, October 22, 2011, City News, p. 19
ISLAMABAD. The Ambassador of Switzerland and Mrs Regula Bubb hosted a function to mark the opening lecture of the Gestalt Educational Programme, which is being supported by the embassies of Switzerland and Germany.
The series of fifteen educational lectures, training sessions and workshops by Argentinean artist,
Mariano Akerman architect and historian,
Summa cum Laude, has been conceived especially for Pakistani audiences. Focusing on the Swiss-German contribution in the fields of theory and design, it aims at sharing experience and reconsidering the interplay between tradition and modernisation, over 2,500 students have been invited to participate from educational institutions around Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
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| Ambassadors Bubb and Koch, with the lecturer |
After invitees representing the arts had arrived and were seated, the host welcomed them and said he and his wife were delighted to host the event which would showcase the artistic achievements of the great artists from his country as well as neighbouring Germany. He thanked the ambassador of Germany, Dr Michael Koch, for his help and collaboration and said it was so readily forthcoming that he was tempted to ask for it more often. With a few words about the Gestalt programme, he thanked the speaker for his contribution and asked him to take the floor.
Lectures by Mariano Akerman are never boring and you can listen to him for more than the usual length of time even though the subject may not be your cup of tea. His talks combine facts and figures with touches of humour and just a little spice in the form of taking a dig at people and places—in the nicest manner—thrown in for good measure, much to the delight of the audience. The students who attend his series in connection with the Gestalt programme will enjoy his style, probably compare it with that of others and generally come away with a greater understanding of the subject under discussion since he encourages his listeners' participation.
Mariano began by saying he had been in Pakistan for five years because he had a passion for art and because he has been inspired by the interest Pakistanis display in his artistic activities. "When people in Argentina ask when I am coming home, I reply home is here," he said. "Because I feel at home among my friends."
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| Mariano Akerman: Bridging Cultures |
With a slide show to emphasise the points he made, Mariano began by speaking of European art of the 20th century, in particular the period of the Weimar Republic from 1918-1933; its ups and downs especially
the economic downside between 1921-23 and
the golden years from 1924-29 when there was a switch towards change of accepted norms and practises. It was interesting to hear and see the comparisons he made and how he explained what modern art was all about [...].
In a statement, Mariano says that the
Gestalt theory and
Bauhaus design are two of the important themes to be explored in this cycle of fifteen lectures, training sessions and workshops. Figure and ground, chance and intention, form and function, the rational and the irrational, repression and expression are discussed [in the Program], which reconsiders the modern idea of form and function integrated in a single, effective whole.
Yet, significantly, close observation may reveal that modernity is not only based on functionality and common sense, as it may present surprises too. Besides, is ornament a crime? Tradition has often associated it with identity. Can abstraction and mass-produced fabrications provide it? And what is the common raison d'être supporting the work of German-Swiss creators so diverse as Walter Gropius, Arp, Alberto Giacometti, Le Corbusier, Meret Oppenheim, Mies van der Rohe, Johannes Itten, Paul Klee, and Max Ernst?
A possible answer is that it was precisely around the 1920s that such inventive creators provided us with the best of Modern Art. Following their example and being characterised by its experimental nature and full-of-prizes collage contest, The Gestalt Programme aims to open a window towards the achievements of geographically and historically distant cultures, stimulating local productivity and inventiveness, without rejecting ancestral traditions.
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| Ishrat Hyatt, "Gestalt Educational Programme: Swiss Envoy hosts Opening Function," International The News, 22.10.2011, City News, p. 19 |
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| GESTALT, from the German term gestellt, "put together." According to the Theory of Perceptual Organization, our mind is holistic. |
Additional Resources
Islamabad, German Embassy in Islamabad,
Integrated Whole, Experimentation and Identity,
Gestalt: Theory and Design in the New Objectivity Age, 25.10.2011
Islamabad, Deutsche Auslandsvertretungen in Pakistan,
Integriertes Ganzes, Experimentieren und Identität,
Gestalt: Theorie und Gestaltung im Zeitalter der neuen Sachlichkeit, 28.10.2011
The Gestalt Program
Programa Educativo Gestalt
Sara Mahmood,
Mariano Akerman: Bridging Cultures, 28.9.2011
"The Ambassador of Switzerland ... held Reception Lecture of the Gestalt Educational Program held by Architect Mariano Akerman,"
Diplomatic Focus, Pakistan, Vol. II, Issue 8-9, October-November 2011, p. 70, photographs by Shabbir Hussain.
Almas Haider Naqvi, "Other is the Same Side of the Picture,"
Dataline Islamabad, 22 October 2011, p. 4
Almas Haider Naqvi, "Other is the Same Side of the Picture,"
Dataline Islamabad, 22 October 2011, p. 4
Maqbool Malik, "Tradition meets Modernisation,"
The Nation, Pakistan, 24 October 2011: "Mariano Akerman, an Argentinean national by origin, made an exciting presentation to put across his ideas and knowledge about [the] Gestalt Programme, and [...] amused the audience with humour to make the otherwise boring stuff lighter to digest including art lovers and students."
Gauhar Zahid Malik,
Embassies of Switzerland and Germany present 'Gestalt': Theory and Design in the Age of New Objectivity, Fifteen Educational Lectures by Mariano Akerman, Architect and Art Historian,
Pakistan Observer, Twin Cities, 3 November 2011, p. 9
Ilona Yusuf,
Enhancing Perception: The Gestalt Lectures and Collage Competition,
Blue Chip Magazine, Issue 87, Volume 8, Islamabad, January-February 2012, pp. 16-19, ill.
Sara Mahmood,
Mariano Akerman: Bridging Cultures,
Blue Chip Magazine, Issue 87, Volume 8, Islamabad, January-February 2012, pp. 20-24, ill.
Swiss Envoy hosts Opening Function
