Kierownik projektu: dr Hermina Cielas
Data rozpoczęcia realizacji projektu: 2018-11-15
Termin zakończenia: 2022-11-14

The project aims to create a detailed study of a neglected Indian performing art called avadhāna (“attentiveness”), in which memory, ex tempore creativity, multitasking, and other cognitive abilities play a major role. The tradition can be dated at least to the 12th-13th centuries. The author of the project aims to investigate the phenomenon and create its interpretation based on the analysis of literary sources and field research enabling the study of the practical implementation of avadhāna in contemporary India.

The project covers the analysis of epigraphic and literary evidence of avadhāna and other available documents (practitioners' memoirs, congratulatory letters, press reports) that can help to trace possible sources of the tradition, determine its historical background and consecutive stages of development. The subject of the project will also be the study of avadhāna in relation to the categories of cultural performance, ritual, and tradition. An important part of the research will be the analysis of the social context of avadhāna (determining the position of its practitioners in modern society, the role of women), as well as looking at the discussed tradition from the point of view of ars memoriae.

Realizing the goals will result in a multi-contextual and comprehensive study of the Indian "art of attentiveness". The project and its results may influence the development of various research fields and scientific disciplines, including literary studies (with particular emphasis on the history of Indian literature), performing arts, social sciences, and psychology.