Auroville Art Service (AAS)
Auroville wants to be a new creation, expressing a New Consciousness in a new way according to new methods. Consciousness was the keyword the Mother had for Auroville. To live in Auroville is to generate an active field where this new consciousness can create a new life, and with it, a new culture based on unity and beauty that the consciousness brings.
In 2011 an Integral Sustainability Platform was conceived in Auroville with the aim of enhancing collaborative planning. Following discussions on ‘Culture’, a group of Aurovilians have been meeting regularly with the purpose of initiating a service for artists called AV Art Service. Recognising the importance of art and culture for the development of Auroville, the vision of the group is that art in Auroville will evolve “as expressions and means of the truth of the spirit and the beauty and delight of human existence” (Sri Aurobindo). Towards this aim, AV Art Service (AAS) has several plans:
- To be an arena for events that bring together a gathering of different peoples;
- To foster unity between people through artistic means;
- To nourish individual experiments and group efforts;
- To create platforms for artistic research, creation and administration.
A priority for AAS will be to facilitate and coordinate services that artists in Auroville feel are required. For example, artists have expressed the need for information gathering and sharing. Another focus of AVArtService is the generation of funds for the development of arts and culture in Auroville.
AAS feels it is time to integrate the artistic dimension not only in education and culture, but also in the building and planning of the city.
