Showing 34 articles
Literature – Art or Entertainment?
Author: Mattia MirandaJanuary 15, 2026
A story, like anything in life really, is composed of its superficial aspect and its inner core or essence. This essence is what makes a story worth reading and a life worth living. Notwithstanding that, it seems that many people base their existence on the idea that surface is what matters most. In the art [...]
Rediscovering the Hieratic Dimension in Art
Author: Siobhan FarrarJanuary 15, 2026
Both the National Gallery in London and the Louvre in Paris have shown major exhibitions this year on 13th century art with its sense of the hieratic or ‘sacred’ dimension in art. With two major European institutions choosing this focus, what might it have to say about our current times and aspirations? 13th century Europe [...]
Many Traditions, One Essence: Seeking Beauty through a Diversity of Expressions (Celebrating Arts Day 2024)
Author: Manjula Nanavati (compiled by)July 8, 2024
New Acropolis, a school of practical philosophy present in over 50 countries, celebrated Arts Day 2024, in recognition of the value of art and culture in all their myriad expressions, to individuals and to societies. India North, comprising the main centre Mumbai and the Pune branch, hosted an event at each location on June 9th, [...]
Life as a Work of Art
Author: Kanika MehraJanuary 22, 2024
As far back as I can remember, Art has always been the first language that I could understand and express myself most naturally through. At an early age I was lucky to be exposed to the world of classical art and artists by my grandfather. Every summer vacation when I would arrive at my ancestral [...]
Life Lessons from Cyanotypes
Author: Janki MehtaNovember 1, 2023
The cyanotype process is a fascinating analogue photographic printing process that produces distinctive blue hued prints. It was one of the earliest non-silver processes used for creating photographs, and its invention marked a significant development in the history of photography. The cyanotype technology was invented by Sir John Herschel (1792-1871) – a remarkable British polymath, [...]
Alchemy and its Mute Language
Author: Agostino DominiciSeptember 8, 2023
To spread and transmit its teachings, Western alchemy has often resorted to the visual arts, with their symbolic and imaginative language. This fact should not surprise us if we take into account that ‘working according to nature’ is the modus operandi of the alchemist. In other words, if one sets out to discover the hidden [...]
The Crisis of the West and the Coming of the New Times
Author: Jorge Angel LivragaJanuary 26, 2023
Let us begin by saying that in Greek the word crisis means, in addition to problem, change. So it is not only problems the West is facing today, but also a period of change. To overcome this crisis stage, the first thing we must do is [...]
A Lifetime Of Architecture: In Conversation With B V Doshi
Author: Zarina Screwvala and Nupur SampatOctober 9, 2022
“Projects must go beyond the functional to connect with the human spirit through poetic and philosophical underpinnings.” – The 2018 Pritzker Architecture Prize Jury Citation for Mr. Doshi On 30th October 2021, New Acropolis Culture Circle hosted renowned architect Balkrishna Vithaldas Doshi, sharing his life experiences in a talk titled ‘A Lifetime of Architecture’. Charting [...]
Rethinking Contemporary Art in the Anthropocene – Planetary Aesthetics
Author: Siobhan FarrarJuly 6, 2022
‘Anthropocene’ is the term given to our post-industrial epoch, whereby human activity has irrevocably altered the planet and its environment. The ascent of the anthropocene poses challenges across all areas of life, leading to species loss and looming existential crisis for humanity. For artists, being less tangibly involved in solutions compared to other sciences, it [...]
Gitanjali by Tagore: An Investigation
Author: Prof. Ananda LalJune 27, 2022
On 29th March 2021, The New Acropolis Culture Circle conducted an online session on Rabindranath Tagore’s Nobel Prize-winning work Gitanjali, with Prof. Ananda Lal. An authority on Tagore, he retired as Professor of English, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, and directs Writers Workshop, the oldest continuing publisher of Indian poetry in English. The professor’s doctoral thesis had [...]
Philosophy of Education
Author: Julian ScottMay 25, 2022
Napoleon once declared, “Of all political questions, education is perhaps the most important.” Undoubtedly, education is important from a political perspective because it has a major effect on the development of the citizen. But what about its value for the individual? Perhaps both of these facets are equally important and, as Aristotle pointed out, ethics [...]
Education and Art
Author: Sabine LeitnerApril 30, 2022
There are many studies that show that involvement in the arts can lead to increased academic performance. Dance, drama, music, and the visual arts in the school curriculum enable children to develop self-confidence and self-understanding, problem solving skills, perseverance and discipline, focus and concentration, creativity, self-directed learning, collaboration and many others – these are [...]