1. Program
  2. /
  3. Film Series
  4. /
  5. Echoes from South Asia
  6. /
  7. Mati Manas

Mati Manas

Mind of Clay
ManI Kaul, India 1985, 92 Min., OV with English subs, 35mm
Followed by a talk with Parichay Patra

A film about the ancient Indian tradition of terracotta sculpture and pottery and the several legends associated with this tradition. The artifacts involved include some of the oldest items of Indian civilization, and these objects have been central to historical research around the origins of patriarchy and the shift from pastoral to agrarian systems, as well as other questions about the evolution of human society. In Mind of Clay, Kaul enacts a series of such legends, eschewing pure documentation and cataloging of these objects, to instead focus on a speculative exploration of the mythology and psychology that produced these remarkable artworks.

Parichay Patra is a film critic, researcher and educator based currently in India. His areas of interest include transnational cinemas in the global south and several 'new cinemas' in the long 1960s.