If Hutch Comes Can Airtel be Far Behind

Hutch, the mobile network company, has a monsoon treat to offer us Kolkatans, and has successfully been offering us for the last couple of years. Yes, I mean Odeon, the theatre festival.  Those who like me want a week long rainy day, (or I would rather a rainy week) can of course get your tickets if you have the patience to go through a labyrinth of a three-fold sms system for the whereabouts. For the gigantic hoardings that wrap up the city with masked faces featured on them and sponsored by Hutch, only read ‘Odeon, the theatre festival is back’. At the foot you will find 123, a number with a very basic combination of digits that promises to offer more info. I thought I would come to know of it all - but alas! The first reply stated that ‘for the list of plays dial (a number), for schedule dial (another number), for venue dial (a third number). Charges per sms is rupees 3/-.’ However, the one my friend and I went for was not as much disappointing. In fact Sunil Shanbag is a potential director. His play Cotton 56 Polyester 84 tells a tale of the city of Mumbai, the centre of cotton textile mills, where migrants from the villages came and settled down for employment and witnessed the changing city and its culture. The play is a saga of the people of Girangaon in Mumbai. It’s about dignity in the face of human suffering, about celebration in spite of impoverishment. Sunil has also very intelligently made an extensive use of native folk music.
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Following Hutch’s example, Airtel, too, has taken its plunge, and who do you think would benefit from it? Well, it’s me and my friend.

The students of Kalabhavana , who have just finished their Masters Degree arranged for their annual show, Pratiti, at one of the city’s galleries called Samokal Art Gallery, comprising of paintings, sculptures, ceramics , new media, and prints. The show is an interesting example of how in the present decade students have developed diversified styles, nearly blurring out traces of a specific schooling, owing to the media and needless to say perhaps, globalization. Soumya Samanta, one of the participants uses collage, acrylic, textured motifs to create a fantastical world, where one encounters one eyed monsters and aliens, dressed in gowns and suits, indulge in a chat or are engrossed in other activities. A miniaturist tendency is latent in his works, although, at once Chirico and Dali come to mind.

Dhrupadi Ghosh

Prakash K. Jha despite his use of the traditional litho makes use of architectonic reliefs from the classical era, such as Ajanta. His intricate and rich effects deserve appraisal. Pradipto Debnath uses monochromatic photography on flex prints and digital images to capture the essence of architectural ruins. Flex prints are also used by Dhrupadi Ghosh, but with a marked difference. She exploits the lowly life of the subway culture using dialogues of the people belonging to these areas. With powerful drawings she records the public space as its interpretation changes with the day’s passing. “The public becomes the performer here”, says Dhrupadi. Her interpretation is dabbled with sarcasm and despite being a practitioner at Shantiniketan, she exhibits sensibilities that are conspicuously urban in nature, repertoire of her spending days with the people and their culture. She should have shown more of her work. Mohona Dutta and Umesh Shaw are conversant in spatial treatments. Among the others were Anamika Sing Roy, Arunima Sanyal,Deepak Raj Bhar, Sahadev Roy and Sisir Thapa. Kolkata expects to see more from them.

Artist Jogen Chowdhury will have his first curatorial work at the Aakriti Art Gallery in September and hence the gallery is busy going through the selection. The show will be featuring twenty young artists, some of who have already earned themselves a reputation.

Dear reader, I am not supposed to disclose this to you at such an early stage, but being a member of Khoj Kolkata (honestly, I don’t believe in name dropping!), I can’t help disclosing this to you: Khoj Kolkata will now collaborate with an NGO named Bal Vividha and help slum children work with big shots (I mean artists) for all five days in September. Bal Vividha has asked Khoj Kolkata for its assistance in negotiating artists and Khoj is not sleeping like a log any more (as we, members, have thought till last week). What is more is that, Khoj Kolkata will now be inviting projects from artists which the concern will sponsor independently.

Now for the cities new shows this month: a group exhibition titled ‘Swikriti’ at the Birla Academy featuring young contemporary artists Pappu Bardhan, Animesh Dutta, Subhra Kanti Mishra, Kaushik Kumar, Subhas Chandra nath and Gaurab Malakar.The show will be on till 5th August. Gallery Sanskriti will be showcasing artist Tapan Karmakar’s work till 2nd August. Gallery Aakriti  will be featuring a retrospective on Gobardhan Ash, celebrating his birth centenary from 21st July to 5th August and hopes to see you all at the preview (on 21st July, 6 pm, at 12/3A, Hungerford Street).