Prakalpana Movement | Wikipedia audio article

50 Years of Prakalpana Movement

প্রকল্পনা আন্দোলনের ৫০ বর্ষ 

6th September, 2018 marked the beginning of the 50th year of this movement. In this long period of time the pages of Swatotsar, Kobisena and Prakalpana Sahitya / Prakalpana Literature have been enriched by so many contributors from whatever corners of the globe I cannot recollect. Yet some of whom I can remember as a few of them were sometime active participants here with me. However, at this moment I can name some contributors: Ashis Deb, Dilip Gupta, Sukla Majumdar, Rabindra Bhattacharya, Bablu Roy Choudhury, Tapon Ghosh, Utpal, Don Webb, Susan Smith Nash, Kashi Nath Mondal, Madison Morrison, Arun Kumar Chakraborty, Abhijit Ghosh, Ramaratan Mukhopadhyay, John M Bennett, Gerald England, Nikhil Bhaumik, Bonhisikha Bhattacharya, Tendai Mawanka, Bret k Fletcher, Boudhayan Mukhopadhyay, Amari Hamadene, Carla Bertolla, Satya Ranjan Biswas, Tapas Ghosh, Ghosh Prakritiranjan, Jessica Manack, Jesse Glass, Rishin Mitra, Amit Kashyap, Syamoli Mukherjee Bhattacharjee, Hugo Pontes, Braja Chattopadhyay, Sheila Murphy, Debkumar Basu, Tapas Bandopadhyay, Asok De, Uttar Basu, Asit Bosu, Narak Das, Christian Burgaud, Norman J Olson, Niva De, Jose Roberto Sechi.....

However, every go has a pause, a stop, as we are now after the overwrought spell of all these long years, decided to discontinue the print editions => until and unless if by chance any deserving one from anywhere approaches to restart it! Yet I hope the movement will flow for some more time online.  

Nevertheless, to commemorate the 50th year of the Prakalpana Movement, the complete united version of the epical prakalpana trilogy CosmospherE has been published online, available allover the leading online bookstores, as well as from the publisher for promotion to reach more and more people, for FREE! After reading the ebook won't you be kind enough to make a review of it where ever you can and share, to help spread the unique gospel of the prakalpana movement!

Download CosmospherE

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Prakalpana Art Hub     Interview Chandan     Prakalpana Sutra  Prakalpana Diary  50 Years of  Prakalpana Movement  

PrakalpanA DiarY  প্ৰকল্পনা দিনলিপি

 ঠিক   ৫০ বছর আগে ১৯৬৯ এর আজকের দিনে প্রকল্পনা আন্দোলন শুরু হয় কলকাতায়। আমার

সঙ্গে ছিলো দিলীপ গুপ্ত ও আশিস দেব।  এর মধ্যে আজ সকালে প্রথমে আশিসকে ফোন করি। কিন্তু পাইনা। নম্বর পাল্টে গ্যাছে। দিলীপকে পাই।  ওকে মনে করিয়ে দি আজকের স্মরণীয় দিনের কথা। মনে পড়তে ও খুবই উজ্জীবিত। আমাদের উভয়ের শরীর সুস্থ ও  শক্ত নয় এখন। তবু এ আশার নেশা ছুটিলোনা একি  দায় !

আজ যাঁরা বিভিন্ন সময়ে আমাদের সঙ্গে ছিলেন তাঁদের কথা খুব মনে পড়ছে।   তার মধ্যে শুক্লা মজুমদার, ব্রজ চট্টোপাধ্যায়, সত্য রঞ্জন বিশ্বাস, দেবকুমার বসু, তপন ঘোষ, তাপস বন্দোপাধ্যায়, নিখিল ভৌমিক, বাবলু রায়চৌধুরী, উত্তর বসু..... আর এ গ্রহের বাসিন্দা নন।  আর কবিসেনা শুরু থেকে যার সঙ্গে প্রথম পরিকল্পনা করি সে হচ্ছে রবীন্দ্র ভট্টাচার্য -- বহুদিন তার পাত্তা নেই। কোথা আছে কে জানে?

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Prakalpana Sutra -- Theoretical Base of Prakalpana, Sarbangin Poetry and Prakalpana Art by Chandan

PrakalpanA SutrA

প্রকল্পনা সূত্র 

Here my different sutras created for the Prakalpana Movement and Sarbangin Poetry Movement and Prakalpana Art are dissected. 

DISCLAIMER: WE REGRET THAT NEITHER HAVE WE ANY CONTROL NOR DO WE ENDORSE NOR WILL WE BE RESPONSIBLE IF ANY VIEWERS  ARE TRICKED  INTO  MANIPULATED  BACKLINKS EVEN BY SOME HIGH RANKING MEDIAS, TO PILFER OUR LITTLE REPUTATION EVEN WITHOUT RECOGNIZING US, AND LAND INTO ANY PROBABLE INAPPROPRIATE ABUSIVE OR UNSAFE CONTENT AND PICTURE, NOT RELATING TO  THIS SITE OR PRAKALPANA MOVEMENT AND THESE
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Prakalpana Diary  50 Years of  Prakalpana Movement

Interview Chandan -- Overall aspects of Prakalpana Movement

 PRAKALPANA LITERATURE : Songs of Kobisena

                           by Steve LeBlanc

Genre-bending in Calcutta with Prakalpana Literature

In 1969, Calcutta Poet Vattacharja Chandan teamed up with two fellow writers to invent a new kind of literature, one that drew on all genres of writing : poetry, fiction, drama, essays. The co-conspirators dubbed their assault on culture "Prakalpana Literature" and set their energies to churning out literary magazines and organizing public readings to announce their revolutionary find to the world. They buttressed their new literature with such detailed and mysteriously-named ingredients as "Sarbangin", "kobisena", "Flow verse", and "music effect". More than 20 years later Chandan and his associates are still at it. Version 90 interviewed Chandan with the assistance of the US and Indian postal services

Mention Calcutta to most westerners and the first thing that springs to mind is poverty—abject poverty—Mother Theresa-size poverty. After that image flows, in no particular order, a litany of perennial societal ills—disease, political turmoil, overcrowding, noise, in short, all the cliched images of a third world metropolis forever struggling against chaos.

Calcutta, as in the black hole of.......

For all the cliches, deserved or not, and despite its ponderous social problems, Calcutta has, for the past 20 years or so nurtured a tiny literary revolution by the mysterious name of Prakalpana Literature. Championed by its founder and chief conspirator, Vattacharja Chandan, Prakalpana Literature—the name of the movement and the title of its own bilingual (Bengali and English) chapbook lit-zine has tried to define a whole new kind of writing, one that draws from all genres, drama to poetry to fiction. For an obscure literary movement, Prakalpana has drawn fans far outside the borders of India including underground American writers and mail art fans from around the globe.  The word itself is layered with meaning.  In both Bengali and Sanskrit, Prakalpana translates as "proper imagination". For Chandan, this proper imagination is expressed through whatever genre is most appropriate at the moment, be it fiction, poetry, novel, essay, play, opera, visual art, etc. The amalgam of these styles, often within a single "poem" or short work, is the true experience of "proper imagination". Instead of attempting to express a concept through drama which would best be expressed in form of an essay, Prakalpana accepts the essay form, combining it with any other form deemed appropriate by the writer.

"Prakalpana is neither poetry, nor story, nor essay, nor novel, nor play, but the essence of all of these, exotically and subtly blended into a new, fresh form," Chandan explained in a recent mail interview. "So we first de-form all the forms we use, only to reform them into Prakalpana.  For example, you may see the Prakalpanas in Prakalpana Literature."

Prakalpana has a more literal etymology as well, one that reflects the genre's fascination with wordplay and visual literature (one which at first glance mimics the western avant-garde, particularly concrete poetry).  Prakalpana is derived, quite literally, from a convergence of various forms of writings and the words that signify these forms.  In other words : Prakalpana = PRA from prabandha (essay) + KA from kabita (poetry) + LPA from galpa (story) + NA from naatak (drama).

If the word Prakalpana, with its layered meanings, describes the form of the writing, other, equally complex words define the writing's rich meaning and context. In order to separate prakalpana from collage poetry and other forms of experimental literature, Chandan introduces the concept of "Sarbangin Kobita"—poetry that grows out of proper imagination, feeling and realization.  Sarbangin Kobita reveals what Chandan describes as chetanavyasism (wholeness of cosmic matter and revealed sense) while utilizaing the "wholesome and artful repetition of words and visuals, sonorous and mathematical effects in Flow Verse Rhythm". The term Sarbangin itself derives from Chandan's poem "Kobitaay Sarbangin Arnritakharan" and an accompanying theoretical essay "Sarbangin Kobita Jagga" published in Kobisena, a sister publication to Prakalpana Literature.

"Poetry to us is neither the pursuit of conventional meters nor free verse. Nor do we merely draw a picture or structure or cut and paste photos and lines in arranged or deranged manners and call that poetry," Chandan explained.  "So apart from chetanavyas which is inherent in all, poetry should be sonorous and musical through Word Effect (choice of new/appropriate words), Repetition Effect (repetition of selected word and lines like music), Flow Verse (sound and tune in rhythm) and Visual Effect (signs and symbols used well proportionately)."

Flow Verse, as Chandan sees it, is central to the spirit of Prakalpana.  Unlike earlier poetic forms, Flow Verse does not rely on meter or more prosaic forms of verse, but reflects, according to Chandan, the "concord and discord of the universe and life itself, which flows incessantly like wave, wind, the rhythm of heart beats and the rhythm of the universe."

"The theories of Prakalpana concern wholeness—wholeness of combined forms, wholeness of meter, wholeness of cosmic matter and universal sense. In practice absolute wholeness is unattainable, but our idea and imagination should be on the whole as broadbased as possible. Chetnavyasism observes the driving force hidden behind the day to day world as the interaction between the whole conscious subjective well-imaginative world of mind and sense (chetana) and the active/passive objective rotating habitual (avyas) world of matter."
 

1969

On an average September evening, Calcutta's Harish Park is filled with families and residents enjoying the open space, but in the fall of 1969, terrorist actions by Maoist insurrectionists ripped the country apart and drove most residents from public places like the park. It was into this deserted area that Chandan and friends wandered one evening, having just returned from the Mukta Mela (free fair) in the Calcutta Maidan. Chandan had read his poems at the open air festival and admired the work of other poets and painters.  On a bench in Harish Park Chandan and his friends discussed the possibility of publishing a journal dedicated to the new and unusual in literature. Friends Dilip Gupta and Ashis Deb passed the idea on to Chandan who suggested inventing an entirely new way of writing, one that began as a story, then abruptly switched to poetry, then drama, then essay—depending upon what the author was trying to communicate.

A few days later the three met at Deb's apartment where they came up with the name Prakalpana. Having hit on what they considered an entirely new form of communication, the three set about searching for an appropriate vehicle to disseminate the literature they were sure would follow their idea. But first, the three needed a name, something to suggest the attack on established forms of Writing that they saw Prakalpana waging.

Gupta suggested Swatotsar, the Indian word for sword. According to Chandan, Swatotsar, which was literally published in the shape of a sword blade, was meant to publish literature which would "axe at the root of conventionalism." In addition to Swatotsar, the three began to publish a second chapbook called 'Kobisena' (poetry-troop, the marchers of poetry), dedicated strictly to Sarbangin poetry, as they defined it, by 1977, however, Chandan and his associates decided that a single magazine was needed to publish all forms of Prakalpana and Sarbangin poetry and began printing Prakalpana Sahitya / Prakalpana Literature.

From the very beginning, the magazines were printed irregularly, whenever there was enough material and inspiration to warrant another issue. According to Chandan, they were afraid that "if we go on rapidly, we might be finished rapidly." The desire to print quality works was not the only factor which slowed the magazine. Like small press publishers around the world, Chandan found himself fighting familiar battles with printers unsympathetic to the magazine's complex typography and the literature's strange layout, as well as having to rely on cheap, outdated equipment.

"We have been printing through letterpress as it is cheaper. But no press here is interested in printing us, as they consider our printing unusual and hence difficult to compose and hence unprofitable for them, while some of them considered our writing obscene so they didn't want to print it lest they should be harassed by the cops," Chandan said. "Most of our signs and symbols cannot be typewritten and computer printing is still a costly dream for us. The printing press has always been our severest obstacle which also accounts for our irregularity."

Ironically, and perhaps unintentionally, Chandan's reliance on "obsolete" letter-press technology, though frustrating, may actually make his publications more appealing than he thinks. In the west, inundated with slick magazines and thousands of computer generated fanzines, where even a company newsletter looks suspiciously over-produced, Prakalpana Literature, printed in fine letter-press on thin paper is a revelation, a fragile literary missive lovingly produced, a message from one human being to another.

Printing woes are ultimately a function of money, another resource Prakalpana Literature is hard-pressed to find. They receive no government funds and rely exclusively on sales, subscriptions, and mail orders from around the world. In the US, interest in Prakalpana Literature has relied in large part on word of mouth, the mail art network and reviews in magazines like Factsheet Five and Flatland Distribution. Despite more than 20 years of publishing, Prakalpana Literature remains an obscure movement inside and outside India. According to Chandan, even established modern poets Jike Ghalib, Tagore, Nazrul and Bharati are relatively unknown.

Part of this obscurity may be blamed on the image of Calcutta in the west, one with which Chandan and his associates are familar.  He equates the western impression of Calcutta to the Indian legend of the blind men describing an elephant solely through the sense of touch or to a visitor assuming that Harlem represents the true and full picture of New York as a city. But part of this view of Calcutta is based on historical factors. Since the partition of India in 1947, Calcutta has been flooded with Pakistani and Bangladesh) refugees. Despite the influx, the city still accepts all who wish to enter, all refugees, poor, down-trodden, homeless. "Therefore / Like everywhere/here are also/ virtue & vice and good & evil / poverty, hunger & pleasure, splendor," Chandan writes of his homeland.
 

PRAKALPANA INTERNATIONAL

One of the hallmarks of Prakalpana Literature, which Chandan insists is an international movement, is its bilingualism. Everything in the chapbook is printed both in English and Bengali, making it available to the widest possible audience. Printing in two languages can have its pitfalls, of course. Although the actual translation is not difficult, Chandan said, finding a competent translator, one willing to work without compensation, can be tricky. The dual translation also doubles the thickness of the book—increasing printing costs—and limiting the number of works that can be included. In addition, translators are not only called on to translate what is to be printed, but also to translate submissions and help the publishers respond to writers in their own language. "Double language, double trouble." Chandan acknowledges.

Another signature of the magazine is the form, literally, of its submissions. Much of the work seems to mimic concrete poetry or the work of e.e. cummings. Such resemblances, Chandan explains, are only on the surface. The visual element is important but not crucial.  Chandan, for example, has developed his own key of signs and symbols which he routinely uses in writing, symbols which, he says, help distinguish Prakalpana from other forms of writing.

"In other words, what speciality you can find in any other writing, it is possible to find that in Prakalpana. But what speciality you can find in Prakalpana, is not generally found elsewhere", Chandan said. As for cummings, Chandan finds both resemblances and distinct differences. "As a reader, I am fond of his poems, but as a poet I don't like to write like him as I think his unconventional approach is mainly limited to typography only, which we are not, and his traditional and romantic subject matter and meter do not suit his superb unconventional form. This is like a woman clad in man's clothing."

"Undoubtedly, a poem's 'look' on the printed page is important to us. But this importance is secondary. As in literature, language and the word is primarily important  As a Sanskrit proverb says, 'Shabdah Brahma' meaning words/sound is the ultimate god".

Chandan said that while cummings is a relatively familiar name in India, early sound poem experimenters like Tristan Tzara, Hugo Ball, and the dadaists and futurists are virtually unknown, even among Chandan's circles.  More contemporary, western avant-garde writers and art/anti-art movements such as William Burroughs, Brion Gysin, the lettrists and situationists are similarly obscure. Government regulations restrict the easy flow of books into the country, Chandan said, further limiting access to western authors, even to those interested in them. So the influence, if any, of western avant-garde writers on their Indian counterparts is rare", he said, adding, however, that more traditional contemporary western writers have had a considerable influence on modern Indian authors.  While names like Burroughs and Kathy Acker remain a mystery, and although his knowledge of American writers is, by his own admission, incomplete, Chandan admires some western writers. Among his favorites are names like Gertrude Stein, Charles Olson and beats like Jack Kerouac, Gregory Corso and Allen Ginsberg. He also notes some writers on the contemporary underground network.

As a result, Chandan said, the avant-garde literary scene in India is very small. He has tried to counter that in a number of ways. For several years Chandan published yearly date-books which included bits of Sarbangin poetry and Prakalpana literature. Chandan's idea was to introduce his experimental literature to average people by offering it to them in a consumer item which many people need. In addition, Chandan has sponsored and regularly attends public readings, one of the few ways to spread the Prakalpana gospel, which is all but ignored in the popular press. Nearly all of the literary journals published in Calcutta, and there are quite a few published in Bengali, are conventional, he said, even the ones which claim to be anti-establishment.

In fact, according to Chandan, there is little overt experimentation in Indian arts, other than the theater, which supports a number of small avant-garde groups that stage experimental work. Chandan restricts himself to poetry and Prakalpana literature, although he occasionally composes music to accompany his works.

The isolation of Indian writers and western writers must come to an end if both are to prosper and learn from each other, Chandan maintains.  Prakalpana is a perfect vehicle for such change, he added, "It is not at all an Indian movement. True, it was originated and is based in India, but if we get better opportunities elsewhere, the base may be moved. I'd not make tall tales that we are successful, only that we are successful, only that we are striving to be international, or more accurately, universal."

To ensure this interaction between avant-garde writers, Chandan proposes the following three steps : an international avant-garde workshop in the United States where Indian and American writers can meet face to face; an open exchange of news, literature and art among the two groups, and an international avant-garde writers conference every year with writers from all over the world.
 

STREET CREDIBILITY

The history of Prakalpana is also a history of public readings and other attempts to reach outside the group's small coterie of friends and associates to the ordinary Indian citizen, who may know nothing of avant-garde literature and may only have a passing interest in poetry.

"Public appearances are vital to us. First, there is no other alternative for us to reach the masses directly. And secondly, I myself always want to be tested by the average non-intellectual masses, who will not generally buy little mags or want to understand poetry and avant-garde works. They may be patient enough to listen to your reading out of sheer curiosity, of course only if you can attract, impress and infuse them by your words. Neither conventional free verse nor rhymes can do that well.

Sarbangin poetry with its sharp, candid, turbulent, enjoyable language, sometimes accompanied by musical instruments, some lines tuned and sung, sometimes chanted like hymns and mantras, but all the time in slow, steady, fast, soft, savage, easy, cozy incessant flow verse, can do that better" Chandan said. He explained that sometimes the readers dress up in painted hats and special clothes to attract further attention.

"Probably you'll compare it with pop music, but with deep language, more restrained movements. Very little of our poetry is tuned as music may be apart of Sarbangin poetry, but not the whole of it. In fact it is not music, but musical effect", he said. "So through public appearances, we can reach more people at a time when people think of poets as emotional, impractical and useless".

In addition to more traditional venues, Prakalpana Literature has performed in a number of unlikely locations, many on the spur of the moment :

*  ln December of 1973, to protest "conventionalism in literature", Prakalpana organised a silent procession of poets and writers with posters and festoons to challenge established, traditional speakers at the government-sponsored East India Cultural Conference. Because of the protest, the speakers packed up and left the stage open to other, unconventional writers and speakers, who opened up the discussion.

*  Since 1972 Chandan and friends have been convening readings in front of book stalls and other locations, including the Bengal Cultural Conference, the Calcutta Art fair, the Calcutta Book Fair. As the readings hampered the sales of adjacent stalls, the holders of those stalls tried to shout down the readers or call the authorities to move them along. Chandan said that on a number of occasions the readers appealed to the crowds directly to surround them and allow them to continue. Even when the readings were disbanded, they often started up at other locations.

*  On Sept.6, 1980, the anniversary of the day Chandan and Deb and Gupta sat on the park-bench in Harish park—a day they declared "Prakalpana Day", they organised a reading under the 'emperor of literature' Bankim Chandra. Other outdoor readings have taken place on a merry-go-round, in remote villages, in public halls and in the Banga Sanskriti Sammelan ground.

"We go in front of the public to present poetry to them, not to confront them. In fact, we love and regard them", he said. "I think that he who does not love the public should not be involved in anything that ultimately concerns the public, like drawing, writing, or singing."

"In fact, from my experience of trying to present poetry to the public, I can confidently say that if you can write in a new way that appeals to the brain of the intellectuals and the heart of the people—and if you can deliver your poetry before the masses in an attractive way, not just the same typical, sleepy readings, poetry can also be popular and profitable", he said.

Chandan would like to see poetry introduced into all aspects of life, integrated in such a way that poetry itself would be barely distinguishable, not as a way to diminish poetry, but as a way to uplift life.

"Write and exhibit poetry on neon roadside signs. Ads may be written in poetry. Arrange exhibitions of writing or printing of poetry in big calligraphic letters with sketches or drawings in halls, parks, streets. Write poetry in files, bills, vouchers ... in match boxes, packets of cigarettes, spices, contraceptives, soaps, wine bottles ... as patches in dresses, albums on trains, on atomic reactors, tents, aircraft. To make them more easy to memorize, write formulas in poetry, write applications in poetry, make love in poetry, dream in poetry. Write poetry on toilet paper, vests, panties, bras, trees. In each and every stanza of day to day life let there be poetry.

"Sounds crazy? But if it succeeds, even a little, then also it is sure that there will be suspicion regarding the academic quality of that poetry. If in the heat of light verse, self-centred, rocky wo/man bends to some extent toward humanity, then gradually, step by step, s/he may tend toward deeper poetry for spirit, inner joy."
 

NEW VERSE

One driving fact behind the evolution of Prakalpana Literature was the realization that earlier forms of poetry had little relation to the modern world. The weight of that history, especially in a country so rooted in traditions, was not easy to overcome for young poets, struggling to re-define their craft.

"Gone are the days of rhymed verse which attracted people. Gone are the days of telling interesting stories in verse, as in the Ramayan or Mahabharat. Gone are the days of preaching religious gospels and hymns and political propaganda in poetry. Due to all these, average people lost all attraction to modern poetry", Chandan said. "When I began to understand this condition in the late '60s. I thought that in order to bring poetry back to the people, they must be made curious and attracted to poetry—of course without any compromise in quality, form and content."

To rouse interest Chandan began using hieroglyphic-style symbols in his first book of poetry, in part as decoration and ornamentation in order to make it look beautiful or remarkable. He first detailed these in his 1974 book, Saral Karo : Valobasa. Chandan takes care to distinguish his symbols, and the way they are used, from other types of writing and poetry which also rely on symbols, including visual and concrete poetry.

"My main purpose behind using symbols was that these ideographic symbols help rouse the imagination and extend the meaning of the words / ideas they highlight. That is, we should use visuals only to emphasize the dimensions of words which are primary in the case of literature", Chandan said. "Last, we do not want to attach undue importance to visualism and signs and symbols which are only one of the ingredients of sarbanginness and the introductions of which into poetry will be fulfilled only when there are flesh and blood and life of poetry sonorous and musical through words, sounds, repetition and combined flow verse rhythm of prose and verse; visibly meaningful through visual signs and symbols with feelings, emotions and abstractions of the soul".
 

ADDENDUM

Courtesy: Steve LeBlanc. Version 90, PMS Café Press, Alston, MS, U.S.A. Extracted for academic and non profitable purpose only.

Pictures: Could not be reproduced.

Afterwords by Chandan : Since the interview appeared a few years ago, I've thought to rectify a few errors which could not be clarified as Version 90 had interviewed me through mail. Even in 1997 summer when I visited Boston for a shortwhile, I intended to contact Steve LeBlanc to talk about this but I didn't have his current whereabouts or phone number. So it is republished here as it was, with this addendum that includes a few rectifications.

1.  SwatotsaR does not mean 'sword' in Indian language / Bangla. It means spontaneous. SwatotsaR  was literally published not in the shape of sword-blade but in the shape of an axe-blade, as I had suggested, to axe at the root of conventionalism, as a symbolic gesture.

2.  Among the 3 of us who had started SwatotsaR, Ashish Deb left Swatotsar and gave up writing after the very first issue. So he was not there among those who were with me when kOBISENa was started, but he resurfaced again in the Movement for a short while in 2005.

3.  6th September was declared as Prakalpana Day many years before in 1969. We 3 did not meet at Harish Park on Sept. 6, 1980. Rather a reading was organised by kOBISENa on that Prakalpana day under the statue of Bankirnchandra where many others were present excepting Dilip Gupta and Ashish Deb.

DISCLAIMER: WE REGRET THAT NEITHER HAVE WE ANY CONTROL NOR DO WE ENDORSE NOR WILL WE BE RESPONSIBLE IF ANY VIEWERS  ARE TRICKED INTO  MANIPULATED  BACKLINKS EVEN BY SOME HIGH RANKING MEDIAS, TO PILFER OUR LITTLE REPUTATION EVEN WITHOUT RECOGNIZING US, AND LAND INTO ANY PROBABLE INAPPROPRIATE ABUSIVE OR UNSAFE CONTENT AND PICTURE, NOT RELATING TO  THIS SITE OR PRAKALPANA MOVEMENT AND THESE

LINK PAGES:     

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Prakalpana Art Hub - Prakalpana Art Movement, Random Prakalpana Art, Prakalpana Artchive

Prakalpana Art Movement

             প্রকল্পনা শিল্প আন্দোলন                       

Prakalpana Art Attack is like heart attack, as art basically evolves and devolves in heart. Heart attack is deadly. But art attack is lively even lovely.

 There is 'A' of art in  prAkAlpAnA. As prakalpana assimilates into itself from any literary forms, Prakalpana Art is the depiction of the inner + outer world thru any media of pen, pencil, brush, paper, canvas, cloth, body, camera, digital or mail art.

Prakalpana Art movement is arguably the sole known effort, this time in the orient, that has many great artists but debatably no other significant movement in the recent past, as it happened in case of the western art movements. So it has been perhaps the lone art movement effort in this part of the world, to concert and publish through mail art contributed from around the world in PrakalpanA LiteraturE and kOBISENa and also here digitally, as my own artworks have been parts of several international Mail Art exhibitions.

The basics of Prakalpana Art Movement has been rooted and mooted in my Prakalpana Sutra: Prakalpana Shilpa published in kOBISENa #22, 1983, [where the first ever Prakalpana Art drawn in 1971 entitled Kite (Ghuri), was republished having been first printed in a card in 1972, then on the cover of the first ever prakalpana book Porimandal (1975), with the other artwork of 1977 Cosmos (Atiprithibi)], and its transversion —> Prakalpana Line: Prakalpana Art in PrakalpanA LiteraturE #9, 1984. The First Principle of it, as stated there was:

To read the full article go to  PrakalpanA SutrA page.

  

Some of the art and mail artworks of different artists contributed to SwatotswaR, kOBISENa or Prakalpana Literature are in PrakalpanA ArtchivE here:

PrakalpanA ArtchivE 

প্রকল্পনা শিল্পেক্ষণ 

Christian Burgaud (France)

Jorge Ignacio Nazavel Cowan (Cuba)

Durlav Singh (UK)

Jessica Manack (USA)

Bablu RoyChoudhury

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Sarbangin Poetry Movement - Kobisena Clamour vs Glamour, Random Sarbangin Poetry

Sarbangin Poetry Movement

সর্বাঙ্গীন কবিতা আন্দোলন

After Prakalpana Movement had started I was mulling during 1970-71 the need to initiate a informal  movement of Poetry, which will invent the new path of poetry and publicize poetry among the non- responsive masses of people, springing impromptu performance of poetry in any plausible places. Accordingly, it impacted the birth of kOBISENa (Poetroop).

  In September 1972 a convention was held in Vidyasagar Hall in Kolkata, where the ideals of Kobisena were declared and a Bulletin was to be published. The first Outburst of kOBISENa —> the Poetroop of the poetry by the poetry and for the poetry was published. It was just on a fragile paper and hand composed in a small press yet to start then.  

Though some of our critics always have wanted to demean and devalue us out of their ignorantly or deliberately branding us with Concrete Poetry or type of visual poetry which still they consider as the last terminal of poetry, we have our own brand of Sarbangin Poetry which was launched with the intention of having safe distance with those type of Concrete Poetry and Visual Poetry which mostly can't be performed or read out in the greater public gathering but can be shown only. And one of the main purposes of kOBISENa was to reach out to greater public who are generally not interested in poetry. And the difference of Sarbangin Poetry with concrete type of poetry since its inception, is evident from my first definition above.

Glamour versus Clamour

The most unlikely places for poetry performance were in the corn field, on packed train compartment, on plaza, on the high rise entrance level, beneath the statue, raising loud slogans among the crowd of Cultural Fair and Book Fair book stalls, where even chased and dispersed by the security staff, and Kobisenas in Guerilla tactics again surfaced in another part of the fair and performed poetry, apart from arranging and participating in regular poetry meets. In 1973 Kobisenas with their associates of Kanthaswar and others suddenly surfaced in mute procession of poets and writers with posters and banners, which was unthinkable then, even they Challenged the speakers on the stage for not incorporating younger poets in their biased discussions.

Some other events, in which Kobisenas that time had participated, were  reported by their Bohemian Reporters.

However i have defined Sarbangin Poetry = চেতনাভ্যাস সঞ্জাত স্বচ্ছন্দে চারুকার্য বিস্তৃত পৌনপুনিক শব্দাক্ত + দৃশ্যাক্ত + ধন্যাত্মক + সাঙ্গীতিক উপলব্ধিময় সার্বিক প্রকল্পিত কবিতা ।

The poem, grown out of proper imagination, reveals chetanavyasism by utilizing wholesome artful  repetition of : Word + Visual + Sonorous + Musical Effects in Flow Verse rhythm.     

In other words, Sarbangin Poetry is the whole  music of apt words & images, in Flow Verse diverse with universal rhythms + unrhythms-- in  rhymes and unrhymes.  

SwatotsaR, kOBISENa and PrakalpanA LiteraturE have been the main vehicles of the Sarbangin Poetry Movement.

Some of the notable Contributors include: 

Rabindra Bhattacharya, Uttar Basu,  Giovanni Malito (Ireland), Margaritta Engle.(USA),  Boudhayan Mukhopadhyay.  Bablu RoyChoudhury. Laxmi Paul. Vattacharja Chandan. &. Susan Smith Nash. (USA). Ramratan Mukhopadhyay. Mandal Bijoy Beg. Gerald England. (UK), Utpal, Jose Roberto Sechi. (Brazil), Shyamoli Mukherjee Bhattacharjee. Jim Dewitt, Geof Huth.(USA), t. winter-demon. (USA).  Dilip Gupta. Ashish Deb, Kashinath Mandal, Amari Hamadene (Algeria), Tendai Mawanka (Zimbabwe).  Christopher Barnes (U K), Michael Scherba (Kazakstan), Gloria Persiani (Italy).....   

Example of Sarbangin Poetry from kOBISENa # 40  কবিসেনা # ৪০ is reproduced: 

অবিরাম সর্বাঙ্গীন কবিতা   

 Random Sarbangin Poetry    

Some Sarbangin Poetry appeared mostly in different issues of প্রকল্পনা সাহিত্য PrakalpanA LiteraturE  and / or kOBISENa কবিসেনা are presented here :

  

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Prakalpana Movement Everview - Prakalpana and Sarbangin Poetry Books & Zines. Random Prakalpana

Prakalpana Movement Everview 

      প্রকল্পনা আন্দোলন কেন্দ্র - চিরবীক্ষণ         

Poetry, tale, drama were there before and during the first millennium. The second millennium saw the emergence of today's short story and novel. And the second half of the last century of the second millennium flagged off the youngest form of literature—Prakalpana, which has not yet been adept so much to make itself stand as a wholesaleable product for its survival. So whether this little spark of Prakalpana will survive longer in the third millennium or face premature extinction—only time can say and see that. But in this crossroads of times what the Prakalpanites have been thinking and trying to convey to the world of Prakalpana Movement, only that can be expressed here as an overview for everview of the readers.

On the 6th of September 1969, the Prakalpana Day, the world seemed stagnant while we only moved. Since then more than 45 years have past. By that time perhaps it has become the most protracted literary and art movement that ever happened anywhere in the world! But as it has been an unprecedented movement inventing new forms and contents, it has to face unprecedented apathy and silence and harsh criticism to swallow all over on the way.

  At the time of creating the form from all other forms at first I had planed creating the word prakalpana permuting and combining the letters from Prabandha (essay), Kobita (poetry), Galpa (story), Natok (drama) yet conveying a different meaning. But later to broaden the horizon, I made Prakalpana ...."a mixture of forms from literature and art, encompassing as much of the wider scope of culture as it can." (NHI Review Online). As viewed by Zineopolis: "Prakalpana' is a new form of literature and art composed of: P for Prose, Poetry, graPhics + R for for stoRy + A for Art, essAy + K for Kinema + L for noveL, cuLture, pLay + N for soNg, as derived by Vattacharja Chandan. The word 'prakalpana' means proper imagination."

Reviewer Ku in NHI Review online aptly visualized the defination of Prakalpana this way:  " The editor describes Prakalpana as a form of art and literature comprising:
     

         Prose, poetry, graphics

  StoRy

       Art

       Kinema

          a

noveL culture

       Play

         a   

    soNg

         a               "

{Theoretical approach of Prakalpana Movement details on   Prakalpana Sutra   Page}

  

Some of the Contributors: Ashis Deb, Dilip Gupta, Vattacharja Chandan, Christian Burgaud, Richard Kostelanetz, Sukla Majumdar, Bablu Roychoudhury, Sheila Murphy, Nikhil Bhaumik, Baudhayan Mukhopadhyay,  Shyamoli Mukherjee Bhattacharjee, Utpal, Satya Ranjan Biswas, Sandip Dutta, Avijit Ghose, Rabin Mandal, Kashinath Mandal, Asoke Basu, Jessica Manak,

Ramratan Mukhopadhyay, John M Bennett, Norman J Olson, Rabindra Bhattacharya, Uttar Basu, Shaswata Shikdar, Sunil Das, Ramananda Bandyopadhay, Tapas Bandopadhyay, Tapon Ghose, Tapas Ghose, Dipak De .....

Prakalpana Books

Notable Prakalpana books Include: Porimandal (1975), Atiprithibi  1 (2009), Cosmosphere 1 (2011)  by Vattacharja Chandan. Udvinno Prakalpana: Upsurging Prakalpana [Anthology of 5 prakalpana writers] (1975), Prakalpana - Pratham Porjay, Antargata Barnamala ( 2008), by Dilip Gupta. Der Gonda Prakalpana by Nikhil Bhaumik.
On the eve of the 50th year of the Prakalpana Movement, out of the 3 parts of Vattacharja Chandan's epical ebook CosmospherE's first part CosmoSphere 1 's revised edition has been published and made FREE to download for non commercial purpose to reach more and more people as a promotional offer. Download CosmoSphere 1

  

Sarbangin Poetry Books

Saral Karo: Valobasa (1974), Posha Paakhi Hobona: I Won't Be A Pet Bird (1998) by Vattacharja Chandan

Sarbangin Kobita 1: Sarbangin Poetry 1 (1978) An anthology by 34 Kobisenas.

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বিদায় বন্ধু !
Au Revoir Friends !

In remembrance of our friend Nikhil Bhaumik, best known as the author of দেড়  গন্ডা প্রকল্পনা  Der Gonda Prakalpana , who expired on 21 st January this year, the friends and well-wishers in the literary world are welcome to meet together at the  Radical Humanist Association of India office, in the Kolkata Coffee House premises, 15 Bankim Chatterjee St, 2nd Floor, Kolkata 700073, on April 9, 2014 at 5 PM. Be with us to offer your homage to the departed author. 

                                                        

Vattacharja Chandan, Bablu Roychoudhuri, Dolly Datta 

for kOBISENa

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অবিরাম প্রকল্পনা
Random Prakalpana

A Prakalpana by Asish Deb  আশীষ দেবের প্রকল্পনা 

A Prakalpana by Derek White

A Prakalpana by Ujjal Goswami  উজ্জ্বল গোস্বামীর প্রকল্পনা

A Prakalpana by Dilip Gupta  দিলীপ গুপ্তের প্রকল্পনা

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