Amis de l'IHES
Conference by Claudia Silva and Oscar Garcia-Prada on October 3rd 2023
New event organized by Les Amis de l’IHES on Tuesday October 3rd, 2023, 6:00 pm (French time) at IHES
Claudia SILVA, an anthropologist, photographer and videographer, and Oscar GARCIA-PRADA, a geometer holding a research Chair at the Instituto de Ciencias Matemáticas (CSIC, Madrid) gave a joint conference (in French) as part of the photograph exhibition:
“Kolam: An Ephemeral Women´s Art of South India”
Strolling through the streets of South India, one can have the surprise to find beautiful geometrically-inspired designs on the ground, made from rice flour. This ephemeral art form, known as Kolam, is practiced every morning by women in the Tamil Nadu state at the entrance of their homes.
In her talk, Claudia SILVA presented some aspects and ideas on the beautiful South Indian tradition of Kolam. She discussed some of the anthropological aspects of Kolam and the relation to ephemeral art, education and women cultural practices.
Oscar GARCIA-PRADA then explored some of the connections of Kolam with geometry, graph theory, number theory, fractals and computer science.
The conference was followed by a friendly drink, during which participants discovered an exhibition showing photographs of Kolam by Claudia Silva.
The replay of the conference (in French) can be watched here.
Contact : Ingrid Peeters
