Shiva Nataraja in an Art Museum Context: Resilience and Romance
Date & Time
Location Main Campus | Law Building
Email Your Questions [email protected]
Shiva Nataraja in an Art Museum Context: Resilience and Romance
Date & Time
Location Main Campus | Law Building
Plan Your Visit
- Included with Museum admission
- This program takes place in the Nidhika and Pershant Mehta Arts of India Gallery on Level 1 of the Law Building.
- Parking Information | Museum Hours | MFAH Campus Map
About the Participants
Speaker | Prabha Bala, born in Simla, India, earned a degree in physics from the University of Madras and an MBA from the University of Houston. She was a co-founder of the Classical Arts Society of Houston in 1973 and served as a trustee of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, from 2005 until 2010. She played an important role in establishing the Museum’s Arts of India gallery and has served on its Asian Arts subcommittee for over 20 years.
Speaker | Sundaresan “Sesh” Bala moved from Chennai, India to the United States in 1966. He worked for Shell Oil Company for 35 years, before retiring in 2002. Since his retirement, Sesh has devoted himself to community service.
Translator | Vatsa Kumar was born and raised in Bangalore, Karnataka. Educated in the field of engineering, Vatsa worked as a procurement manager in an R&D organization in Bangalore, before moving to the US in 1978. He worked as a senior engineer at the South Texas Nuclear project before retiring. He is currently an administrator at Sri Meenakshi Temple in Pearland.
Priest | Pavan Kumar Sribhashyam was born in Guntur, Andhara Pradesh. He trained for 7 years and has served as a priest since 1998. He currently serves at Sri Meenakshi Temple in Pearland.
Narrator | Rathna Kumar is a leading practitioner of two Indian classical dance forms, established the first Indian dance institute in the U.S. in 1975, and has been the recipient of numerous national and international awards. Rathna is the prime disciple of Kalaimamani K.J. Sarasa (Bharatanatyam) and Padma Bhushan Vempati Chinna Satyam (Kuchipudi).
Dancer | Venugopal Josyula serves as the assistant director of the Anjali Center for Performing Arts in Houston and is an exponent of both Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi. He has played lead roles in most of Rathna Kumar's productions.
MFAH World Faiths Initiative
This program is part of the MFAH World Faiths Initiative, which seeks to highlight themes of faith, religion, and spirituality in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Focusing on the many expressions of faith in these collections, the initiative honors the diverse communities of Houston and inspires connections among cultures and beliefs.
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Learning and Interpretation programs at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, receive generous support from H-E-B; Sempra Foundation; the Brown Foundation, Inc.; the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo; the Joe Barnhart Foundation; the Cockrell Family Fund; the CFP Foundation; the Claire & Theodore Morse Foundation; the Junior League of Houston, Inc.; and additional generous donors.
Endowment funds are provided by the Louise Jarrett Moran Bequest; Caroline Wiess Law; Windgate Foundation; the William Randolph Hearst Foundation; Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff; the Fondren Foundation; BMC Software, Inc.; the Wallace Foundation; the Neal Myers and Ken Black Children’s Art Fund; the Eleanor and Frank Freed Foundation; Medha and Shashank Karve; Virginia and Ira Jackson; Jesse H. Jones II; the CFP Foundation; the Favrot Fund; gifts in memory of John Wynne; Neiman Marcus Youth Arts Education; gifts in memory of Peter Lotz; and gifts in honor of Beth Schneider.