Citadines

Valeria has been teaching ikebana, the traditional Japanese Art of Flower Arrangement, in Auroville for over twenty years. Why did she, an Italian, study it for many years in Japan and then decide to teach it here?

Lisa Suchanek’s second exhibition at the Centre d’Art, titled Soft Self: Inner Multiplicity and Gentleness, unfolds as a captivating blend of art and introspective research.

Anjalai is an Aurovilian who has worked in Auroville for the last 50 years. She grew up in Kuilaypalayam and has been living in Auroville since about 2000.

Maurice Monier passed away on April 13th in his flat in Citadines. His friends at Citadines wrote: “Maurice was born in Saint-Étienne, France, on June 18, 1938 and would have been 85 in June.

On February 11th, Eva passed away in her apartment in Citadines after a brain haemorrhage. She had just celebrated her 77th birthday on February 8th with her fraternal family in Citadines community, full of joy and deeply happy.

Auroville’s Centre d’Art in Citadines hosted two photography exhibitions concurrently in October, with photographs by Auroville’s Eric Chacra and Chennai-based photographer Arun.

The Centre d’Art, Citadines, put on an exhibition by Jyoti of a series of works entitled ‘Anima’ in which he explored the material and immaterial dimensions of a simple water pot, culminating in images of lotuses.

Ten years of creating art from premium waste.

Imagine being a young person, discovering, participating, and actively dedicated to the development of Auroville. Imagine living in a group of twelve, all volunteering in the community: people from different parts of the world, with different cultural backgrounds, but with a common intention to experience and contribute to Auroville.

“People who come here are very touched, they feel a quality of silence.” The artist, Chantal, is talking about “On the Way to Supermanhood”, an exhibition held at Citadines in February based upon Satprem’s book of the same name.

Sunship is a new housing complex of thirty nine apartments, and was conceived as the next step after the Citadines experiment in pioneering a different kind of collective housing in Auroville.

Auroville Consulting is acquiring a considerable reputation in India for its work with State, Central government and international agencies, as well as academic institutions but it is also contributing its expertise to Auroville.

While it is one of the youngest Auroville communities, Courage is one of the largest. It has 104 residents drawn from 16 different nationalities: 30 of the residents are under the age of 18.

From 4 to 14 February there was a photo exhibition at Citadines “And the adventure begins ...”in homage to Dominique Darr. Dominique was selecting the photos for her exhibition in December when she passed away on the 25th.

The month of February is culture month par excellence. Auroville Today selected three performances and one exhibition for a brief review - acknowledging that many other events deserved to be reviewed as well.

Louis Cohen, who first came to Auroville in 1971, is one of the original pioneers. He continues to be very active in the development of the town.

Dominique Darr left her body on December 25th in her apartment in Citadine at the age of 84. The cause of death, most probably, was diabetic coma.

Hemant Lamba, a member of the Working Committee, has for many years been concerned about transforming our housing situation, particularly to meet the needs of youth.

On December 12th 2015, about 20 youth gathered in the Town Hall in answer to an invitation that said, “Ever wondered what’s happening in the Town Hall?

The Mother once described Sri Aurobindo as having “a face from eternity”. That same quality of deep spiritual timelessness pervades many of the photographs in Aurovilian Olivier Barot’s photo exhibition that premiered on 4th August in the new Kalinka Gallery in Pondicherry.

“Artisans cum aspirant artists,” says Luisa tentatively. “Players with paper,” suggests Hervé. They laugh, attempting to label the Aurovilians working at Auroville Papers – Christine, Jean-Jacques, Florent, Luisa and Hervé.

Have you walked behind the Town Hall lately? You might be surprised by what you see. Nestled in that dense urban area, surrounded on all sides by buildings, you can find young banana plants, bountiful bougainvillea, creepers climbing up the walls of Citadines, a robust vegetable garden, and a drip irrigation system supplying water to young fruit trees.

Recently, a number of small structures with shiny roofs have come up on open ground near Citadines. This is a small experimental settlement for Newcomers and volunteers called La Maison des Jeunes (“house of the young”).

In November, the Citadines Art Gallery hosted an exhibition of the woodcraft of Auroville architect Tejaswini, made in Auroville over the past year.