for beauty in all things. The future we dream, will be a city where we can become conscious. Where new forms, new sounds, new movements, new structures, and new writing will emerge to give life to this consciousness in all its freedom, beauty, joy, and simplicity.

Research is the catchword no artist here can avoid, because Auroville is an artistic landscape that is still in the process. Glimpses of this being quietly yet dynamically nurtured can be found in occasional compositions of music, an art exhibition or an installation, in experiments in dance or theatre or multimedia, in a poem, or in a new design. Something that makes us dream of a greater space inside ourselves. Something which will be able to draw us from the present richness and variety of the world, towards a manifold richness and a lightness of being that a universal consciousness has still to offer.

Details of upcoming cultural events are usually published in News & Notes , on the home page of www.auroville.org.in which is publicly accessible, as well as on notice boards at various locations around Auroville.

Many National Pavilions organize cultural events throughout the year, with the peak of activities taking place in the main visitors season (December to March). 

For general information on Tamil culture and local festivals, contact Meenakshi Ph. 0413-2622141, or visit the Centre for Tamil Heritage and Culture in the Bharat Nivas compound. Lively outreach centres such as Mohanam and Thamarai also thrive with traditional cultural activities.