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Multi-Faceted Dancer, Scholar A Boon To Museum

Shanthi Shankarkumar in Chicago

Here's a girl with a rare international flavor. Sujatha Arundati Meeghama is from Sri Lanka, but has dance, cultural and academic ties with India, China, Japan and, now, the United States.

Her impressive academic record, multiple language skills (English, Japanese and Sinhalese) and background in Bharata Natyam got her the prestigious Women's Board Fellow in Museum Education from the Art Institute of Chicago. She is the second recipient (1998-2000) of this fellowship, which was introduced four years ago and has already made big waves in the institute.

The fellowship is open to candidates with a minimum of an arts history degree and a master's degree. Only one candidate is selected for the two-year fellowship.

Meeghama, 26, has a master's degree in East Asian Studies (coursework included Japanese, Indian and Chinese Art History) from Stanford University, and a bachelor's in Asian Studies from Temple University, Philadelphia.

Her five-year stay in Japan, where she learned Bharata Natyam from a Japanese teacher who had trained under Mrinalini Sarabhai, has given her strong skills not only in Bharata Natyam but also in Japanese art history. She also speaks Japanese fluently.

Says Jane Clarke, assistant director, special projects, publications and interns, Art Institute of Chicago, " She has contributed enormously to the museum because she has brought in addition to her art history skills, good written skills and dance skills. We are blessed. She has been a wonderful addition."

The Art Institute of Chicago has one of the strongest Chinese, Japanese and South East Asian art collections in the country. Meeghama has been able to use the museum pieces in the various programs she has either initiated or co-ordinated. She has just completed a dance-cum-lecture series on the Dancing deities of India in which where she explained about Ganesha, Krishna and Shiva using Bharata Natyam.

"I use the large collection on India to interpret various things," she says.

"In August I had a series on mudras and last year I did a series on Indian art forms."

Her responsibilities at the Art Institute ensure she gets an overall view of different departments in the institute. She has worked in the student and teacher programs where she conducted teacher workshops in Asian art and produced a postcard pack, Ancient worlds for the Teacher Resource Center, based on the Chicago Public Schools's sixth grade social science curriculum. She has also given training on women in Asian art, Japanese screens and animals in Asian art.

Subsequently, she worked in performance programs where Indian art works in the Art Institute collection were interpreted through her Bharata Natyam, storytelling, slides and music. Her stint at the department of general programs meant she had to give collection tours and thematic tours such as images of Shiva for the adult public.

Her fluency in Japanese has been a big asset for the Museum. Meeghama has acted as interpreter for VIPs from Japan and has also translated material into Japanese for guides.

Meeghama works with both the young and the old, co-ordinating programs for senior citizens and workshops and drop-in art activities for children. She has written a family guide, Gods and Heroes for children between 7 and 12 years, to be used in the galleries.

"By the end of my two years," she says, "I will have experienced teaching art and culture to museum visitors of many different age groups."

On the side, Meeghama continues to hone her Bharata Natyam skills. She has been learning it since she was seven and is proficient in the Kalakshetra and Pandanallur styles. She is now learning the Tanjore style from well-known dance teacher-choreographer Hema Rajagopalan. But she is inclined more towards the academic side of dance and art and admits readily, " I don't see myself as a professional dancer. I am oriented more towards museum education in art."

Eventually, Meeghama would like to either return to Sri Lanka and work at a museum or go back to school and do her Ph D in subjects that continue to fascinate her.

"I would like to explore the relationship between classical Indian dance and Indian art and sculpture or explore the influence of Hindu deities on Buddhist sculptures," says the soft-spoken Meeghama.

If you would like to post any information about forthcoming events or community happenings, please email the details to bettypais@aol.com

Information and photographs can also be mailed to Betty Pais at 87-52 108th Street, 2nd Floor, Richmond Hill, NY 11418-2229, USA.

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