Kala Ghoda Arts Festival | Bombay (5th-13th Feb)

Highlights:

Papiertheatre on Rampart Row... opening weekend only... supported by Max Meuller Bhavan and created by German artists, it is an interactive installation.

The old world photo studio, by well known photographer, Shiresh Karrale. A photo studio where the public can get their photos taken with the help of props, replicated from the Raja Deen Dayal era.

Katherine Rose , UK art author in conversation with art historian Nancy Adajania and famous artist Jitish Kallat .... 9th feb evening 6.30pm -CSMVS Museum garden in association with British Council.

Ajay De will demonstrate his art skills at Artists Centre on Tuesday 8th Feb at 6pm.

In the general absence of parks and open spaces, the street is the nucleus of communal life in Mumbai. It’s where meals are sold and eaten, where groceries are purchased on the commute home and where neighbors gather every evening for a chat. But until recent years, art and culture remained off the city’s streets, strictly confined to galleries and theaters frequented by the elite. The debut of the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (KGAF) in 1999 changed that. This year’s version will take place Feb. 5 to 13, spread over several streets in Mumbai’s tiny but beautiful colonial-era art district.

The KGAF is the city’s most important annual cultural event; it’s also perhaps the only urban Indian arts festival that is accessed by — and is accessible to — the rich and poor alike. “The focus for us has always been taking art to the public,” said Brinda Miller, the event curator. “Almost all our workshops and events are free.”

The festival will feature 350 events, and organizers expect as many as 30,000 visitors. The program spans the entire cultural gamut, encompassing fine art, sculpture, dance, music, cinema, literature and theater.

This year, after a local resident complained about the noise generated by the event, the festival will be forced to be “soundless” — installations will focus instead on light, and some music and dance events will take place without microphones. Highlights include guided walks through the city’s biggest open-air laundromat and the enormous gothic-style Chhatrapati Shivaji train station, performances by the tabla master Ustad Fazal Qureshi and Bollywood singer Sonu Nigam, a textile installation by the popular designer Krsna Mehta, and screenings of alternative and mainstream films, both Indian and international - NYT.com

Madhya Pradesh | Incredible India Ad

The video comprises and showcases the art called Hand-Shadowgraphy, which is supposed to have generated during the age of Ramayana. The video displays various characters created by the use of hands, which were a part of the recent MP Tourism commercial.

Baajaa Gaajaa Fest | Indie Folk Music Fest of India

What: The annual music festival held by Indian classical musicians, singer Shubha Mudgal and tabla player Aneesh Pradhan & absolutely free to enter.

Where: Pune, Ishanya Mall, Yerawada.

When: Friday, February 4 to Sunday, February 6.

More info - http://baajaagaajaa.com/

SYNTHESIZING – TEN RAGAS TO A DISCO BEAT by Charanjit Singh

*Until recently it wasn’t much more than some rumours on the web: a 1982 released LP called TEN RAGAS TO A DISCO BEAT containing Kraftwerk-like acid house music, years before the genre was invented.

So it turns out, the record was no rumour. Only a few hundred copies of the LP were ever pressed, and only a handful seem to have survived. Moreover, the LP outdoes all expectations. Performed on the synths that would later define Acid House, the Roland TB-303 and TR-808, the album sounds light years ahead of its time with its repetitive beats and hypnotic electronic melodies. Its maker, Bollywood session musician Charanjit Singh, set out to translate ancient Indian classical Ragas to the modern synthesizer and in doing so seems to have invented House music along the way. The 10 tracks make a consistent listen from A to Z. Its restrained minimalism and lack of cheesiness makes it incredibly contemporary, sounding animated, fluid and unabashedly alive.

THE RAT RACE | Documentary

Ganesh pays homage to Mooshik the sacred rat before setting out with a torch and stick to kill 30 rodents every night. He reports to his boss, Behram Harda, who once dreamt of setting the silver screen ablaze with his boogying skills, but ended up maintaining records of the 2.8 million rats killed by his department over 35 years.

2000 young men compete in tests of speed, strength and accuracy to land one of the 30 job openings for night rat killers in India's commercial capital.
The Rat Race, winds its way through the grimy underbelly of Mumbai, through dimly lit alleys, crowded markets and overflowing garbage bins, to tell the story of the city's rat killers. Through their tales of love, sacrifice and survival one glimpses the human face of development, amidst the rough and tumble of a rapidly changing metropolis.

Rat Race won the documentary co-production challenge at Mipdoc Cannes 2010.

WORD FROM THE DIRECTOR:

Have been getting quite a few messages recommending a film that has been making waves in the festival circuit which finally released this Friday – Dhobi Ghat. Smitha Patil’s son Prateik debuts as protagonist `Munna’ a dhobi by day and a rat killer by night…

Dhobi Ghat has been on my movie radar even before I knew about its connection with rat killers. Kiran Rao is a friend and senior of mine from film school in Delhi. I remember hanging out with her and her roommates in their rented barsaati in Sukh Dev Vihar – shadow puppets dangling from the window screens and coloured patch work frames pasted on the walls. I didn’t realize then that one year later when Kiran and her friends moved out, I would make the very same barsaati my home and creative cocoon for the next 2 years!

Kiran’s final year film is probably the only one I remember among the dozens I have viewed in the preview theatre at MCRC. It revolved around a Bengali couple preparing a meal of mustard fish. The film stood out for its mellow approach and the ability to create drama from the mundane…This is the same quality that pervades Dhobi Ghat which is a quiet and meditative journey rather than a dramatic storyline, a film that you experience rather than view. Watching Dhobi Ghat gave me a sense of déjà vu because of the storyline that links characters with spaces to ultimately weave a vivid tapestry of the city of Mumbai, an approach I have been following consciously over the last 18 months to create a narrative for The Rat Race.

I was a little nervous that Prateik’s role as a rat killer would kill some of the novelty in my documentary. Prateik as Munna’ essays the most endearing role in the film, chasing his Bollywood dreams and his love interest while he juggles the jobs that earn him his livelihood. His scene as a rat killer is a turning point in the film but only as a dramatic detail. Phew! Am I glad…

The Rat Race truly proves that fact is often stranger than fiction. In a striking parallel to Dhobi Ghat, our protagonist 57 year old Behram Harda once dreamt of being a Bollywood dancer but he traded his boogeying skills for the security of a government job that entails counting the carcasses of dead rats every morning for the last 35 years. Watch our trailer and you will know why the audience at Cannes fell in love with his crackling energy, wit and humour. He is the reason that I decided I would make a documentary about rats even though I am terrified of rodents!

I am going to sign off in the words of Amir Khan in Dhobi Ghat “ To Mumbai – my muse, my whore, my beloved…” and also whisper under my breath “Back us up in our Rat Race to Cannes.” Amir Khan are you listening?!!

Check out the reward scheme for contributions to The Rat Race that have just gone up on the site. Thanks Paul, Debasis and Atin Bhai for vetting the legal terms and conditions.

Nature Morte | Thukral & Tagra

Thukral & Tagra

"Put it on, Again!"

Nature Morte
A-1 Neeti Bagh
New Delhi, India 110 049
T: 91 11 4174 0215
F: 91 11 2956 1596
info@naturemorte.com
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Thukral & Tagra: “Put It On, Again!”

Opening on January 29th, 2011; exhibition continues to February 26th at A1 Neeti Bagh, New Delhi.

Nature Morte is pleased to present a solo exhibition of the New Delhi artist duo Thukral & Tagra. The exhibition continues from their 2007 solo exhibition (“Put It On,” Bose Pacia, New York) with a body of work that addresses the themes of safe sex practices and increased sexual activity among Indian youth, against the backdrop of traditional perceptions of sexuality and the increased representation of sexualized bodies within the Indian media landscape. With their characteristic use of pop culture imagery, graphic pizzazz, seductive colors, sardonic wit and insightful juxtapositions, Thukral & Tagra will address deadly serious subjects through a humorous façade, employing paintings, consumer products and sculptural installations in the mix.

Jiten Thukral (born 1976, Jalandhar) and Sumir Tagra (born 1979, New Delhi) have been working collaboratively since 2002. Trained in both Fine Art and Design, their practice runs the range from paintings, sculptures and installations to product and interior design. This is their second solo exhibition with Nature Morte in New Delhi. Recent solo exhibitions of their works have been mounted at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing, the Arario Gallery in Seoul and the Singapore Tyler Print Institute (all 2010). Upcoming projects include a solo show at the Tokyo Gallery in Japan (April) and participation in a large-scale exhibition of Indian contemporary art at the Centre Pompidou in Paris (May). More information, images of previous works and their full bio-data can be found on our website at: http://www.naturemorte.com/artists/thukral-and-tagra.

Nature Morte is open Monday through Saturday, from 10am to 6pm, and closed on Sundays. For more information and press photographs please contact Geeta Bajaj at (011) 4174-0215.