Media Awakening & Special Interests | मीडिया जागरण और विशेष रुचि

Tobias Megerle at Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, Bombay

2012-02-08T04:12:00.001-08:00

New works by Chittrovanu Mazumdar | Indian Contemporary Artists

2012-02-08T04:05:00.002-08:00

Unbox Festival 2012

2012-02-05T00:03:00.000-08:00

India Art Fair, Delhi 2012 | E-vites

2012-01-21T03:31:00.000-08:00

MASI selects the top 4 booths/shows to must visit at the India Art Fair

Watch this space for next top 5 show openings in our next post!

Palolem, Goa

2012-01-21T01:48:00.000-08:00

MASI travels to Palolem end of this month for a photo project and look what we found -- A beautiful video on Palolem, Goa.

Palolem from Phoric on Vimeo.

Kannagi Khanna | Emerging Contemporary Photographer

2012-01-20T02:33:00.000-08:00

Artist Statement

In these days of discord, disharmony, conflict and competition, finding affinity between two entities which are geographically far apart and no match to each other in respect of socio-economic or cultural semblance, is impossibility. But that is what this photo series did and went on to find the impossible - A small slum area in the heart of the posh new city of Ahmedabad called HOLLYWOOD. The actual name of the area is Gulbhaitekra but it has been popularly known as HOLLYWOOD for the last 4 decades for the reason that the women living here have a rustic beauty and glamour which is found to resemble that of Hollywood stars.

Delhi in a Day | Free Indie Film screening

2012-01-19T02:36:00.000-08:00

Delhi In A Day will be screened in Mumbai at the NCPA on Friday 20th 2012.

Free, entry on a first-come, first-served basis.

Trailer --

3d Projection on India Gate*

2012-01-17T02:56:00.000-08:00

*Ofcourse, sponsored by a German company (Volkswagen) "Think Blue" and supported by Incredible India!

It makes me angry that a German automaker gets to put their logos on such a monumental and important part of our history. While Indian artists who would probably never get a chance to install public art inside/around it.

I refuse to think blue.

Babelsberg Film Orchestra with A.R.Rahman | Live in Bombay 22nd January

2012-01-07T01:12:00.001-08:00

Rana Begum in Bombay

2011-12-15T13:29:00.001-08:00

India's Soul Surfing | EXCLUSIVE

2011-12-15T05:31:00.000-08:00

Surfing is an alien sport in Indian sub continent.
Our passion for surfing , Healing beaches with yogic practices, mystical waves of Indian ocean are the inspirations to unite surfers from around the globe in the 1st Indian Surf festival.
This epic event will be a pipeline to connect powers of sun healing with art of surfing to become a subtle tool of meditation which synchronize all of us with the cosmos.

Contact our travel partner-
info@grassroutesjourneys.com
+91 9437029698
skype: grassroutesjourneys

Nearest airport: Bhubaneswar- 70 Kms.
Nearest railway station: 15 Kms.
There are plenty of hotels and guest houses in town of Puri & Konark to suit every kind of budget. Limited camping facility available in Surfers Island.
Nearest International airport: Kolkatta: 375 Kms.
Temperature : warm/moderate around 20-25 degree

For more information contact
( Orissa )
Sanjay - 91-09437003284
surfingyogis@gmail.com

( Mumbai )
Spandan - 91-09819639336
banerjee.spandan@gmail.com

( Mumbai )
Kedar - 91-09702569316
sonigra.kedar@gmail.com

(Mumbai)
Sachin Salian 91-08655505506
sachinssalian@gmail.com

(USA)
Kaelean sizemore 949-275-7786 (pri)\ 949-498-3554 (sec)
alisokaelan@yahoo.com

Also check

http://surfingyogis.com/

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.233796133347936.57987.100001526545253&type=1&l=0691c59a17

Follow us on

http://facebook.com/surfingyogis

http://www.youtube.com/surfingyogis

Come.. allow your consciousness to expand and inner energy to liberate.

The Music Project : Zeb and Haniya via Tehelka

2011-12-14T06:01:00.000-08:00

Artist Tracy Moffatt

2011-12-13T12:23:00.001-08:00

Being Indira Gandhi.

Hema Upadhyay | STUDIO LA CITTA

2011-12-10T05:10:00.000-08:00

Studio la Città presents the one man show of the Indian artist Hema Upadhyay. With new works including a large installation and wall pieces.

10th December

Opening at 11:30 a.m.

source --

http://www.studiolacitta.it/English/#ajax4

The Untitled Kartik Krishnan Project | Enter Guerrilla Films

2011-12-10T03:30:00.000-08:00

'Your script is larger than logic!'

Interview with Mr. Vaas coming soon.....

Paris-Bombay | Chanel Fashion Show

2011-12-08T03:47:00.000-08:00

Image courtesy - dailymail.co.uk

Svara-Kanti | SOUTHBANK CENTRE, London

2011-12-08T00:12:00.000-08:00

Simon Thacker guitar
Sarvar Sabri tabla
Japjit Kaur vocal
Jyotsna Srikanth violin

Svara-Kanti is the latest Indian/Western supergroup from visionary guitar virtuoso Simon Thacker.

Four leading performers of Indian and Western music come together to present dazzling Indian classical traditions, Bollywood songs and evocative folk music, all reinterpreted with Western classical and jazz influences to create powerful and inspiring new sounds.

Svara-Kanti features award winning guitarist Simon Thacker, tabla maestro Sarvar Sabri, who has a musical lineage stretching back ten generations, Carnatic violinist Dr Jyotsna Srikanth, who has recorded over 200 Bollywood film soundtracks and is also a London Trinity College of Music Fellow, and the beautiful voice of Japjit Kaur.

Gandhi in Africa 1908-1909

2011-12-07T23:58:00.000-08:00

A room at the house where Mahatma Gandhi lived from 1908-1909 in the Norwood suburb of Johannesburg. Once known as The Kraal, The Satyagraha House has been turned into a seven-room room guest house and museum.

AFP PHOTO/PABALLO THEKISO

Innovational Talks | Inspirational Talks & Videos | Motivational Speakers - The INK Conference 2011

2011-12-07T04:43:00.000-08:00

http://inktalks.com
The first-ever INK (Innovation & Knowledge) Conference, in association with TED, ended on a high note on December 12, 2010, with a number of celebrity speakers, influential attendees and passionate young INK Fellows celebrating the power of great ideas and the importance of keeping meaningful conversations alive in today's fast-paced life.

VOGUE INDIA

2011-12-05T01:13:00.000-08:00

Film Noir from Conde Nast (India) on Vimeo.

VOCTRONICA | British Council

2011-12-02T05:35:00.000-08:00

EXPERIMENTA 2011 The International Festival for Moving Image Art in India

2011-11-28T04:55:00.001-08:00

THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ART, BENGALURU
& THE EXPERIMENTA FILM SOCIETY PRESENT

EXPERIMENTA 2011
The International Festival for Moving Image Art in India
November 30 – December 4, 2011

VENUES:
NGMA Bangalore, 7HS (Cook Town) and Jagaa Creative Common Ground

SUPPORTED BY:
KHOJ International Artists' Association, Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council, Anthology Film Archives, International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) & Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Center (CFMDC)

EXPERIMENTA, India’s only film festival celebrating artists’ film and video continues to play an integral role in showcasing uncompromising, fresh and compelling moving image art from across the world.

EXPERIMENTA will host a retrospective of the cinema of Adolfas Mekas, the father of the western avant garde independent film movement, presented by his wife and collaborator Pola Chapelle Mekas. The Artist in focus programmes will showcase the 16mm films of avant garde feminist filmmaker Joyce Wieland from Canada, and the fantastical works of Toronto-based German-Indian artist Oliver Husain. The competition programme presents a fresh selection of international films and videos. Indian Sonic Research Organisation (ISRO) from Bangalore, alongwith artists ANYMA & Marc Duseiller from Switzerland, will conduct an open workshop on DIY Musical Instruments & Hacking Electronics, and will perform live with electronic music toys, creating visuals with the Videobass, a bass guitar that plays images instead of sounds.

ENTRY FREE

For programmme details visit www.experimenta.in closer to the date

India Art Collective

2011-11-26T03:09:00.000-08:00

The online fair begins on November 19th, 2011.

Art of Collecting Art from Burgundy Art Pvt. Ltd. on Vimeo.

Morning Show | at W+K Gallery, Delhi

2011-11-22T22:27:00.000-08:00

Morning Show is an exhibition of Indian adult movie posters.

Traditional Bollywood posters have become cult design objects and are collected the world over. But there is a particular type of movie poster that is largely ignored and has an aesthetic of its own: adult movie posters. With a visual language that is at times daring, at times naïf, these posters echo the kitsch imagery of Indian movie posters – but they also represent sex, a subject that is particularly taboo in India despite its many religious manifestations.

An underground, thriving design form, adult movie posters address Indian culture's forbidden fantasies, bringing them to life through often bizarre titles and explicit visuals.

And while in the rest of the world Internet porn has killed adult movie cinema, in India it is still common to see groups of school students and men in shiny collar shirts and white suit-pants nonchalantly emerging from adult-only morning shows. In many cases, this represents the only form of eroticism in a situation where the joint family system makes a private life impossible.

Source -

http://www.wkexp.com/morningshow.htm#15

Why This Kolaveri Di

2011-11-21T00:18:00.000-08:00

thanks Vidha Saumya for sharing this!
MASI loves it.

NH7 Weekender | 2011

2011-11-09T01:27:00.000-08:00

The epic indie music weekend is back in Pune - better, bigger and brighter! Here is a song devoted to the fest done by Sidd Coutto A genuine voice and lyrics that has touched MASI's heart.

See you at Nh7 at MASI's tent!

Book your tickets here -- http://nh7.in/weekender/tickets/

This Circle Is Mine (Short)

2011-11-02T04:30:00.000-07:00

'This Circle is Mine' is a short documentation of a day in the life of Krishnadas, a man who stands everyday for hours on end at Juhu Circle in Mumbai with a sign that says 'Apne dharm par chalo, sabse prem karo (Follow your religion, love everybody)'. The film documents various aspects of his day, the opinions of his admirers, detractors and people who work around the crowded junction of Juhu circle.

The film was screened at the 13th Mumbai Film Festival, 2011 in the Dimensions Mumbai category where it received special mention at the awards ceremony.

Flash Med Mob Debuts in Bombay

2011-10-29T02:46:00.000-07:00

Flash mobs are illegal in India but what if its about creating peace and spiritual awareness? The Med Mob is a popular b that has travelled all over the world from Manchester to Austin and now will make its South Asia debut in Bombay. All you have to do is join the Med Mob and meditate amidst the bustling traffic at Nariman point and if you are into mantras and chants you could well do that in memory of the lives lost during 26/11 and the very recent Zaveri bazaar attacks.

Venue -- opposite Oberoi Hotel

When-- Saturday 29, 2011 5pm

Contact -- Abhishek -- 9819414949, 9167200326

THE DEWARISTS | First Look

2011-10-23T22:12:00.000-07:00

Mithu Sen | In Transit

2011-08-02T09:36:00.000-07:00

The Indian contemporary artist Mithu Sen talks about her inspirations, the making-of process and the shift in her artwork creations. Her work is strong and impactful. She uses images of moving objects, uprooted trees and plants, suitcases and luggage as metaphors for these journeys and migrations. Her work conveys both the apprehension that we may all feel when venturing into the unknown, but at the same time reveal the artist's inner strength and determined resolve.

Terra Masala | Udu Artist

2011-07-28T02:48:00.000-07:00

For more Terra Masala's music -- http://soundcloud.com/terramasala

To help Cheb I Sabbah -- http://chebisabbah.org/

SLUTWALK | coming soon to Bombay

2011-07-23T15:02:00.000-07:00

After Delhi, its time for Bombay to show support for the 'SLUTWALK' checkout the video & HOLLA BACK! Its time for Bombay. Its time for India.

The official video of SlutWalk Delhi 2011 is an approach of conveying our demands to the society. For we believe that the system along with the people of India need a revelation and to do that we are presenting you a message. A message to inspire you. Greater is the sin of not speaking when a woman is being raped than that of raping her. How many times must we mind our own business when a woman is being harassed? Would we expect the same when it happens to our beloved ones? This video will answer all your questions. Also, it is not to propagate or advertise short clothes. A woman fully dressed in a salwar-kameez is as likely to get raped as the one in a mini-skirt. Stop and think. She needs your help because she is tired of being suppressed, tired of all that is unjust. So wake up. Indians the time is now. Speak, do.

Connect with Slutwalk on facebook - https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_165762856819801&ap=1

More support -- http://mumbai.ihollaback.org/

Khoya Khoya Chand | Suman Sridhar

2011-07-21T09:17:00.000-07:00

Photo - Shiv Ahuja

The song that MASI was eagerly waiting to be released in the public domain is finally out! A timeless classic gets revamped and re-jazzed as 'The Bartender' album serves 'Khoya Khoya Chand' from Shaitan -- shaken, not stirred! The remix version of Mikey McCleary's Khoya khoya Chand in Shaitan was sung by Suman Shridhar.

Susheela Raman

2011-07-20T01:01:00.000-07:00

Susheela Raman is a critically acclaimed British Tamil singer, songwriter and composer. Watch the songstress speak about her musical journey.

THERE IS SOMETHING IN THE AIR.....

2011-06-30T03:38:00.000-07:00

THERE IS SOMETHING IN THE AIR is a short film about many things – about longing and transgression, and fairies and djinns, to list a few. The mode of investigation is personal, and expression is non-ethnographic. The film blends documentary and fiction tropes to weave a narrative that is based on ‘hearsay’. There are no experts here, and no eyewitnesses. The narrators could also be unreliable.

The film begins with a psychiatric clinic, but the drama largely takes place in dream-scapes, and at a medieval Sufi shrine in Badayun (Uttar Pradesh, north India). It brings together accounts of women who claim to be ‘afflicted’ by something in the air – be it a spirit, demon, ghost, or djinn. In popular parlance, the condition is termed ‘hawai marz’ or ‘affliction of air’, while ‘hawa lag jana’ implies ‘a vagrant influence’… the documentary lies at the confluence of such influences and strange afflictions of air.

There Is Something In The Air, while being a film about women, who claim to be spiritually possessed, who would possibly be clinically mentally ill, is not a description of ‘insanity’… in fact it is a film that aims to make one think of the ‘possibilities’ of insanity… what does insanity allow?

The documentary escapes the biographical; it stars Muslim women, without labeling them so. It brings together accounts of insane, lunatic, mad, unapologetic women – who perhaps have ‘chosen’ to be so. Insanity can be acquired. One only needs to long enough… Longing for something, someplace that is evasive. The film is about women who want to bridge the distance between what is lived and what is desired, between what is experienced and what is longed for. The film searches for a language of this ‘longing’.

The shrine assumes the role of a hospital and a court of law. ‘Patient – petitioners’ come from all over the country and each ‘case’ is heard in the dead Saint’s ‘Court’ – twice a day. Sometimes it takes years before a patient is healed – if at all. The process begins with patients writing a ‘petition’ with the help of care-takers of the shrine, and putting in an ‘appearance’ before the Saint. The ‘patient – petitioners’ live in and around the shrine, making ‘appearances’ in the Court of the Saint everyday. They don’t need lawyers, witnesses or a body of proof. The truth claim of their speech-act under possession is unquestioned.

The film should not be read as a documentation of processes of alternate healing at a non- Wahabi, Sufi shrine in South Asia because there are no ‘native informants’ here. The film does not provide direct answers, illustrations, or explanations. It functions in the realm of fantasy, and poses questions to the ‘real’. This documentary is not a mere illustration of a cause-effect relationship between the pedagogic project of religion and the freedoms of transgressions through insanity. It looks at the ‘state of madness’ through other prisms besides those of health, women’s rights, affirmative action etc. It takes into account love, longing, desire, agency, and negotiation.

Source: http://tisita.wordpress.com/

BOLLYWOOD POSTERS | A dead art form

2011-06-30T00:47:00.000-07:00

Bollywood previously employed over three hundred local artists to paint temporary art for the cinema. Now only one remains. Here is their story.

WALLPAPER* Magazine | India Edition

2011-06-29T09:52:00.000-07:00

Wallpaper* magazine shifted HQ to Mumbai and Delhi with one goal: to produce as true a portrait as possible of the most eye-popping, synapse-snapping, pulse-pushing place on the planet.

Checkout behind the scenes of the photo shoot by contemporary photographer - Bharat Sikka.

In Plato's Cave | Alternative Photography Workshop, Delhi

2011-06-22T02:26:00.000-07:00

A project collaboration of Goa-CAP and Lucida, curated by Vidisha Saini.

In Plato’s Cave is a week-long confluence of ideas on photography, engaging the participants in dialogue and debate through workshops, seminars and exhibitions. The focus of this edition is to revive and revisit practice of alternative processes of photography, in India.

Week-long workshops that are a combination of photography using the camera as well as camera-less techniques. Talks, presentations and other activities around history of photography and contemporary practices are planned.

Download Event Schedule: http://bit.ly/events_ipc

OUT OF PRINT | Indie Webzine

2011-06-21T04:16:00.001-07:00

Out of Print is an online platform for writers of short fiction with a connection to the Indian subcontinent. The traditions of story-telling layer their collective contemporary voice. If you would like to share your stories visit -- http://outofprintmagazine.co.in

Paris-Delhi-Bombay | Contemporary Indian Art at Centre Pompidou

2011-06-06T11:54:00.001-07:00

Paris-Delhi-Bombay is an exciting show on contemporary India, up at the Centre Pompidou in Paris until September 19th. The exhibition explores contemporary India through the eyes of both Indian and French artists.

Paris - Delhi - Bombay... by centrepompidou

POOL | Indie Indi Design Magazine

2011-06-03T05:01:00.000-07:00

POOL is India's monthly design magazine which aims to inspire via innovative approaches in never-seen-before Design/Innovation/Creative features.

Get access to Pool's first Anniversary Issue here!

Hand Painted Type | Indian Typography Project

2011-06-02T05:03:00.000-07:00

Painter Kureshi from hanif kureshi on Vimeo.

HandpaintedType is a project that is dedicated to preserving the typographic practice of street painters around India. These painters, with the advent of local DTP (Desktop Publishers) shops, are rapidly going out of business with many of them switching to the quicker, cheaper but uglier vinyls. Many painters have given up their practice altogether.

The project involves documenting the typefaces of road side painters across India and digitizing it so that it serves as a resource for present and future generations.

HandpaintedType is a collaborative project. If you’d like to contribute or collaborate, please get in touch.

Videokaaran | Indie Movie

2011-06-01T05:05:00.000-07:00

Videokaaran ( 73 mins )

Dir- Jagannathan Krishnan
Edit- Pallavi Singhal
Sound- Jayadevan Chakkadath

Cinema can help you better your life, film stars can give you moral
and spiritual messages that can uplift you. Sagai believes this. Sagai
is a film buff and his idol is South Indian Superstar Rajnikanth.
He grew up watching films in a semi legal video parlor in the mumbai
slums. When he came of age he started working in the same place as did
his father before him. The video theatre no longer exists. In a
charming, eloquent and often politically incorrect street speak, he
shares the story of his video theatre alongside his trip with films.

Vandalrt | Now Delhi

2011-05-29T01:41:00.000-07:00

A website that MASI recently discovered called 'now delhi' shares emerging sub-culture, in and around the capital city - Delhi! They call themselves a video time capsule, future memories in high definition and a screenshot of emerging Indian sub-culture AND its default CANVAS! The website aims to bring and experiment with artists and audiences alike but in a blind date format!

Perhaps, MASI should take credit for awakening of sub-cultures of not just one single city but several other Indian sub-cultures from cities & villages across India? :)

Here is one such story of an emerging sub-culture from Dilli!

Vandalrt from tahska on Vimeo.

Livithian | Sculpture by Anish Kapoor

2011-05-11T04:20:00.000-07:00

Livithian, a giant art structure by British artist Anish Kapoor, is unveiled in Paris' Grand Palais ahead of an exhibition which opens next Wednesday.

Bombay Slum Golf | ESPN E:60

2011-05-06T03:00:00.000-07:00

Mumbai Golf - ESPN E:60 from Evolve IMG Films Ltd. on Vimeo.

An ESPN E:60 short TV doc on Golf in India. Produced by Yaron Deskalo, ESPN. Filmed & Edited by Evolve Digital Cinema.

Caddies from an upscale golf club in Mumbai, India, created a version of the game using handmade equipment and a course that winds through the streets and slums.

Pink Saris | Indie Documentary

2011-05-04T07:02:00.000-07:00

Sampat Pal, an illiterate, low-caste woman, set up the Gulabi Gang because of all the injustice and helplessness she’d experienced in her life. When 12, she was sent to a remote village to marry and was bullied by her in-laws. She rebelled against the stringent village rules and ended up on the streets with five young children.

Setting up the Gulabi Gang was her act of inspired desperation. Hundreds of women, all dressed in bright fuchsia saris, would gather to make a corrupt policeman enforce the law or to challenge a violent husband. Sampat, the ‘Commander in Chief’ of this group, is now famous throughout Uttar Pradesh. She doesn’t need to summon the Gulabi Gang anymore, she can often use her own notoriety to get results. In fact, Sampat is moving on to another stage in her life. Her struggles are now about what she will become.

At the heart of ‘Pink Saris’ are the four young women who we meet when they come to Sampat for help. They are all at a great crisis in their lives and see Sampat as their last hope. We watch their stories unfold; we know they are stories which are being played out countless times across India.

KARMA IS A BITCH | song from Shor in the City

2011-05-04T01:32:00.000-07:00

India Against Corruption

2011-04-08T03:37:00.000-07:00

Join the revolution via Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/IndiACor

Please give a missed call on +912261550789 and join the India Against Corruption movement with Anna Hazare. We need at least 25 lakh missed calls. Please forward.

Do you have evidence on corruption?

Kindly write to us at indiaagainstcorruption.2010@gmail.com or info@indiaagainstcorruption.org

You can also call us on 09971900424

Follow us on http://twitter.com/indiacor

Youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/indiACor2010

Video channel: http://234511.myvideotalkstudio.com/streaming/pages

Vote for India: http://voteforindia.org

India Against Corruption is a citizen's movement to demand strong anti-corruption law. To register give a missed call to 02261550789. Join in your own city indiaagainstcorruption.org/citycontacts.php

Series of scams involving politicians and bureaucrats, generals are accused of appropriating apartment spaces intended for war widows or when judges are accused of stealing from the provident funds of class IV employees or when academic regulators are arrested for graft, decorated industrialists steal thousands of crores from investors or when Cabinet ministers and civil servants in cahoots are accused of stealing tens or even hundreds of thousands of crores from the exchequer in the name of sports or telecom

India Against Corruption is a movement of several concerned citizens of India who have come together to demand comprehensive reforms of anti-corruption systems in India and to put an end to the dark corridors of power.

At India Against Corruption we are initiating movement to bring in the much needed reforms and to empower the citizens of India with the power of RTI.

IAC is a part of a nation-wide campaign spearheaded by Baba Ramdev, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Anna Hazare, Swami Agnivesh, Kiran Bedi, Arvind Kejriwal, Justice Tewatia, Sunita Godhra, Arch Bishop Vincent M Concessao, Devendra Sharma, Anna Hazare, Maulana Mufti Shamoom Kashmi, Maulana Kalve Rizhvi and Subhash Chandra Aggarwal and many other prominent personalities.

For more information go to
http://www.scribd.com/doc/51595656/A-Long-Note-With-an-FAQ-on-Jan-Lokpal-Bill

http://www.scribd.com/doc/51595343/Stopping-Rampant-Corruption-in-India-Edited

http://www.scribd.com/doc/51595540/Stopping-Corruption-Making-Sticks-Effective-and-Not-Paralytic

http://www.scribd.com/doc/51595608/Stopping-Rampant-Corruption-The-Carrot-Question

http://indiaagainstcorruption.org/

MPKK (Midival Punditz & Karsh Kale) ft. Shekhar Kapoor | Indie Indian Electronica

2011-04-06T07:10:00.000-07:00

The coolest bunch of Indian Electronica artists and perhaps the pioneers... are back with a fresh new album with downtempo & symphony orchestra-like grand beats in collaboration with one of the finest filmmaker Shekhar Kapoor. MASI brings this to you first and exclusive preview of their first track from their new album!

http://soundcloud.com/midivalpunditz/today-mkkksk/s-jCyiM

Jitish Kallat's Public Notice 2 | Kennedy Center

2011-04-06T03:39:00.000-07:00

Kennedy Center interviews Kallat about his installation of 'Public Notice 2' which recalls the historic speech delivered by Mahatma Gandhi on the eve of the epic Salt March to Dandi in early 1930 as a protest against the salt tax instituted by the British through some 4,500 bone-shaped letters.

On display March 1-20, 2011, at The Kennedy Center, during the "Maximum India" Festival

SHOR IN THE CITY | First Look

2011-03-26T00:27:00.000-07:00

This gritty, grounded film revolves around three loosely interconnected stories set in the midst of the noise and grime of Mumbai. In the overcrowded urban landscape that forms the backdrop of this film, the right and wrong are blurred, giving way to the more basic need to survive and succeed.

Stations of a Pause | Jitish Kallat | March 22nd, 2011

2011-03-22T01:12:00.000-07:00

Jitish Kallat
Stations of a Pause
March 22 - May 10, 2011

After a gap of over three years since his last solo in Mumbai, Jitish Kallat will open a show at Chemould Prescott Road from 22nd March to 10th May 2011.

"Jitish Kallat’s new solo showcases the full range of his artistic practice; addressing the core themes of sustenance, survival and mortality in the contemporary urban environment, the show incorporates photography and large format paintings", says Shireen Gandhy of Chemould Prescott Road.

One of the key sections of the show at Chemould Prescott Road addresses a very personal story. Kallat’s 750-part photographic work, titled "Epilogue", tracing, his father's life through all the moons he saw from the day he was born on 2nd April 1936 to the day of his death on 2nd Dec 1998. Measuring his father's lifespan with the approximately 22,000 moons that he saw in the 63 years of his life; every moon is replaced with the image of a waxing or waning meal, marking the cycle of life itself as periodical rotations of fullness and emptiness.

Also part of the exhibition will be a new series of paintings, titled, Untitled (Stations of a Pause). A continued series of large scale paintings representing candid imagery of the ubiquitous Bombayite.

'Public Notice 2' at Kennedy Center| Jitish Kallat

2011-03-09T02:10:00.000-08:00

Indian Contemporary Artist Jitish Kallat's "Public Notice 2" uses bone-shaped letters to depict a Mahatma Ghandi speech and is displayed in the Hall of Nations as part of the Kennedy Center's "Maximum India" exhibit in Washington, Wednesday, March 2, 2011.

Exclusive Pictures for MASI

INDIAN HIGHWAY IV | Lyon, France

2011-03-09T01:20:00.000-08:00

Indian Highway IV

at

MAC LYON

February 24 to July 31, 2011

In the form of a road movie across 3 continents (Europe, South America, Asia), each stage along the Indian Highway is the occasion for a totally new episode. After London, Oslo and Herning, Lyon staged the fourth episode on 2000 m2, the exhibition presents a panorama of contemporary art in India and more than 30 artists.

Artists - Ayisha Abraham, Ravi Agarwal, Sarnath Banerjee, Hemali Bhuta, Nikhil Chopra, Desire Machine Collective, Sheela Gowda, Sakshi Gupta, Shilpa Gupta, Subodh Gupta, N.S. Harsha, Abhishek Hazra, Shanay Jhaveri, Jitish Kallat, Amar Kanwar, Bharti Kher, Bose Krishnamachari, Nalini Malani, Jagannath Panda, Prajakta Potnis, Raqs Media Collective (avec Debkamal Ganguly, Ruchir Joshi, M. R. Rajan, Priya Sen, Surabhi Sharma (avec la collaboration de Gautam Singh), Kavita Pai / Hansa Thapliyal et Vipin Vijay pour Steps Away from Oblivion), Tejal Shah, Valay Shende, Sudarshan Shetty, Dayanita Singh, Sumakshi Singh, Studio Mumbai Architects & Michael Anastassiades, Kiran Subbaiah, Ashok Sukumaran & Shaina Anand, Thukral & Tagra, Hema Upadhyay

Curators: Julia Peyton-Jones, Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Gunnar B. Kvaran, Thierry Raspail.

Raghu Rai | Magnum Photographer

2011-03-08T23:19:00.000-08:00

A JOURNEY OF A MOMENT IN TIME

a slide show and an Interactive Session with Raghu Rai

on 9th March 2011

Opening of the exhibition after the

Interactive Session at 5.30 pm at Dr. M. S. Randhawa Auditorium

Punjab Arts Council, Sector 16, Chandigarh

Exhibition open daily from 10 to 13 March Between 11 am and 7 pm

Raghu Rai was born in the Punjab in 1942, qualified as civil engineer, started photography at the age of 23 in 1965. He has been at the fore front of photography in India for more than forty years. He joined The Statesman newspaper as their chief photographer (1966 to 1976), and was then Picture Editor with Sunday—a weekly news magazine published from Calcutta (1977 to 1980).

In 1971, impressed by Rai’s exhibition at Gallery Delpire, Paris, the legendary photographer Henri Cartier Bresson nominated him to Magnum Photos, the world’s most prestigious photographer’s cooperative. Rai took over as Picture Editor-Visualiser-Photographer of India Today, India’s leading news magazine in its formative years from 1982.

He worked on special issues and designs, contributing trailblazing picture essays on social, political and cultural themes of the decade (1982 to 1991) which became the talking point of the magazine.

He was awarded the ‘Padmashree’ in 1971, In 1992 he was awarded “Photographer of the Year” in the United States for the story “Human Management of Wildlife in India” published in National Geographic. Recently he has been conferred the award of Officier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government.His photo essays have appeared in many of the world’s leading magazines and newspapers - including Time, Life, GEO, The New York Times, Sunday Times, Newsweek, Vogue, GQ, D magazine, Marie Claire, The Independent and the New Yorker.

He has been an adjudicator for World Press Photo Contest, Amsterdam and UNESCO’s International Photo Contest for many times. He has done extensive work on the photo documentation of 1984 Bhopal Gas Tragedy and its continuing effects on the lives of gas victims under a special assignment from Greenpeace International. This documentation was compiled into a book with 3 sets of exhibitions traveling in Europe, America, Australia, India and South East Asia from 2002 to 2005, which created greater awareness about the tragedy and bringing relief to many survivors. A special exhibition and picture book was created on India and Mexico in year 2002 in which his work was published along with two renowned photographers Graciela Iturbide (Mexico) and Sebastiao Salagado (France). His works have been published in major books done by Magnum Photos including Exhibitions.

In the last thirty five years, Rai has specialized in extensive coverage of India and has produced more than 30 books including Raghu Rai’s India – Reflections in Colour and Reflections in BW, The Indians – Portraits from Album,Varanasi – Portrait of a civilization, Bombay / Mumbai, and Calcutta / Kolkata.

Also read an essay by writer Siddharth Dhanvant Sanghvi

ART DUBAI | March 16 - 19, 2011

2011-03-04T01:14:00.000-08:00

EXHIBITING ARTIST Rashid Rana

ARTISTS REPRESENTED BY GALLERY Minam Apang, Ashish Avikunthak, Nikhil Chopra, Sophie Ernst, Shumona Goel, Kabir Mohanty, Kaushik Mukhopadhyay, Hitesh Natalwala, Aditya Pande, Hetain Patel, Rajesh Pullarwar, Rashid Rana, Sadanand Shirke, Kiran Subbaiah, Nityan Unnikrishnan

Rashid Rana,

Yellwo Flowers, 2007,

UV inkjet print on aluminium, 30x45x30cm,

Edition of 5

Reena Kallat | Labyrinth of Absences

2011-03-03T04:26:00.000-08:00

Reena Saini Kallat: “Labyrinth of Absences”
Opening on Tuesday, March 8th from 6 to 8 pm.
The exhibition continues to Saturday, March 26th

PRESS RELEASE

Reena Saini Kallat: “Labyrinth of Absences”
Opening on Tuesday, March 8th from 6 to 8 pm.
The exhibition continues to Saturday, March 26th

Nature Morte is pleased to present a solo exhibition of new works by Reena Saini Kallat, entitled “Labyrinth of Absences”, after a gap of six years since her last solo at the gallery.

Reena Kallat’s practice spans painting, photography, video, sculpture and installation, often incorporating multiple mediums into a single work. She frequently works with officially recorded or registered names of people, objects, and monuments that are lost or have disappeared without a trace, only to get listed as forgotten statistics. One of the recurrent motifs in her work is the rubber stamp, used both as an object and an imprint, signifying the bureaucratic apparatus which both confirms and obscures identities.

Among the works in the exhibition will be a set of new paintings that depict monument sites in Delhi. The surface of the paintings are marked with addresses of monuments listed as protected sites under the Archeological Survey of India, that have either disappeared or have been declared lost, swallowed up by the rapidly expanding urban fabric. The works on paper are constructed from the names of people who have been denied visas on the basis of class, nationality or religion. In most cases, her images are fractured and deconstructed, creating maze-like maps - or as in the case of Synonym, a series of portraits crafted as mosaics of rubber-stamps, holding the names of people who are officially registered as missing - appear pixelated and fragmented. Other works in the show include Crease/Crevice/Contour, a set of ten large-scale photographs tracing the fluctuating Line Of Control between India and Pakistan from October 1947 to December 1948.

Two video works will also be exhibited: Silt of Seasons-I, projects the names of people who have signed the peace petition in 2004. The names are projected on to sand and are gradually blown away, suggestive of the vulnerability of the peace process itself. In Preface, the artist projects the text of the Preamble of the Constitution of India translated into Braille on to the surface of a large, opened book.

'Maximum India' | at Kennedy Center

2011-03-02T05:48:00.000-08:00

Sights, sounds and scents of India at Kennedy Center

Before the opening of the three-week Indian festival, the curator, designer and executive chef of Maximum India describe what can be seen and eaten at the Kennedy Center. (Madeline Marshall/The Washington Post)

March 1-20, 2011
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
India is home to a million art forms, both traditional and modern. maximum India brings you perhaps not a million, but many wonderful and unusual aspects of the country's diverse arts and culture, from folkloric to classical and contemporary. It will surprise and delight you with dance, music, and theater performed by India's most acclaimed artists. Film selections from the world's most robust movie industry, featuring both indie and Bollywood films; prize-winning authors reading, debating, conversing, and sharing their insights; exhibitions that astonish and confront; incredible and unimaginable crafts from exquisite collections; jewels that dazzle from the princely era of the Mughals and Maharajas. And, to top it all, feasts of Indian food for the entire three-week period of the festival, prepared by 12 world-class, award-winning Indian chefs, representing all regions of the country.

India Perspectives | Free Webzine on Indian Contemporary Arts

2011-02-22T04:08:00.000-08:00

India Perspectives is a very rich and informative magazine published in 17 languages by the Ministry of External Affairs combining the best of culture and tradition of India. We devote this special issue of India Perspectives to an exploration of India’s contemporary art landscape. It has come about through a wonderful collaboration that we established with Delhi’s famed National Gallery of Modern Art

Open publication - Free publishing

Unbox Festival | Feb 24-27, 2011, Delhi

2011-02-21T02:36:00.000-08:00

Conference + Fellowship +Public Events + Partner Festivals
UnBox creates a space for practitioners to learn from one another and spark new forms of social and cultural innovation. The festival blends work and play across contexts and mediums, bringing attendees together for lectures, panels, workshops, debates, brainstorms, and travel. The festival experience is designed to be completed and inspired by access to four parallel cultural festivals in the evenings and nights from 24-27 February 2011.

Prior to the festival, selected UnBox Fellows will participate in an immersive, intense, and multi-disciplinary field trip. We seek fellows for sessions on design thinking and entrepreneurship in India, organic food in India, Old Delhi through new media, and livelihoods in Kumaon.

More info on - http://unboxfestival.com/home/

DUM MARO DUM | First Look

2011-02-17T23:51:00.000-08:00

Geeta Kapur & Vivan Sundaram | India's First Art Archive

2011-02-17T22:45:00.001-08:00

AAA Symposium-

The Subject of Archives

10am – 6pm, Saturday 26 February 2011
School of Arts and Aesthetics Auditorium, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

Asia Art Archive presents 'The Subject of Archives', a one-day symposium hosted by the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on 26 February 2011 at the School of Arts and Aesthetics Auditorium, JNU, New Delhi. This symposium is occasioned by the launch of 'Another Life: The Digitised Personal Archive of Geeta Kapur and Vivan Sundaram', the newly digitised personal archive of art critic and curator Geeta Kapur and contemporary art practitioner Vivan Sundaram.


When:	Saturday 26 February 2011, 10am – 6pm
Where:	School of Arts and Aesthetics Auditorium, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
Language:	English

The first art archive in India to be digitised by AAA, the project brings to the public the broad range of material collected by Kapur and Sundaram since the 1950s. Originally established as a personal archive, the collection not only documents the artwork and writings produced and published thus far during Kapur and Sundaram’s prolific careers, but also documents events in India’s art community over the last 50 years, and includes exhibition catalogues, newspaper clippings, and artists' slides, some of which are entering the public domain for the first time. The symposium will reflect on a growing interest in the subject of archives around the world, coupled with an escalating anxiety about the custodianship of memory. Through presentations by internationally and regionally respected scholars and opportunities for open dialogue, The Subject of Archives will create a platform for the ongoing discussions that surround issues of archiving today, particularly with regard to India. The symposium will begin with introductory remarks by Claire Hsu, AAA Executive Director, followed by presentations from the following guest speakers: Sven Spieker, Professor, Comparative Literature Program, University of California, Santa Barbara; Ashish Rajadhyaksha, Senior Fellow, Centre for the Study of Culture and Society, Bangalore; Parvez Kabir, Lecturer, Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan, India among others. In addition, Vivan Sundaram will discuss his preoccupation with archives as an artist, and Sabih Ahmad, AAA Researcher for India, will discuss the digitisation process and share selected material from the project. Programme Schedule 10:30am Welcome + AAA Introduction Welcome address by School of Arts and Aesthetics Auditorium, Jawaharlal Nehru University Introduction to Asia Art Archive by Claire Hsu, Executive Director, Asia Art Archive 11:00am Session I Speakers: Professor Sven Spieker, Professor, Comparative Literature Program, University of California, Santa Barbara Ashok Sukumaran, Artist, CAMP and Pad.ma Discussant: Jeebesh Bagchi, Artist, Raqs Media Collective 01:30pm Session II Speakers: Ashish Rajadhyaksha, Senior Fellow, Centre for the Study of Culture and Society, Bangalore Parvez Kabir, Lecturer, Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan Discussant: Geeta Kapur, Art Critic/Curator 03:30pm Session III Speakers: Vivan Sundaram, Artist Sabih Ahmad, Researcher for India, Asia Art Archive Special thanks to the School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Anupam Poddar and Lekha Poddar, Devi Art Foundation.

Gandu | Indie Film

2011-02-17T10:26:00.000-08:00

//Viewers Discretion Advised//

To Conquer Her Land | by Poulomi Basu

2011-02-16T04:16:00.000-08:00

In September 2009, India’s first women soldiers were deployed at the India-Pakistan border in Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir. Poulomi Basu followed these women, from different parts of the country, castes, and backgrounds, during their last days at home to the barracks, through training camp to active duty.

Stationed on a critical border, they try to come to terms with their new responsibilities while patrolling barren lands. This transformation is intense; it is impossible to recreate or restore what they’ve left behind. Theirs is a country so vast that all lines seem to disappear, yet contains a deathly silence so white, haunting, and exact that it can create peace even in a land on the brink of war.

More women in India are in the army than ever before. Yet most of them are painfully alone, as they make up less than 1 percent of the country’s 1.2 million-strong armed forces.

Military culture, which can be intimidating, has not been particularly tailor-made for women. The Indian woman in the army is not only battling against the enemy, but also against a largely patriarchal society. Most of the women Basu photographed joined the forces to fight their present state of affairs as well as to find an escape from their dire rural livelihood.

In “To Conquer Her Land,” Basu tried to humanize these complex yet intricate issues of poverty, conflict, psychological warfare, caste, youth, gender, love, peace, the concept of home, an undefined idea of patriotism, strength of mind, and a level of stress previously unknown to them. She says, "I have barely started my journey documenting the human impact of what an uncertain political, economic, and social situation can evoke."

Poulomi Basu is a freelance photographer born in India. She completed her Masters in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the London College of Communication in 2009 with a Distinction. Her work can be seen in The Sunday Times Magazine, Elle, andInternational Herald Tribune, among other publications. She was a selected Magenta Flash Forward Emerging Photographers 2010 winner. She currently lives and works between London and Mumbai.

Source: http://www.guernicamag.com/

BHARAT SIKKA | Matter

2011-02-16T03:39:00.001-08:00

OPENS 24th FEB, 2011

Nature Morte, Delhi

TEDx returns to Bombay | Event Details

2011-02-16T00:55:00.000-08:00

TED is an annual event where some of the world’s leading thinkers and doers are invited to share what they are most passionate about. “TED” stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design — three broad subject areas that are, collectively, shaping our future. And in fact, the event is broader still, showcasing ideas that matter in any discipline across all mediums. Attendees have called it “the ultimate brain spa” and “a four-day journey into the future.” The diverse audience — CEOs, scientists, creatives, philanthropists — is almost as extraordinary as the speakers, who have included Bill Clinton, Bill Gates, Al Gore, Jane Gooall, Frank Gehry, Paul Simon, Sir Richard Branson, Philippe Starck, Bono, Nandan Nelikani, Shekhar Kapur, Srivatsa Krishna, Harsha Bhogale, C.K.Prahalad, and Shashi Tharoor.

“Youth@Young Leaders of Tomorrow” which no surprise, will celebrate young people and feature a lot of old people talking about what young people ought to do, or as the organisers put it “create a platform for current day leaders from diverse fields to engage with the next generation to collaborate and promote an exchange of ideas”. The speaker list includes such middle-aged folk as chef Rahul Akerkar, media maven Suhel Seth, UTV head Ronnie Screwvala, Times Now editor Arnab Goswami and US Consul General Paul Folmsbee with just one or two token under 30s, like writer Fatima Bhutto, who along with WPP head Martin Sorrell, will speak via pre-recorded video clips. And like the first TEDx in our city, there will be an application process for the audience, who have to fill in this form and describe their career goals in under 100 words if they want to nab one of 200 spots.

BAWA BROADCASTING | Parsi Ad Agency

2011-02-10T21:53:00.000-08:00

Back in the 90's MTV was way cooler than it is now. MASI's brings back some of that nostalgia... check out the selection of some teasers that were produced by MTV India promotion created by Cyrus Oshidar from Bawa Broadcasting.

MAHESH G's 'How to become cool' classes -

http://www.bawabroadcasting.co.in/videos/others01.html

BOMBAY ELECTRONIC HOLI PARTY | MASI Invites You

2011-02-09T02:32:00.000-08:00

Bombay's first Glowing Colours (neon uv glow paint) and After Dark Holi Party with killer electronic & techno/house music!

MASI's PRIVATE BEACH HOUSE PARTY

RSVP on facebook to get into the guest list
Contact us:
via
BB - pin:228e9759
via
email -
shiva.projekt@gmail.com

Cost - To Be Announced

****In association with SHIVA PROJEKT****

$ $ Lead Sponsorship by MASI - Media Awakening & Special Interests $ $

www.abhinitk.blogspot.com

~ Official anthem will be out out soon - produced by Moodyman aka Yohann ~

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

2011-02-04T22:01:00.001-08:00

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

2011-02-03T08:31:00.000-08:00

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

2011-02-01T04:18:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-29T05:21:00.000-08:00

*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

2011-01-27T23:33:00.000-08:00

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

2011-01-25T02:39:00.000-08:00

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
www.naturemorte.com

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.

India Art Summit | Booths To Lookout

2011-01-17T23:16:00.000-08:00

India Art Summit has already got the art world talking about it and MASI is not far behind! We share our list of booths-not-to-be-missed, seminars, gallery openings and other art related events to watch out for.

MASI will be at the preview event (VIP) and will be sharing some exclusive coverage which will take place in the capital (Delhi) this month from Jan 21st - 23rd at Pragati Maidan. This year its bigger and better - With 85 galleries, the Summit will be presenting 570 artists from across the globe. Some major attractions this year are: Graffiti artists from France doing a live wall at the Summit, a house in Jor Bagh that has been converted into an art installation, guided curatorial walks, a sculpture lounge, nine specially commissioned live art projects, 60 public art installations and much more.

FICA FeedStation

Live Typing at the India Art Summit 2011

http://feedstation.ficart.org

Collaboration between
Foundation for Indian Contemporary Art and Abhishek Hazra

20 – 23 January 2011

India Art Summit 2011
Hall 18, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

Pragati Maidan, New Delhi
Booth B12
20 - 23 January, 2011
www.indiaartsummit.com/
We will be showing new works by Subodh Gupta and Dayanita Singh.
The Foundation Thukral & Tagra is presenting "The Beautiful Game" in Booth S1. You will also find new sculptures by Suhasini Kejriwal in the Sculpture Court and a commissioned project by Gauri Gill: "Hall of Technology."

M.I.A | Maya

2011-01-17T21:51:00.000-08:00

GOA HIPPY TRIBE | Stories

2011-01-13T04:48:00.000-08:00

Goa Hippy Tribe is proud to present an interview with Eight Finger Eddie, the godfather of the Goa scene. Eddy is credited with having created the beginnings of the Anjuna beach scene in the early 70s. At the age of 86, his profound insight into existence and his approach to life continues to be an inspiration to all those who cross his path.

7 Khoon Maaf | First Look

2011-01-12T22:05:00.000-08:00

This Valentine, John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Naseeruddin Shah, Irrfan Khan, Anu Kapoor, Vivaan Shah and Aleksandr Dyachenko will lose their heart and fall prey to Priyanka Chopra's lethal charm in Vishal Bharadwaj's & UTV Motion Picture's much awaited thriller, 7 Khoon Maaf! Here's the first look. The film releases on 18th February, 2011.

GAY + DESI = GAYSI | Indie Website

2011-01-12T04:19:00.000-08:00

Gaysi Family was started to provide a voice and a safe space to desis who identify as LGBT. What began as a simple idea of sharing stories about what it meant to be gay and desi (gaysi!) has evolved into a space with multiple authors and multiple sections and traffic from around the world.

We, here at Gaysi Family, provide a forum for gaysis with something to say, whether it’s personal opinions, coming out stories, poems, erotic fiction, book reviews, movie reviews, event notices or anything at all that is related to being gaysi.

In addition, we also interview published authors, activists that work towards our cause and media personalities.

Our latest initiative, ‘Writer’s Bloc’, hopes to translate queer literature from various regional languages to English and from English to various regional languages.

We’re always looking for new writers and contributions. So get in touch with us (use the contact form) and have your voice heard!

More can be heard, read, and followed on - http://gaysifamily.com/

Shilpa Gupta | Half A Sky

2011-01-05T02:10:00.000-08:00

SHILPA GUPTA | HALF A SKY
solo exhibition at
OK Center for Contemporary Art
Linz, Austria
26.11.2010 – 30.01.2011

A cross-section of Shilpa Gupta's works along with a new installation produced especially for the OK offer insights into the work of the young artist living in Mumbai. The new work "Skin Globe" is an interactive sound installation that visitors bring to life by touching it.

Shilpa Gupta was born in 1976 in Mumbai. In her work she uses interactive video, Internet, photography, object art, sound and performance to investigate themes like consumer culture, desire, religion, security, militarism and human rights, social injustice or power politics.

In this diversity of media Gupta blurs the boundaries between art and everyday culture, raising questions about how we think and who we are. She generates an interactive relationship with her audience, as it is the viewers who first complete the works with their reactions.

In the most recent edition of the art magazine “DU”, the renowned curator Hans Ulrich Obrist listed Shilpa Gupta among the twenty-nine most important artists of the 21st century – artists that he thinks will mark the next decade with their work, their thinking and their visions.

I want to fly,
High above in the sky

Don’t push me away

We shall all fly
High above in the sky

I want to fly high above
In your sky

Can you let it be
Only your power
And not your greed

A part of me will die
By your side
Taking you with me

High high above
in the sky

While you sleep I shall wake up and fly

SHILPA GUPTA at INDIA ART SUMMIT
Vadehra Art Gallery presents two major works of the artist at IAS 2011, January 20 - 23, at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. Visit us at Hall 18, Booth A20 to view 'Singing Cloud' (Object built with thousands of microphones, multi-channel audio) and 'Untitled' (Motion Flap-Board).

I am Gurgaon. The new Urban India | Documentary

2010-12-23T05:24:00.000-08:00

The shining facades of Gurgaon, a satellite city of New Delhi, are symbols of Indias unparalleled economic growth. Gurgaon was built at the turn of this century by the largest project developers in the world. A village 15 years ago, has now grown into a city of 1,4 million inhabitants, but with little or no infrastructure. How viable is this new type of city?

Residents of the gated communities of this privatized society offer insights in their hope, desires, and in the new self-confidence of the Indian middle class. Gradually it becomes clear what the consequences of the credit crisis and the growing gap between rich and poor are for the city and the psyche of its inhabitants.

Gurgaon: a Ponzi Scheme or the prototype for future mega cities as they will be found all over India within a few decennials?

Alwar Balasubramaniam | Sculptor

2010-12-22T23:20:00.000-08:00

Alwar Balasubramaniam's sculpture plays with time, shape, shadow, perspective: four tricky sensations that can reveal -- or conceal -- what's really out there. At TEDIndia, the artist shows slides of his extraordinary installations.

Alwar Balasubramaniam's work aches to express the overlooked, the invisible, the inexpressible. Quiet white sculptural forms, hung on a wall, unlock philosophical questions as one watches the light pass over them. What is their form, and what is their shadow? What are those mysterious white hands reaching for, around the corner and through the wall?

Trained in painting and printmaking, Balasubramaniam has been experimenting with a range of materials (fiberglass, wax, gold) to create sculptural works that bring forth his ideas and his search process. His work is often very tactile, very physical, but it symbolizes an exploration of big questions: what defines the self? what confines us? how do light and shadow shape our view of the world?

"Mr. Balasubramaniam, self-taught as a sculptor, is young, savvy and in the middle of a spurt of growth. It could take him anywhere, but there’s already a lot here."

Holland Cotter, New York Times

Tees Maar Khan | First Look

2010-12-22T00:14:00.000-08:00

MASI thinks this definitely is the ITEM SONG OF THE YEAR.
Let's give it to Sheila and her jawaani (rising young age).

Film - Tees Maar Khan
Release Date - 24th December 2010
Song - Sheila Ki Jawani