"Life gave Meena beautiful opportunities" Story-Telling contribution to the Sackler Gallery @ The Smithsonian D.C & The Brooklyn Museum Of Art, NY
MEENA WAS CHOSEN AS A STORY-TELLER FOR THE "HAMZANAMA" 15TH CENTURY EXHIBIT AT THE SMITHSONIAN SACKLER GALLERY IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
STORY-TELLING IS ONE OF THE OLDEST ART FORMS. LONG BEFORE THE MEDIA CAME INTO FORCE, STORY TELLING WAS A VALUABLE ATTRIBUTE TO THE COMMUNITY.
MOST OF THE STORY TOLD TAKES PLACE IN THE IMAGINATION OF THE LISTENER. MEENA ACHIEVED THIS AT SMITHSONIAN, WASHINGTON D.C.
The "Adventures of Hamzanama" is a fantastical adventure story based loosely on the exploits of Hamza. An Uncle of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) who travelled through out the world spreading the teachings of Islam. The First Exhibit was held at the Sackler Gallery Simithsonian Washington D.C. Later Meena travelled with the Exhibit to Brooklyn Museum of Art at New York, U.S.
Meena delights the Audience at Smithsonian with her dynamic Story Telling style!
In this tale, the heroic Hamza seeks to spread Islam throughout the world, and this takes him to Ceylon, Byzantium,Egypt, and the Caucasus.
He falls in love with Mihtnagar, the daughter of the Iranian King, his greatest foe, and marries both her (she is eventually slain) and a PARI (SPIRIT).
Meena Dasgupta Spins quite a tale...it's All in the delivery
Meena, A Hamzanama Exhibit Performer/A Story-Teller. Tells a Tale of Legendary Persian Hero Hamza
Sharing stories helps us to describe a culture and hearing a language in a dynamic entertaining way. We all communicate by storytelling naturally in our daily lives, starting at a very young age. Once upon a time long long ago she and her siblings would gather around their parents and listen to the stories about different Poets and the Partition of India as it so impacted my parents and generations to come. Meena says she loved Rabindranath Tagore's stories and stage plays. Very soon she would be the one holding the book in her hand and reading with pride. These daily rituals of Story Telling developed a passion for the Arts in her heart and soul...a belief that reading aloud not only had an impact on her listeners..her parents and siblings..but somehow those moments were actually creating her life's path. A purpose ..a journey for the audience who would be eventually thrilled and admire the characters in the stories she told.
Meena ..Once Upon a Time...The Dynamics of Story Telling
Meena's Story-Telling on a painting from the "Hamzanama" 15th Century Exhibit at the Smithsonian and Brooklyn Museum of Arts had several themes all weaved into one large painting. Themes that were so fascinating as she dramatized it with her voice and body language leaving the audience thinking about the story well after it was over.