Dravid, Sharmila Tagore Launch ‘Pataudi: Nawab of Cricket’ Book

By Santanu Ganguly, Jaipur: Rajasthan Royals captain Rahul Dravid and actress Sharmila Tagore launched ‘Pataudi: Nawab of Cricket’, a book on former India captain Mansoor Ali Khar ‘Tiger’ Pataudi written by Suresh Menon at the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival 2013 in Jaipur on Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013.

The book release received a cheerful applause from a huge crowd present at Diggi Palace. Sharmila Tagore, wife of late M.A.K. Pataudi, thanked the crowed and the writer of the book. “I am glad to be here for this unforgettable occasion and deeply indebted to Mr. Menon for this book. I read each word of this wonderful book and it made me emotional. I hope readers will like it also,” Sharmila added.

Rajiv, Dravid, Sharmila at JLF 2013

Rajasthan Royals skipper Rahul Dravid praised the book and the author, and stressed for more books on legendary cricketers of the past. “I am very happy to see a book on legendary cricket M.A.K. Pataudi and this book will surely encourage readers to know more about cricket and cricketers. We are thankful to Mr. Menon and I wish we will see more books on this sport and life of cricketers,” he said.

“M.A.K. Pataudi was a great batsman, fielder, captain and above all, he was a great cricketer. Moreover, he was a great team player and knew how to bring all players together to play as a team. Because of his team building, India registered their first Test series win overseas against New Zealand in 1968,” stated Menon.

Suresh Menon is the Editor of Wisden India Almanack and widely regarded as the most literary of India's cricket writers. He is one of the youngest newspaper editors in India, was still in his 20s when he became Sports Editor of The Pioneer and then Sports Editor of the undivided The Indian Express in New Delhi.

The book launch was followed by a session presented by Rajasthan Royals – Corner of a Distant Playing Field – in which Dravid was joined by Ian Buruma, a Dutch writer and academician, and moderated by Rajdeep Sardesai, son of legendary cricketer Dilip Sardesai and Editor-in-Chief of CNN-IBN.

On Indian Premier League, Rahul Dravid said, “The Indian Premier League brought many changes in Indian cricket along with tough challenges to adapt quickly to the shorter format of the game, changes in game plan and quick solutions. It changes the environment of the dressing room as we meet players from different countries. It has been changing relationships among cricketers for the last five years and we understand them better.”

“For example, I was never close to Jacques Kallis (South African cricketer). We just met during the series and said a hi-hello to each other. He also talks less and we both never get enough time to talk. Now, due the IPL, we got enough opportunities to talk and shared our views on cricket during our stint with Royal Challengers Bangalore. We are in touch with each other now.”

Rahul Dravid on celebrity status of cricketer, “Living like as a celebrity is not so tough. As you play at the highest level, attention and celebrity status becomes part of our life. Nowadays it’s very easy to get celebrity status in cricket. In the early days, you had to be like Sunil Gavaskar or Kapil Dev to draw huge attention and became popular.”

On Women's Cricket, Rahul Dravid said, “Women cricket still has a long way to go. The BCCI is doing its bit and encouraging women's cricket in all states. It’s a challenge, not easy to bring more girls in cricket. But the development is in process and Indian cricket fraternity is encouraging girls to take cricket.”

“India is hosting the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, which is a proud moment for us and it is getting good attention. Competition at all levels in women’s cricket has improved a lot and we have a very good team and legendary players.”

“I am very glad be here and liking this festival. Very few people these days read books and have interest in reading. It’s really very nice to see the crowd and their immense interests in books and authors. It’s a memorable experience for me”, said Rahul Dravid on DSC Jaipur Literature Fest.

On cricket reaching all parts of the country, Rahul Dravid said, “It’s very good see cricket is reaching all parts of the country and players such as Mahender Singh Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Praveen Kumar are coming from smaller cities. The BCCI is making efforts to take cricket in all corners of the country and improving the infrastructure. Good facilities are also accessible to smaller towns now and local coaching centres are providing the best facilities, which are helping cricketers to sharpen their skills at an early age.”

“The barrier between metropolitan and small-town cricketers has broken now as young cricketers are playing more inter-city and inter-district matches. They are visiting other states for tournaments and getting better exposure.”

Epitomising the elegance, style, valour and royalty of the states of Rajasthan and Gujarat, Rajasthan Royals is a Jaipur based Indian Premier League team loved by fans across the world. Winners of the inaugural IPL in 2008, the team is impassioned by indomitable qualities of strength, fighting prowess and courage in the face of tough opposition. The royal blue and gold emblem of Rajasthan Royals reflects the rich history of the region and their promising future. The team's anthem ‘Halla Bol’ and mascot ‘Moochu Singh’ capture the energy, enthusiasm and never-say-die attitude of the team.

Ever since its inception, the Royals brand has been at the forefront in terms of nurturing and promoting new talent in India. With a major presence on social media platforms, Royals offers fans a unique digital experience taking them to the heart of all the action. While the team’s YouTube channel happens to be the most watched amongst all IPL teams, the Facebook page and twitter handle enjoy a growing number of supporters and followers. The official website based fan zone gives fans the freedom to express themselves through content, videos, images, forums or polls, all driven the fans themselves. These aspects have made Rajasthan Royals the most loved team and enabled to it emerge as the first Global sporting brand from India.

Continue Reading

Ramayana Launched in Arabic at Jaipur Literature Fest 2013

Report by Santanu Ganguly, Jaipur: Jaipur Literature Festival 2013 saw a unique cultural collaboration between two diverse countries on Jan. 26, 2013. At Asia’s largest literature festivals, vice-president of Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Syed Shahid Mahdi, unveiled the Arabic version of the Ramayana translated by famed Lebanese poet, Wadi-al-Bustani. The book, titled Ramayana, will promote cross-cultural understanding and appreciation of each other’s spiritual heritage.

Ramayana Launched in Arabic at Jaipur Literature Fest 2013

Syed Shahid Mahdi stressed the importance of cultural cooperation between India and the Arabic world, as he welcomed the delegates from Kalima, the Abu Dhabi translation and publishing initiative. Speaking at the launch, he said that “every culture has a Ramayana”, meaning that every society has its own great works of spiritual illumination and it is a profound act of humanity to share each other’s most powerful stories.

Festival Co-Director Namita Gokhale received the first copy of the book, and stressed the “importance of sharing secular values through the translation of the great epics, which represent both Indian faith and mythic imagination.” Suresh Goel, president, ICCR, was also present at the occasion.

By bring the Ramayana to the world through this initiative, the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival has helped create a bridge between two cultures, with the objective of fostering long-term cultural interaction and mutual understanding.

The DSC Jaipur Literature Festival is considered to be Asia’s leading literature event, celebrating national and international writers, and encompassing a range of activities including film, music and theatre. The festival has already hosted some of the best-known national and international writers including Orhan Pamuk, J.M. Coetzee, John Berendt, Kiran Desai, Christopher Hampton, Ian McEwan, Vikram Seth, Wole Soyinka, Salman Rushdie, Pico Iyer, Simon Schama, Thomas Keneally, Hanif Kureishi, Vikram Chandra, Anoushka Shankar, Michael Frayn, Stephen Frears, Alexander McCall Smith, Donna Tartt, Tina Brown, Shashi Tharoor, Mohammed Hanif, Paul Zacharia, among many others. The Directors of the DSC Jaipur Literature Festivals are William Dalrymple and Namita Gokhale and the festival is produced by Sanjoy K. Roy and Sheuli Sethi of Teamwork Productions. DSC Limited is the principal sponsor of the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival.

Teamwork is a highly versatile entertainment company with roots in the performing arts, social action and the corporate world. Our expertise lies in the area of entertainment and includes television, film – documentary and feature, and the creation and development of festivals of contemporary performing arts, visual arts, and literature across the world.

Teamwork currently produce 17 performing and visual arts festivals in 21 cities across 11countries, including Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Israel, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, UK and USA. Teamwork produces Asia’s biggest literary gathering – the annual DSC Jaipur Literature Festival – as well as the Hay Festival in Kerala. ‘Celebrating India in Israel’, ‘Indian Summer in Canada’, ‘Eye on India in Chicago’, ‘Kahaani Festival’ and ‘Strings of the World’ are five new annual performing and visual arts festivals that have been launched in 2011-2012.

Continue Reading

Jeet Thayil Wins $50,000 DSC Prize at Jaipur Lit Fest 2013

By Santanu Ganguly, Jaipur: Third time’s a charm and it was for India as Jeet Thayil became the first Indian author to win the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2013, now in its third edition. The US $50,000 DSC Prize along with a unique trophy was given away by celebrated actor Sharmila Tagore at a ceremony attended by renowned literary figures and authors during the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival. Jeet Thayil won this prestigious prize for his debut novel Narcopolis (Faber & Faber London), a prime example of the fresh voices that the region is beginning to inspire and which the DSC Prize is helping bring to the fore.

Jeet Thayil 

A well known poet and now novelist, Thayil won the prize from a shortlist of six which also included Jamil Ahmad: The Wandering Falcon (Hamish Hamilton/Penguin India); Tahmima Anam: The Good Muslim (Penguin Books); Amitav Ghosh: River of Smoke (Hamish Hamilton/Penguin India); Mohammed Hanif: Our Lady of Alice Bhatti (Random House India); Uday Prakash: The Walls of Delhi (Translated by Jason Grunebaum; UWA Publishing, W. Australia).

The DSC Prize 2013 was judged by a diverse and distinguished Jury comprising of K Satchidanandan (Chair), Muneeza Shamsie, Rick Simonson, Suvani Singh and Eleanor O’Keeffe. The shortlist was announced in November 2012 in London.

There were 81 entries for the prize this year, comprising authors and translators across India, Australia, UK, US, Pakistan, Bangladesh etc, reflecting the importance of South Asia’s rapidly expanding book market. India is currently the world’s third largest English-language book market (after the USA and UK), and is set to become the largest within the next ten years (according to a BBC Report, May 2012).

The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature is pleased to announce that Jeet Thayil has won the 2013 edition of the award for his debut novel Narcopolis (Faber & Faber, London).

The Media Release is attached herewith and appended below. Also attached are the book's cover, the DSC Prize logo and a picture of Jeet Thayil. Please get in touch with us for any information requests through the numbers provided at the end of the release.

Commenting on the award, K Satchidandan, the DSC Prize 2013 Jury Chair said “I am very happy about the whole process of selection for the DSC Prize, 2013. It was a pleasure to go through the 81 books, mostly novels, submitted by the publishers for the prize that offered me a peek into the life and literature of South Asia with its identity conflicts, religious fanaticisms, developmental anxieties, domestic agonies, the pains of exile, eerie underworlds, the anguish of marginalization, the traumas of modernization and globalization and the dreams of a more just and egalitarian world.”

“The novel that has won the prize, chosen after due deliberations and the filtering processes of long listing and short listing, reflects many of these issues with extreme verbal artistry and lyrical intensity and I believe, the choice enhances the credibility and the prestige of the Prize itself. Narcopolis mixes fantasy and reality to create a powerful story that deals with a less known aspect of life in a metropolis like Bombay where episodes collapse into one another as in the tales of Vikramaditya telling an interminable tale about the less fortunate and the less visible human beings of the city. I am happy for the winner and happy too for DSC that has instituted a unique prize that sets a benchmark for imaginative writing on South Asia.”, he added, speaking about the winning novel.

Manhad Narula from the DSC Prize said “Thayil’s Narcopolis made waves this past year, turning up on several shortlists and garnering glittering reviews. I extend my heartiest congratulations to Jeet for a book that has unearthed and presented a rare, unfiltered, inside view into a lesser known world that exists within South Asia. The DSC Prize 2013 upholds its vision to present the sheer variety of experiences from South Asia that inspire literary fiction. ”

Instituted by DSC Limited in 2010, the DSC Prize is awarded annually for the best work of fiction inspired by the South Asian region, people, culture and diaspora; published in English, including translations into English. The Prize is unique in not relying on author ethnicity as an eligibility criterion and is open to authors across the globe writing on the region.

The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature is guided by an international Advisory Committee comprising Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, Alastair Niven, Fakrul Alam, Ira Pande, Marie Brenner, William Dalrymple, David Godwin, Michael Worton and Surina Narula.

Shuklaji Street, in Old Bombay. In Rashid's opium room the air is thick and potent. Here, people say that you introduce only your worst enemy to opium. Narcopolis is a rich, chaotic, hallucinatory dream of a novel that captures the Bombay of the 1970s in all its compelling squalor. With a cast of pimps, pushers, poets, gangsters and eunuchs, it is a journey into a sprawling underworld written in electric and utterly original prose.

Jeet Thayil was born in Kerala, India in 1959 and educated in Hong Kong, New York and Bombay. He is a performance poet, songwriter and guitarist, and has published four collections of poetry. He is the editor of The Bloodaxe Book of Contemporary Indian Poets (2008). He currently lives in New Delhi.

In its efforts to contribute to social growth and create social infrawealth, DSC Limited has identified the promotion of literature as a key initiative. The company firmly believes that promoting literature helps build the character of society, just as its infrastructure projects help create the infrawealth of the nation.

As a major move towards promoting literature, the company has been supporting the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival for the last five years. During this period, this event has grown to become the largest literary event of its kind in the region. As part of its vision of promoting South Asian literature, the most significant development has been the institution of the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature in 2010. This unique prize, which carries an award of US $50,000, is a celebration of the rich and varied world of literature belonging to the South Asian region.

DSC Limited has also been the principal sponsor of the 2010 and 2011 editions of DSC South Asian Literature Festival in the UK.

Continue Reading

RESIST: A Protest Against Delhi Gang-Rape Through Arts on Feb. 2

Report by Santanu Ganguly, New Delhi: A temporal art intervention and protest illustrating conscience and dissent against gender based violence and injustice through performance, graffiti, site specific installations, new media, protest music and fashion.

WHY?

"Art is the only permanent Resistance" - Anonymous

The recent brutalization of a young student in New Delhi, has brought to the forefront, once again the existing violence & misogyny prevalent against women and other gendered bodies and identities across the nation. Globally, sexism, and incidents of gender violence continue to prevail.

At Engendered, we believe that art is vital to the dimension of culture and an understanding of its importance alongside political, economical and social forces in movements and acts of social change. Art can be significant in challenging and complicating the traditional boundaries and hierarchies of culture as represented by those in power.

RESIST is a call for art to be connected to its own community. RESIST will feature work that builds around the idea that "the personal is the political", that is, the notion that personal revelation through art can be a political tool. Using both alternative-underground and mainstream art-work - from new media installations, graffiti and site specific works to Punjabi Rap and hip-hop and even high fashion couture, RESIST will reveal, subvert and expand aesthetic boundaries. It will also critique notions of the 'art object' and the commodity system within which it is circulated as currency.

RESIST is planned as an afternoon and evening of live performances, art and fashion installations that registers the artist's voice creativity towards a collective protest. Starting on February 1 at Engendered's alternative gallery and space in Shahpur Jat New Delhi. The protest will be spread across four floors: a rented derelict abandoned gallery floor on the verge of re-construction, the Engendered Gallery, Residency space and the Roof Top.

HOW?

* Art installations and Graffiti Art by leading contemporary artists like Mithu Sen, Gigi Scaria, Anjolie Ela Menon, Arpana Kaur, Ram Rahman, Satyakama Saha, Sharmistha Ray, Saba Hasan, Meenakshi Sengupta, Ritu Kamath, Balbir Krishan, Daku among others.

* Live performances by contemporary alternative punk, rap and folk Rock protest bands like SPACE, Alisha Batth, and Desi Head Quarterz.

* Curated fashion installations that celebrate expressions of desire, passion and resistance to gender dichotomies, and reinforces choice and sexuality in South Asia. Featuring leading contemporary designers like designers Manish Arora, Tarun Tahliani, Anju Modi, Gauri & Nayanika and Satya Paul among others.

* As part of this protest, we invite the art community -artists, curators, gallerists to respond to this injustice through their creativity and effect social change by participating in the Living Wall of Solidarity & Resistance. There will be a hundred 1x1 canvases where artists are welcome to register their protest in their own way.Artists may start collecting the canvases from us from Feb 1, and send in their contribution to the Wall till Feb 14. Alternatively, artists may also send in their work which is of 1x1 size for the Wall of Resistance. We will unveil the Wall of Resistance on Feb 14 to mark the International Day of Action on Violence Against Women. This a completely non-commercial event and the artists may take their canvases back with them once the installation is taken down at the end of the month.

WITH

Participating Artists:

MITHU SEN. GIGI SCARIA. ANJOLIE ELA MENON. ARPANA KAUR. RAM RAHMAN. SHARMISTHA RAY. RITU KAMATH. SABA HASAN. ANIL BAKSHI. SATYAKAM SAHA. BALBIR KRISHAN. MEENAKSHI SENGUPTA. DAKU. RAQS MEDIA COLLECTIVE,

Designers:

TARUN TAHLIANI, MANISH ARORA, ANJU MODI, GAURI & NAYANIKA, SATYA PAUL,

Live Bands:

SPACE, ALISHA BATTH, DESI HEAD QUARTERZ

Fashion Co-curation: Mohnish Malhotra, Administration & Logistics: Abhishek Ranjan Dutta, Artist Outreach: Georgina Maddox, Conceived by: Myna Mukherjee

PROMOTIONAL & MATERIAL PARTNERS: Take on Art Magazine, Silver Monkey Communications, Niv Art Gallery, Bookwise

Date & Time: Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013, 7 pm

Venue: Gallery Engendered SPACE
IInd Flr, 125 A
Shahpurjat,
New Delhi, India.

Continue Reading

Jaipur Lit Fest 2013: Javed Akhtar Talks About Ghazal

Report by Santanu Ganguly, Jaipur: The second day of the 6th edition of Jaipur Literature Festival saw eminent songwriter and poet Javed Akhtar talk to attendees about the real meaning of the Ghazal. He spoke about the art of ghazal singing and the extensive riyaaz (practice) that goes into it. He started with the fact that not many people can differentiate between a ghazal, geet or nazm. While a nazm is a poem with one single thought, a ghazal is a compilation of couplets.

“Ghazals are not just written by Urdu writers,” he said. “I know a few German writers who write ghazals. Ghazal is by temperament liberal, secular, and even agnostic.”

Javed Akhtar at Jaipur Lit Fest 2013

The discussion included a wider discussion on poetry and language. Akhtar said, “Poetry is the collective dream of a society.” And that “language isn’t a script and it isn’t vocabulary. Instead it is syntax and grammar.” He said that it depresses him that Urdu has been sacrificed for socio-political reasons. “Language belongs to a region, not a religion,” he emphasised.

Namita Gokhale, Festival Co-Director, said, “It is important for people to know about the ghazal in India because it belongs to this region. With this session I’m sure that people here at the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival will now know, ‘What is a Ghazal?’”

Ending the session, ace lyricist Javed Akhtar said that it is the world’s misfortune that it doesn't have access to great Urdu writers. He narrated one of his ghazals, which was met with a round of applause by the audience.

The DSC Jaipur Literature Festival is considered to be Asia’s leading literature event, celebrating national and international writers, and encompassing a range of activities including film, music and theatre. The festival has already hosted some of the best-known national and international writers including Orhan Pamuk, J.M. Coetzee, John Berendt, Kiran Desai, Christopher Hampton, Ian McEwan, Vikram Seth, Wole Soyinka, Salman Rushdie, Pico Iyer, Simon Schama, Thomas Keneally, Hanif Kureishi, Vikram Chandra, Anoushka Shankar, Michael Frayn, Stephen Frears, Alexander McCall Smith, Donna Tartt, Tina Brown, Shashi Tharoor, Mohammed Hanif, Paul Zacharia, among many others. The Directors of the DSC Jaipur Literature Festivals are William Dalrymple and Namita Gokhale and the festival is produced by Sanjoy K. Roy and Sheuli Sethi of Teamwork Productions. DSC Limited is the principal sponsor of the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival.

Teamwork is a highly versatile entertainment company with roots in the performing arts, social action and the corporate world. Our expertise lies in the area of entertainment and includes television, film – documentary and feature, and the creation and development of festivals of contemporary performing arts, visual arts, and literature across the world.

We currently produce 17 performing and visual arts festivals in 21 cities across 11countries, including Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Israel, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, UK and USA.

Teamwork produces Asia’s biggest literary gathering – the annual DSC Jaipur Literature Festival – as well as the Hay Festival in Kerala.

‘Celebrating India in Israel’, ‘Indian Summer in Canada’, ‘Eye on India in Chicago’, ‘Kahaani Festival’ and ‘Strings of the World’ are five new annual performing and visual arts festivals that have been launched in 2011-2012.

Continue Reading

Man Booker Prize 2013 Announced at Jaipur Literature Festival

Report by Santanu Ganguly, Jaipur: The finalists for the fifth Man Booker International Prize 2013 were announced on the first day of the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival 2013. Ten finalists have been chosen by a team of five judges for the £60,000 award. The ten finalists are U.R. Ananthamurthy (India), Aharon Appelfeld (Israel), Lydia Davis (USA), Intizar Husain (Pakistan), Yan Lianke (China), Marie NDiaye (France), Josip Novakovich (Canada), Marilynne Robinson (USA), Vladimir Sorokin (Russia) and Peter Stamm (Switzerland).

The judging panel consists of scholar and literary critic, Sir Christopher Ricks, author and essayist, Elif Batuman, writer and broadcaster, Aminatta Forna, novelist Yiyun Li, and author and academic, Tim Parks. The winner of the prize will be announced in London on 22nd May 2013. The Man Booker International Prize is awarded every two years to a living author who has published a substantial body of work either written or translated in English. Announcing the list, Chair of the judging panel, Christopher Ricks commented “Some of these men and women are in their eighties, the youngest in their forties and fifties. They write in ways that are astonishingly different.”

For this year’s prize, a total of 150 bodies of work were considered, from which the ten finalists were chosen. The Kannada language is represented this year with the inclusion of Indian writer, U.R. Ananthamurthy.

The DSC Jaipur Literature Festival is considered to be Asia’s leading literature event, celebrating national and international writers, and encompassing a range of activities including film, music and theatre. The festival has already hosted some of the best-known national and international writers including Orhan Pamuk, J.M. Coetzee, John Berendt, Kiran Desai, Christopher Hampton, Ian McEwan, Vikram Seth, Wole Soyinka, Salman Rushdie, Pico Iyer, Simon Schama, Thomas Keneally, Hanif Kureishi, Vikram Chandra, Anoushka Shankar, Michael Frayn, Stephen Frears, Alexander McCall Smith, Donna Tartt, Tina Brown, Shashi Tharoor, Mohammed Hanif, Paul Zacharia, among many others. The Directors of the DSC Jaipur Literature Festivals are William Dalrymple and Namita Gokhale and the festival is produced by Sanjoy K. Roy and Sheuli Sethi of Teamwork Productions. DSC Limited is the principal sponsor of the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival.

Teamwork is a highly versatile entertainment company with roots in the performing arts, social action and the corporate world. Our expertise lies in the area of entertainment and includes television, film – documentary and feature, and the creation and development of festivals of contemporary performing arts, visual arts, and literature across the world.

We currently produce 17 performing and visual arts festivals in 21 cities across 11countries, including Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Israel, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, UK and USA.

Teamwork produces Asia’s biggest literary gathering – the annual DSC Jaipur Literature Festival – as well as the Hay Festival in Kerala.

‘Celebrating India in Israel’, ‘Indian Summer in Canada’, ‘Eye on India in Chicago’, ‘Kahaani Festival’ and ‘Strings of the World’ are five new annual performing and visual arts festivals that have been launched in 2011-2012.

Continue Reading

Homelands Exhibitions Open in Delhi; Also to Travel Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru

Report by Santanu Ganguly, New Delhi: One of the year’s most anticipated exhibitions, Homelands will travel to four cities (New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Bengaluru) across India in 2013.

The exhibition will open to the public in New Delhi on January 24, 2013 at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), in Kolkata on March 1 at The Harrington Street Arts Centre, in Mumbai on April 28 at the Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum and in Bengaluru in the last week of June.

Cutting to the heart of 21st century cultural relations, Homelands grapples with the relationship between self and place in a world of transitory identities and contested geographies. Culled from the art collection of the British Council, the exhibition is a unique take on contemporary British art by the Indian curator, Latika Gupta. Including more than 80 works by 28 leading modern and contemporary artists, Homelands excavates the idea of a ‘homeland’ to reveal a rich plurality of meaning; ideas of belonging, alienation, history and memory.

Homelands will roll out a multi-layered program that includes public exhibitions in four major metros (New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bengaluru), artist talks, seminars, curator-led walks, outreach activities and workshops.

Homelands is supported by an innovative network of public-private partnerships developed by the British Council, and epitomizes a new and exciting funding model for public art in India. Key partners helping to bring the pan-Indian exhibition together include Jaguar, Christie’s and Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited. The outreach program, additionally supported by Outset India, is also focused on developing and cultivating unique, local partnerships and encouraging dialogue and collaboration between Indian and UK institutions.

A private preview of Homelands was held at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) on January 22, 2013. The preview was well attended by art enthusiasts, collectors, artists, gallerists, curators and a number of fashion and business personalities which included names likes Robin Mallick, Mithu Sen, Rajshree Pathy, Anupam Poddar, Girish Shahane, Amol Vadehra, M.K Raina, Feroz Gujral, Mukesh Panika, David Abraham, Kamlesh Rao, T.N. Ninan, Pushkar Shahi, Kamal Chabbra to name a few.

A post preview reception was also held at the British Council Charbagh on January 22. The Homelands post preview reception was well attended by art enthusiasts, collectors, artists, curators, critics, and people from the fashion fraternity which included names like Vishal K Dar, Jeebesh Bagchi, Shuddhabrata Sengupta, Vibha Galhotra, Nida Mahmood, Rahul Chandra, Simon Maidment, Pooja Sood, Rohit Gandhi, Atul Bhalla, Shivan and Naresh, Ram Rahman, Surbhi Modi, Dadi Pudumjee amongst others. The night included music by Wild City DJ and a surprise dance performance by Danceworx.

Works by 28 of the world’s leading contemporary artists from the British Council Collection will be showcased at the exhibition.

Angus Boulton | Fabien Cappello | Lisa Cheung | Nathan Coley | Jeremy Deller | Suki Dhanda | Jimmie Durham | Paul Graham | Graham Gussin | Mona Hatoum | Anthony Haughey | Tim Hetherington | Susan Hiller | David Hockney | Anthony Lam | Langlands & Bell | Richard Long | Rachel Lowe | Haroon Mirza | Raymond Moore | Cornelia Parker | Martin Parr | Grayson Perry | Zineb Sedira | George Shaw | David Shrigley | Bob and Roberta Smith | Gillian Wearing.

From this esteemed group of contemporary artists, there are 8 Turner Prize winners and nominees namely Jeremy Deller (winner, 2004), Richard Long (winner, 1989), Grayson Perry (winner, 2003), Gillian Wearing (winner, 1997), Mona Hatoum (nominee, 1995), Langlands & Bell (nominee, 2004), George Shaw (nominee, 2011) and Cornelia Parker (nominee, 1997). Tim Hetherington was the winner of World Press Photo in 2007.

Four of the showcased artists are being invited to visit the exhibition in India, including Mona Hatoum, Anthony Haughey, Zineb Sedira and Suki Dhanda. During their stay, the artists will engage with audiences, give public talks and conduct workshops.

“The Homelands exhibition will showcase the very best art being produced by leading contemporary artists in Britain – a fitting juxtaposition to our international sales of works by their South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art contemporaries. The exhibition is an opportunity for us to lend our support to cultural and educational opportunities which are important milestones in the Indian cultural agenda for 2013”, said Menaka Kumari-Shah, Christie’s Head of India.

“Jaguar cars are renowned the world over for their contemporary designs and stunning great looks and I believe that art can have the same impact on people's lives. The Homelands exhibition will provide the Indian art connoisseurs with an opportunity to access great work from globally recognised artists, and we are delighted to support that” - said Rohit Suri, VP, Jaguar Land Rover India.

Feroze Gujral of Director, Outset India said, “Outset India was set up to provide a platform for contemporary art in India. By supporting the extensive Homelands outreach programme - which includes workshops, public talks, and education initiatives – we will be able to offer much needed support to both artists and arts organisations across the country, during this truly exciting time for contemporary art in India.”.

“Today, many of us move across national boundaries. We are born in one country, we make another our home. In the criss-crossing of political, social and cultural borders, we live our lives through hyphenated identities: belonging here and there; inhabiting multiple places - both physical and metaphorical. Geographies that can be mapped as inter/national boundaries and as places conjured up by through remembering and imagining. What constitutes a homeland? Is it ethnicity? Language? Religion? Customs and beliefs? Are homelands those in which our ancestors were born? What of outsiders who live and make other lands their homes? Where do we really belong? Where is it that we hope to one day return?” said Latika Gupta, Curator.

Rob Lynes, Director, British Council India, said “Homelands is the British Council’s flagship arts project of 2013. It’s exciting because it introduces work by 28 brilliant British artists to India; because it will reach tens of thousands of people, especially young people, with the best contemporary art; and because it demonstrates the value of international collaboration, with an Indian curator Latika Gupta offering a unique slant on a British art collection. But most of all, it’s exciting because it asks such fundamental questions about a world that’s changing in front of our eyes, about the sometimes bewildering identity crisis that, for so many of us, constitutes modern life. Homelands demonstrates that art can help us learn about the world around us: but also, that it can help us learn about ourselves.”

Continue Reading

Vijai Patchineelam’s ‘Cut Corner’ Solo Exhibition From Jan. 29–March 9

Report by Santanu Ganguly, New Delhi: For his second solo exhibition at the gallery entitled "Cut Corner," Brazilian-born artist Vijai Patchineelam (born Niteri, 1983) extends his practice to explore notions of displacement as a form of generating and further developing content between site-specific practices and the medium of video. Displacement refers here to a situation where an intrusive medium runs within another artistic practice, not in an attempt to radically overturn it, but as an active process of questioning the given assumptions from the host practice.

For the exhibition Patchineelam will show new photographs, a set of photo-novels in the form of artist books, a silent video and a diptych composed of one photograph and one video. Taken altogether, Patchineelam probes the various strata within which various media operate and how to displace the artistic practice of the site-specific work€"which deals with space and matter€"to the medium of the moving image, introducing yet new layers to his highly-refined conceptual practice.

Venue: Seven Art, M-44/2, Southerrain, M Block Market, Greater Kailash II, New Delhi 110048
Phone: +91 11 4611 5297,
Email: sevenartlimited@gmail.com
www.sevenartlimited.com

Continue Reading

Ashok Dilwali’s New Book “Nicholas Roerich” Launched

Report by Santanu Ganguly, New Delhi: Famous landscape photographer, Ashok Dilwali’s book, ‘Nicholas Roerich/Ashok Dilwali: Inspired by the Himalayas,’ was released by Dr. Karan Singh, MP, at an impressive function held in New Delhi’s India International Centre on Jan. 23, 2013. Renowned art critic and curator, Dr. Alka Pande, was the Guest of Honor on the occasion.

The book, published by Niyogi Books is a pictorial tribute to the great Russian painter Nicholas Roerich, and captures the Russian’s Himalayan landscapes in photographs. It contains over 120 rare photographs and 10 paintings of the mighty Himalayas and focusses on Dilwali’s magic through lenses. The author evokes the splendour and spirit of these awe-inspiring landscapes that Roerich had painted. Some of the photographs measure as big as 85X30 cms.

Ashok Dilwali’s New Book “Nicholas Roerich”

Dilwali seeks to find elements that inspired the great master to paint. He has tried to bring in the same features in his photographs—the elements of clouds, sheer mountain faces, valleys, snowscaps dawns, and dusks that may have persuaded the master to translate that magic on the canvas.

“Roerich’s fascination of the Himalayas led him to paint them in every season and time of the day, from every angle, light and view”, says Dr. Alka Pande, in her foreword to the book and adds that Ashok Dilwali has been taken in with Roerich’s iridescent colors and pictorial landscapes, where light appears almost as if it were refracted through stained glass. Whether it was a semi-frozen Indus River or a miniature rainbow in Tibet, Dilwali renews his art with a sense of wonder.

With this book, Niyogi Books has joined the select league of publishers who have come out with large format coffee table books.

Ashok Dilwali has been a photographer for forty years. Although his work spans a wide range, including commercial, industrial and portraiture, it is his landscape photography for which he is best known. He, undoubtedly, reigns supreme in mountain photography in India, and has mastered the art of capturing the exact mood at appropriate angles and presents the Himalayas, its people and places in a form and style never seen before.

Dilwali has held several exhibitions of his photographs and has contributed to the Incredible India (Ministry of Tourism) campaign. He won two gold medals in the International Photography Competition held in Austria in 2005 and 2006. Ashok Dilwali has more than twenty photography publications to his credit.

Niyogi Books, a premier book publisher, has been regularly publishing books on Indian culture, religion, history along with biographies of eminent personalities. It has lately entered in the field of fiction. Recently, three of its titles won awards for ‘Excellence in Publishing instituted by the Federation of Indian Publishers. These include Mapping India, Rabindranath Tagore: A Pictorial Biography and M F Hussain: A Pictorial Tribute.

Title: Nicholas Roerich/Ashok Dilwali: Inspired by the Himalayas
Price: Rs 3,000
Size: 43x31 cms
174 pages; All color
125 photographs, 10 paintings
Hard back with jacket
ISBN: 978-93-81523-51-3

Continue Reading

Jaipur Literature Festival 2013 Begins With Mahasweta Devi’s Speech

Report by Santanu Ganguly, Jaipur: The 2013 edition of the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival started with an inauguration speech by eminent author and social activist Mahasweta Devi. She reflected on her long and illustrious life and writing career in a speech laced with references to the rich world of ideas she has imbibed from the tribal and rural cultures that have been the subject of her work. Ashok Gehlot - CM Rajasthan and Margaret Alva - Governor of Rajasthan at the inaugural ceremony of Jaipur Literature Festival 2013

Having written on the “culture of the downtrodden” throughout her life, Mahasweta Devi referred to the simple dreams of simple people in her speech. She called for the “right to dream” to be the first fundamental right of all human beings.

Ashok Gehlot – CM of Rajasthan and Margaret Alva – Governor of Rajasthan

In a speech poignantly titled ‘O to Live Again’ renowned author Mahasweta Devi said “My early years proved to be formative for mu future work as a writer and activist. I also have different approach to my writing process and I mull over the subjects in depth before setting out on the creative journey”

The five-day haven of literature that starts today brings together renowned authors, thinkers, philosophers from around the world to Jaipur. It will have speakers who will bring their thoughts, ideas, journeys and experiences to the Festival through debates, discussions and readings. With her keynote speech, Mahasweta Devi set the tone for a meaningful exchange of ideas through the rest of the festival.

Mahasweta Devi at Jaipur Literature Festival 2013

Commenting on this, Namita Gokhale, Festival Director – DSC Jaipur Literature Festival said “We are delighted to begin the event with Mahasweta Devi’s warm keynote which was not only inspiring but thought provoking. She has been constantly working for Human Rights and Women rights to bring a change in the society.

The other sessions thorough the day to watch out for are – ‘Remembering Sunil Da’ – A session that will mark the tribute to iconic author Sunil Gandopadhyay. It will be a session that will focus on his journey in the Indian Literature. Another session on that will catch the visitors attention will be Colliding Worlds: The Quest for Justice’ will speak across the divides of ideology and conventional identity tags. There would be an intriguing session by musical genius Javed Akhtar and and Ameena Saiyid, managing director, Oxford University Press, Pakistan called ‘Ismat and Annie’. It will be a session where two brilliant minds will discuss literary argument between two Urdu writers Ismat Chughtai and Qurrat-ul-Ain Haider.

The DSC Jaipur Literature Festival is considered to be Asia’s leading literature event, celebrating national and international writers, and encompassing a range of activities including film, music and theatre. The festival has already hosted some of the best-known national and international writers including Orhan Pamuk, J.M. Coetzee, John Berendt, Kiran Desai, Christopher Hampton, Ian McEwan, Vikram Seth, Wole Soyinka, Salman Rushdie, Pico Iyer, Simon Schama, Thomas Keneally, Hanif Kureishi, Vikram Chandra, Anoushka Shankar, Michael Frayn, Stephen Frears, Alexander McCall Smith, Donna Tartt, Tina Brown, Shashi Tharoor, Mohammed Hanif, Paul Zacharia, among many others. The Directors of the DSC Jaipur Literature Festivals are William Dalrymple and Namita Gokhale and the festival is produced by Sanjoy K. Roy and Sheuli Sethi of Teamwork Productions. DSC Limited is the principal sponsor of the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival.

Teamwork is a highly versatile entertainment company with roots in the performing arts, social action and the corporate world. Our expertise lies in the area of entertainment and includes television, film – documentary and feature, and the creation and development of festivals of contemporary performing arts, visual arts, and literature across the world.

We currently produce 17 performing and visual arts festivals in 21 cities across 11countries, including Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Israel, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, UK and USA.

Teamwork produces Asia’s biggest literary gathering – the annual DSC Jaipur Literature Festival – as well as the Hay Festival in Kerala.

‘Celebrating India in Israel’, ‘Indian Summer in Canada’, ‘Eye on India in Chicago’, ‘Kahaani Festival’ and ‘Strings of the World’ are five new annual performing and visual arts festivals that have been launched in 2011-2012.

Continue Reading

International Authors to Regale Readers at Jaipur Lit Fest 2013

Report by Santanu Ganguly, New Delhi: The sixth annual DSC Jaipur Literature Festival has been scheduled from January 24–28, 2013 at Diggi Palace in Jaipur. This year 285 speakers would be attending the festival. Non-fiction has always been particularly strong at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2013 and this year it is completely outstanding.

The festival has numerous award winning authors like Nobel prize, Booker Prize and Sahitya Akademi Award, prominent winners like His Holiness Dalai Lama, Howard Jacobson, K Satchidanandan along with Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction, Frank Dikkoter on Mao, Wade Davis on Everest and Orlando Figes on Stalin’s purges, while Pulitzer winner Andrew Solomon will speak on his remarkable new book, Far From the Tree.

Three of the world’s most acclaimed artists will be in conversation in the session 'The Artist's Eye’ - Glen Lowry, the director of Museum of Modern Art in New York discusses the eye of the artist with three of the greatest eyes in modern art, Marc Quinn, William Kentridge , and with leading cultural theorist Homi Bhabha.

Nandan Nilekani will discuss Breakout Nations with Ruchir Sharma, author of this year's bestselling book of non-fiction. Sharma argues that the astonishingly rapid growth over the last decade of the world's celebrated emerging markets is coming to an end. China will soon slow, but its place will not necessarily be taken by Brazil, Russia or India. Ruchir Sharma shows how weaknesses and difficulties were often overlooked in the inflated expectations and emerging markets mania of the past decade and that India’s chance of economic success is no better than 50/50.

Other stand-out sessions include:

*The Global Shakespeare": We look at how is it that Shakespeare, a sixteenth century Englishman, managed to write work that still resonates around the globe four hundred years later? Celebrated Shakespearian Christopher Ricks talks to Tim Supple, the director of the Indian Midsummer Night’s Dream and the leading cultural and literary theorist Homi Bhabha.

*"The Elephant Paradigm, Dragon Paradox." Most authorities agree that the 21st century belongs to India and China, but beyond that consensus breaks down. Can India ever catch up with China? Will China fall apart due to its own unresolved contradictions? Peter Hessler, New York Times correspondent and author of the great Chinese Trilogy, River Town compares and contrasts the two countries with Gurcharan Das, author of India Unbound, in conversation with Daniel Kurtz-Phelan a former advisor to Hilary Clinton.

*Roots of Yoga" Yoga has taken the world by storm and is one of India’s most universal exports. But how ancient, and how authentic, is its modern form as practiced in gymns around the globe? Sanskrit scholars David White, James Mallenson and Mark Singleton discuss authenticity and innovation in conversation with art historian Debra Diamond and historian of yoga Birad Rajaram Yajnik.

*Beyond the Khyber: Future of Afghanistan – Western troops will finally leave Afghanistan next year after another failed intervention in that most untameable of countries. Leading experts on Afghanistan, Edward Girardet, Jason Burke and Lucy Morgan Edwards, all of whom have covered the country for many years, consider what may happen next with Faisal Devji

*“The Art of Biography”. How do you pin a life to the page? Four leading biographers David Gilmour (Curzon, Kipling) Wade Davis (Mallory) Andrew Lycett (Ian Fleming, Kipling and Conan Doyle, John Zubrzycki (The Last Nizam of Hyderabad) and Pico Iyer (Graham Greene and the Dalai Lama) discuss techniques and literary obsessions.

*Dispatches” As India experiences a non-fiction renaissance, four leading war correspondents describe the life of the journalist in a war zone, and talk about how such experiences can be transformed into works of literature. Jason Burke, author of the acclaimed 9/11 Wars, Anjan Sunderam, author of the eagerly-anticipated Stringer, Lucy Morgan Edwards, author of The Afghan Solution and Edward Giradet, author of Killing the Cranes, discuss the journey from reportage to literature with Madhu Trehan of Newslaundry.

* "Saving Face": Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy is an Academy Award and Emmy Award winning documentary filmmaker, named by Time Magazine in the annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.. Her recent films include ‘Saving Face’, ‘Transgenders: Pakistan’s Open Secret’ and ‘Pakistan’s Taliban Generation’. She discusses her remarkable and award-winning body of work in conversation with Shoma Chaudhuri

*“The Decline of America: Westerners and Resterners” In his new book, Time To Start Thinking: America and the Spectre of Decline, Edward Luce argues that the US faces a world of rising new countries that will compete with it ever more fiercely as its own power is declining. He argues that in order to slow and improve this steady leakage of power, the US must change course internationally, economically and domestically. Ian Buruma. Peter

Hessler and Frank Savage, the author of “The Savage Way” analyse Luce’s ideas in conversation with the author.

*From Harvard we have Diana Eck, whose book India: A Sacred Geography has been one of the hits of the year, the philosopher Michael Sandel who brings his popular BBC Radio 4 series, "The Public Philosopher," to Jaipur and the leading cultural theorist, Homi Bhabha. From Columbia comes the much-revered post-colonial and post-modern literary critic and thinker Gayatri Chakrovorty Spivak and from Oxford comes acclaimed authority on Eastern Europe, Timothy Garton Ash and the Shakespearian Christopher Ricks.

We have sessions on subjects as diverse as the history of miniature painting and war reporting, the Jewish novel, the 18th century sexual revolution, detective fiction and the literature of 9/11. We focus on new writing from Latin America and Iran, examine the economic prospects of India. We'll look at the mixed legacy of the British Empire, the decline of America and the rise of China.

Never before will any literary festival in India have such a rich feast laid before it. Its an extraordinary list and we’re thrilled to be presenting it. Jaipur is only getting better and better.

The DSC Jaipur Literature Festival is considered to be Asia’s leading literature event, celebrating national and international writers, and encompassing a range of activities including film, music and theatre. The festival has already hosted some of the best-known national and international writers including Orhan Pamuk, J.M. Coetzee, John Berendt, Kiran Desai, Christopher Hampton, Ian McEwan, Vikram Seth, Wole Soyinka, Salman Rushdie, Pico Iyer, Simon Schama, Thomas Keneally, Hanif Kureishi, Vikram Chandra, Anoushka Shankar, Michael Frayn, Stephen Frears, Alexander McCall Smith, Donna Tartt, Tina Brown, Shashi Tharoor, Mohammed Hanif, Paul Zacharia, among many others. The Directors of the DSC Jaipur Literature Festivals are William Dalrymple and Namita Gokhale and the festival is produced by Sanjoy K. Roy and Sheuli Sethi of Teamwork Productions. DSC Limited is the principal sponsor of the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival.

Teamwork is a highly versatile entertainment company with roots in the performing arts, social action and the corporate world. Our expertise lies in the area of entertainment and includes television, film – documentary and feature, and the creation and development of festivals of contemporary performing arts, visual arts, and literature across the world.

We currently produce 17 performing and visual arts festivals in 21 cities across 11countries, including Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Israel, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, UK and USA.

Teamwork produces Asia’s biggest literary gathering – the annual DSC Jaipur Literature Festival – as well as the Hay Festival in Kerala.

‘Celebrating India in Israel’, ‘Indian Summer in Canada’, ‘Eye on India in Chicago’, ‘Kahaani Festival’ and ‘Strings of the World’ are five new annual performing and visual arts festivals that have been launched in 2011-2012.

Continue Reading

5th India Art Fair Announces Art Projects

Report by Santanu Ganguly, New Delhi: India Art Fair—India’s premier modern and contemporary art fair—is pleased to announce its 5th edition from February 1–3, 2013 (with a VIP Preview by invitation on January 31).

At a time when the global economy and the art market in particular, faces a challenging business environment, India Art Fair continues to focus on providing a bridge building platform to spread deeper awareness, and create wider access to art in India. The art fair will include approximately 105 exhibitors from 24 countries in the general exhibition area and solo projects. It will also include a video lounge, an art bookstore, art projects and a Speakers’ Forum with over 40 eminent speakers.

India Art Fair brings together a diverse and dynamic set of galleries and artists, showcasing a breadth of modern and contemporary art practices by established and emerging artists including painting, sculpture, new media, installation and performance art. It offers international galleries a world class platform to present their works and explore the Indian art market, to meet new collectors and build relationships with key stakeholders. The 42 international galleries exhibiting in the 5th edition represent 24 countries including India and present exciting art from several new regions such as Argentina, Bangladesh, Israel, Korea, Latvia, Turkey, Pakistan and Russia. The fair will feature leading Indian galleries from Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi and Agra.

India Art Fair has played a key role in exposing galleries from across the country to a variety of individual and institutional buyers from across the country, and the globe. It has been visited by 260,000 people from over 60 cities over its four previous editions. This edition of the fair will take place in the heart of South Delhi, inside a custom-built tent spanning more than 20,000 sq. metres that is designed by the highly-regarded Indian space designer, Sumant Jayakrishnan.

For the 5th edition, India Art Fair has brought YES Bank onboard as Presenting Partner. YES Bank's association with India Art Fair is part of the Bank's Retail and Wealth Management initiative. Other partners of India Art Fair include Absolut as Associate Partner, Christie’s as Auction House Partner, Le Meridien as Hospitality Partner, Panerai as Preview Partner, Conde Nast India (Vogue) as Supporting Partner and CNBC as Exclusive Broadcast Partner.

Through its Collateral Events program, India Art Fair has encouraged a variety of cultural institutions, galleries, private art institutions, as well as international luxury brands present in India to hold events and exhibitions in Delhi, Mumbai and other Indian cities during the week of the fair, making this an ideal time to experience India’s vibrant cultural life. The fair’s VIP Program includes several private events for special guests, who also receive exclusive access to the fair during daily business hours (from 11am to 2pm).

Over the years, India Art Fair’s Speakers’ Forum has been fueled by the need to create and enhance the knowledge base surrounding art and its practices, with a particular focus on the dynamics of South Asian, and other emerging art scenes. Some of the best minds from diverse fields within visuals arts from art historians to curators, from artists to prominent individual and institutional collectors, are invited to speak on several engaging and paradigm defining topics.

The speakers’ roster features a global mix of experts including:

Adriano Pedrosa (Curator & Director, PIESP-Programa Independente da Escola São Paulo, Brazil), Chus Martinez (Chief Curator, El Museo del Barrio, New York City), Akiko Miki (Senior curator, Palais de Tokyo, Paris), Amin Jaffer (International Director of Asian Art, Christie's), Sandhini Poddar (Independent Curator and Art Historian, Mumbai, and Adjunct Curator, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York). Barbara London (Curator, Video & Performance Art, MoMA, New York), Liu Yingjiu (Deputy Director, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai), Dr. Boris Groys (Global Distinguished Professor of Russian and Slavic Studies, NYU and Senior Research Fellow, Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design, Germany), Hameed Haroon (CEO, Dawn media Group, Pakistan), Robert Storr (Dean, Yale School of Art), Jeebesh Bagchi (Member, RAQS Media Collective), Geeta Kapur (Critic and Curator), Tapati Guha-Thakurta (Director and Professor in History, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Kolkata).

The Speakers Forum is open (free of charge) to the public, and is supported by AVID, the Geothe Institute and Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), and curated by Critical Collective.

Neha Kirpal, Founding Director of India Art Fair says:

“The focus of the art fair, given the present business environment particularly in the art sector, is on developing new audiences, and initiating new energy in the Indian art market. Whilst it gives those with limited knowledge about art an opportunity to see a diverse spectrum of art, for existing collectors, it offers a brand new line up of exciting works”.

“We chose to partner with India Art Fair, as it is the perfect culmination of knowledge enhancement, cultural engagement, business transactions and international collaboration. It is outstanding, as an endeavor to foster creativity and promote art amongst growing interest groups here in India”,

Rana Kapoor, Founder, Managing Director & CEO, YES BANK.

“Christie’s is delighted to support the India Art Fair in 2013 as we recognize its importance as a convening moment for all those who are passionate about the future of the Indian art market and are interested in India’s national artistic development”,

Amin Jaffer, International Director Asian Art, Christie’s

Continue Reading

Dalai Lama to Grace Jaipur Literature Festival 2013

Report by Santanu Ganguly, New Delhi: This year the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, will honor the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival 2013 with his presence. “Literature has played a major role in my life,” the spiritual leader said. “Since childhood, reading has been of great importance to me and I am often reminded of the immense kindness of the scholars of the past who translated a vast array of Buddhist literature into Tibetan. I look forward to attending the Jaipur Literature Festival and meeting people writing and reading today.”

The Festival is scheduled to take place from January 24–28, 2013 at Diggi Palace, Jaipur.

The Dalai Lama’s visit would be a prelude to discussions and readings on the theme ‘The Buddha in Literature’. Festival Co-Director Namita Gokhale said, “Gautama the Buddha’s impact on humanity lies beyond religion and theology. The entire fabric of Asian society – from Central Asia and Afghanistan to China and Japan – has been deeply influenced by the philosophy of Buddhism. Today Buddhism is a way of life for many people around the world. The internal journey of awakening and personal evolution is mirrored in the literature, art and cultural practice of Buddhism. Our sessions on 'The Buddha in Literature' are a tribute to the way of seeing and knowing taught by the Buddha.”

The session ‘If You Meet the Buddha on the Road’ will include discussions between Victor Chan, Karma Ura, Siddiq Wahid, Ranjini Obeyesekere and Nayanjot Lahiri on their experiences with Buddhism and their explorations of the many paths of the Buddha’s dharma. “The panel will speak simultaneously as scholars from a spectrum of cultures that make up the 2,500 year-long history of Buddhism, and as practitioners whose lives have been shaped by its doctrine and worldview. To explore Buddhism through their lives and work will help comprehend the many elements that mark the encounter between Buddhism and modernity,” said Nayanjot Lahiri.

In the session ‘Women on the Path’, Ranjini Obeyesekere from Sri Lanka, Kunzang Choden from Bhutan, Ani Choying from Nepal and Indian writer Swati Chopra will discuss the place of women within Buddhist theology and the issues they face on the spiritual path.

In ‘The Aesthetics of Impermanence’, cultural historian Benoy Behl will examine the ethical and artistic underpinnings of the Buddhist creative legacy. Ajay Navaria and Kancha Ilaiah will share Dalit perspectives on alternative paths to social justice in the session, ‘God as a Political Philosopher: Dalit Perspectives on Buddhism’.

‘Jataka Readings’, a session with Hindi writer Gagan Gill, Ranjini Obeyesekere and R. Sivapriya, will have readings from poetry and prose, and from the massive collection of Buddhist folklore about the previous incarnations of the Buddha in human and animal form. About her engagement with Buddhism, Ranjini Obeyesekere said, “The Dhamma as the Buddha taught it is not a dogma but a means to an end, which is happiness and peace of mind. Each individual can come to his/her own understanding of it. My own understanding has come from my reading of Buddhist literature. As a translator, I began to read it closely and had an insight into the complexity of the teachings put in such simple terms.’

‘The Buddha in Literature’ will have author and critic Chandrahas Choudhury, Nadeem Aslam and Kunzang Choden presenting an impressionistic medley of writings interpreting the Buddha in literature.

Victor Chan, co-author of The Wisdom of Compassion with the Dalai Lama, will share insights on meditative practice and the importance of humour, optimism and forgiveness in the session, ‘Journeys of the Mind’. “The Dalai Lama is well-known as a champion of compassion and has stated that his religion is kindness. I look forward to talking about the practical life-lessons I learned from observing him, both in public and in private,” he said. In the same session, Kunzang Choden, internationally renowned Bhutanese writer, will read from her books that bring alive the sights and sounds of her mountainous homeland.

Festival Co-Director William Dalrymple said, “I am thrilled by the extraordinary programme on the Buddha and literature put together by my colleague, Namita Gokhale. At Jaipur we have a long tradition of studying the confluence of the two great streams of Indian literature and spirituality. Up to now, we have concentrated on the Sufi and Bhakti traditions; now we have the pleasure of wandering through the rich pastures of Buddhist literature. The presence of the Dalai Lama is a particular honour for the festival and a delight for me personally.”

The mornings at Diggi Palace will witness Buddhist devotional songs by Chukie Tethong and Tenzin Norbu, chants by the Drepung Loseling monks and hymns by Ani Choying.

The DSC Jaipur Literature Festival is considered to be Asia’s leading literature event, celebrating national and international writers, and encompassing a range of activities including film, music and theatre. The festival has already hosted some of the best-known national and international writers including Orhan Pamuk, J.M. Coetzee, John Berendt, Kiran Desai, Christopher Hampton, Ian McEwan, Vikram Seth, Wole Soyinka, Salman Rushdie, Pico Iyer, Simon Schama, Thomas Keneally, Hanif Kureishi, Vikram Chandra, Anoushka Shankar, Michael Frayn, Stephen Frears, Alexander McCall Smith, Donna Tartt, Tina Brown, Shashi Tharoor, Mohammed Hanif, Paul Zacharia, among many others. The Directors of the DSC Jaipur Literature Festivals are William Dalrymple and Namita Gokhale and the festival is produced by Sanjoy K. Roy and Sheuli Sethi of Teamwork Productions. DSC Limited is the principal sponsor of the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival.

Teamwork is a highly versatile entertainment company with roots in the performing arts, social action and the corporate world. Our expertise lies in the area of entertainment and includes television, film – documentary and feature, and the creation and development of festivals of contemporary performing arts, visual arts, and literature across the world.

We currently produce 17 performing and visual arts festivals in 21 cities across 11countries, including Australia, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Israel, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, UK and USA.

Teamwork produces Asia’s biggest literary gathering – the annual DSC Jaipur Literature Festival – as well as the Hay Festival in Kerala.

‘Celebrating India in Israel’, ‘Indian Summer in Canada’, ‘Eye on India in Chicago’, ‘Kahaani Festival’ and ‘Strings of the World’ are five new annual performing and visual arts festivals that have been launched in 2011-2012.

Continue Reading

Ravi Pandey Gets GIA Excellence Award for Community Service in Canada

Report by Santanu Ganguly, New Delhi: Ravi Pandey, Chief Editor of Canada based newspaper “Hindi abroad,” recently received a GIA-International excellence award-2013 for a valuable and outstanding contribution and performance in “Community service in Canada.”

Few years back Ravi Pandey was in Delhi with an evening newspaper as prominent film Journalist before shifting to Toronto, Canada. In Canada he tried his hand in various fields but got back in Journalism and started Hindi news paper Hindi Abroad and within short span of time his newspaper was talk of the town and now Ravi Pandey is a well known figure of Canada. The jury selected Pandey unanimously not only for his splendid and remarkable nature but also for his professional acumen. GIA stands for Global Indian association.

Ravi Pandey Receiving GIA-International Excellence Award 2013

Global Indian Association (GIA) is an international platform for Overseas Indians around the world to unite together to present share and solve the issues related to migration and work, welfare activities, co-ordination with Government of India and the Embassies of the respective countries in India.

The award ceremony was held recently in Kerala and felicitated distinguished Indians around the globe for their remarkable contribution and dedicated service for the well being of Indian fraternity abroad.

The ‘GIA International Excellence Award 2013’ given to Pandey consists of Memento along with Citation and traditional Indian Shawl.

Continue Reading

Laxmi Dhaul’s 'In the Shadow of Freedom' Book Launch During Jaipur Lit Fest

Report by Santanu Ganguly, New Delhi: One of the books to be launched during the Jaipur literature Festival 2013 on January 26, 2013 lunch session is 'In the shadow of Freedom' by Laxmi Tendulkar Dhaul. The book has been published by Zubaan.

About the Book:

In the early thirties Ayi Tendulkar, A young journalist from a small town in Maharashtra,travelled to Germany to study. Within a short time, he married Eva Schubring, his professor's daughter. Soon after the short-lived marriage broke up, Tendulkar, by now also a well-known journalist in Berlin, met and fell in love with the filmmaker Thea von Harbou, divorced wife of Fritz Land and soon to be Tendulkar's wife.

'In the Shadow of Freedom' Front Cover

Many years his senior, Thea became Tendulkar's support and mainstay in Germany, encouraging and supporting him in bringing other young Indian students to the country.Hitler's coming to power put an end to all that, and on Thea von Harbou's advice,Tendulkar returned to India, where he became involved in Gandhi's campaign of non-cooperation with the British,and where with Thea's consent he soon married Indumati Gunaji, a Gandhian activist. Caught up in the whirlwind of Gandhi's activism,Indumati and Tendulkar spent several years in Indian prisons,being able to come together as a married couple only after their release managing thereby to comply with a condition that Gandhi had put to their marriage, that they remain apart for several years.

'In the Shadow of Freedom' Back Cover

In this unique account, Indumati and Tendulkar's daughter, Laxmi Tendulkar Dhaul, traces the turbulent time lives of her parents and Thea von Harbou, against the backdrop of Nazi Germany and Gandhi's India, using a wealth of documents, letters, newspaper articles and photographs to piece together the inter meshed histories of two women, the man they loved, their own growing friendship, and two countries battling with violence and non-violence, fascism and colonialism.

About the Author:

Laxmi Dhaul is a post Graduate in Biochemistry from the University of Mumbai. As an author she has penned titles across genres spanning spiritual and temporal sections. Her published works include 'The Sufi Shrine of Ajmer', 'The Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya', 'Guide to the Gentleman Chef', and 'Chimi’s Dream'. ‘In the shadow of Freedom’ her recent book, is the story of her parents and their experiences between Hitlers Berlin and Gandhi’s India. She resides in Mumbai and is currently involved in producing animation films to create environmental awareness amongst school children.

Laxmi Tendulkar Dhaul

Continue Reading

‘Liquid Distillation of Animated Consciousness: Art of Neeraj Goswami’ Book Launch on Jan. 29

Report by Santanu Ganguly, New Delhi: Sanchit Art brings to you the colorful work of Neeraj Goswami—an artist for whom painting is the source through which he expresses himself. His art reflects the state of the art in India as it grew over the last fifty years. A big difference in his art that compels serious attention from contemporaries as well as from connoisseurs in equal measure. He is now in the process of planning his future projects with large sculptures in public spaces. A coffee table book entitled ‘Liquid Distillation of Animated Consciousness: Art of Neeraj Goswami,’ written by Arun Ghose and published by Sanchit Art, will be launched at Lalit Kala Academy, Ferozeshah Road in New Delhi on January 29, 2013 at 6 pm. The book offers interesting inroads in his spiritually oriented artistic vision.

Art of Neeraj Goswami reflects the state of the art in India as it grew over the last fifty years. Born in Patna, in 1964, he grew up in Delhi since the age of eight and was groomed to be an artist since then even though his family had little means to support such an ambition. He was honored with a solo show in his school days in Delhi and won considerable attention from veterans like Saradindu Sen Roy and Gulam Rasool Santosh before entering Art College in Delhi. His next solo took place while still in art college and it was veteran artists from Delhi Silpi Chakra, KS Kulkarni and Anupam Sud and others, who came forward to organize it with a view to recognize his prolific talent. There was no going back for him since then. Between 1990 to 2000 he had had ten solos held almost annually in Delhi and, predictably enough, catapulted him in the prime frontier of the mainstream Indian Art of the day.

Art of Neeraj Goswami

There was, and still is, a big difference in his art that compels serious attention from contemporaries as well as from connoisseurs in equal measure. Instead of looking outward for inspiration he trained his mind to look inward for subjects. He inherited his strength of spiritual inquest from his grandfather and received intense spiritual training from his ‘Guru’ while still in his teens and thus developed a spiritual individuality that got reflected in his art with increasing clarity. In fact a retrospective of his art over the last twenty five years will easily reveal how his mind got increasingly cleansed from the accumulated garbage of the societal surroundings and it was mainly achieved with regular and intense ‘kriyas’ taught to him. His art got simultaneously strengthened in degrees in which surrealism and minimalism got artistically reinvented. Even Cubism became an artistically descriptive tool in his hand and its complicated surface divisionism attained its simplified minimalism, gradually yet steadily, over the same period in his art.

Art of Neeraj Goswami

In spite of the gradual, post-modernistic, recent trend to do away with traditional art-making techniques Neeraj Goswami remains faithful to canvas and paint without loosing his cutting-edge strength of spiritual surrealism that has an unmistakably modern appeal seldom seen in contemporary art. He believes painted canvas, with its age-old practice of framed rectangularity, has a time-less appeal of eternity while all other contemporary practice for installation and videography has a temporal air that is almost transitional in character. He however is very fond of sculpture in the round and has already tried his hand in this medium with unmistakable originality .He is now in the process of planning his future projects with large sculptures in public spaces.

Art of Neeraj Goswami

Neeraj has shown his works almost in all parts of the world and has retained his childhood habit of receiving critical accolade since, at the age of five, his drawing of an elephant on a large black-board in primary school received headline-space in a Patna Daily. He, aged forty eight, now lives and works in New Delhi.

Continue Reading

Design Temple: ‘Sense and Sensuality’ at Nature From Jan. 18–Feb. 24

Report by Santanu Ganguly, Gurgaon: Founded in 1999 by Divya Thakur, Design Temple is a major force in contemporary design in India today, focusing on home accessories but also branching out into graphic art, publication design, fashion, interiors and artistic collaborations. Their products are characterized by a clever wit, a social consciousness, a heightened awareness of symbology, and impeccable craftsmanship.

For Nature Morte's gallery space at the Oberoi Gurgaon, Design Temple has focused on a group of products that reinterprets the traditional yet syncretic beliefs, practices and attitudes that revolve around gender, sexuality and spirituality in India. "Sense and Sensuality" builds a visual narrative by using design objects that inform our contemporary way of life.

Design Temple: ‘Sense and Sensuality’ at Nature

The foundation is laid with a group of wool pile carpets from the "Floored!" series, replicating geometric patterns found in domestic and sacred architectural spaces. Arranged with these are the puzzle-like constructions entitled "Indian Order." This modular system, inspired by pillars found in temples and mosques, allows for multiple functions through limitless combinations. Here, they will be further activated by the addition of Design Temple's "Lingam Candles." Completing the display will be selections of limited edition prints from two collections ("Erogenius" and "Animania") as well as the "Peacock Mirror," a tribute to Narcissism.

In 2011, Design Temple was invited to participate in Wallpaper Magazine's exhibition Handmade* at the Salone del Mobile in Milan. In 2007, Divya Thakur was commissioned by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London to curate a graphic representation of contemporary India. Ms. Thakur has also showcased the unorganized design sector with an exhibition entitled Indigenous India in 2004 at the Loggia dei Mercanti in Milan. Design Temple products can be found in their dedicated retail outlet in the Colaba neighborhood of Mumbai as well as lifestyle boutiques across India.

Nature Morte at The Oberoi Gurgaon is open every day, from 11 am to 9 pm. For more information and press photographs, please contact Gary Jacob at (0124) 4010443 or Rajeev Dhawan at (011) 2956-1596.

Date: January 18 to February 24, 2013

Gallery hours: 11 am to 9 pm daily

Venue: Nature Morte, The Oberoi Gurgaon, 443, Udyog Vihar Phase-V, Gurgaon-122016

Continue Reading

Full Circle to Offer Literary Feast at Jaipur Lit Fest 2013

Report by Santanu Ganguly, New Delhi: Full Circle Bookstore, the official book partner for the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival since 2010 is all set to provide readers a literary feast with the beginning of the DSC Jaipur Literature festival from Jan. 24–28, 2013. For the first time, readers can pre-order authors books online at http://fullcirclebooks.in/jlf2013/a.

In the magical span of five days at Diggi Palace, when the DSC Jaipur Festival will come alive with authors, books, conversations, music from across the world, the Full Circle Bookstore, will be a much hunted hotspot for book-readers and authors. Every year the Bookstore is a hub of activity as book lovers and the literati converge from all over the globe to experience the absolute magic of the Jaipur Lit Fest; to hear and meet the authors and buy their books. It is a rare opportunity to be able to get books of these literary luminaries. There are book-signing sessions as well which are very popular. Preparation for the stock at the Full Circle bookstore starts months in advance with Priyanka Malhotra and her dedicated team at Full Circle, with careful planning on title selection and number of copies.

In 2012, the venue saw a footfall of 1,22,000 visitors and the bookstore witnessed larger number of visitors than expected. The top selling authors were Amy Chua (for the much debated upon Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother), Ben Okra (of Famished Road fame, and many others), Michael Ondaatje (for The Cat's Table, on the magical, often forbidden, discoveries of childhood) Lionel Shriver (famous for her controversial book, We Need to Talk About Kevin), Hannan Al Shayk (for One Thousand and One Nights, tales gathered across India, Persia and the Arab Empire), Fatima Bhutto and William Dalrymple among others.

Commenting on participation, Priyanka Malhotra, CEO, Full Circle said-“It has been an honor and a wonderful opportunity for us to be in partnership with the renowned DSC Jaipur Literature festival. Like all previous years, this year also we intend to provide our readers with the best and latest of a well put together literary collection!”

This year the festival has a very exciting and exhaustive range of authors visiting from all over the globe. Some of the much awaited include- Pico Iyer, Mahashweta Devi, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Aminata Forna, Akash Kapur, Gurcharan Das, Catherine Weinberger, Jeet Thayil, Musharraf Ali Farooqi, Shauna Singh Baldwin, Diana Eck, Yiyun Li, Zoe Heller among many others.

Full Circle is a distinguished publisher of non-fiction, and classic and contemporary fiction.

Known for quality publishing and production, Full Circle continues its commitment towards providing good reading at great value.

Its parent company, Hind Pocket Books has been a pioneer in paperback publishing since 1958. In 1959 a set of ten paperbacks were published in Hindi for the first time. This was a major breakthrough in Indian publishing. Today Hind Pocket Books publishes books in many languages including English, Urdu, Punjabi and Malayalam. It is the umbrella company for a host of imprints which publish books that cater to the needs of different segments of society and specializations, including Full Circle Publishing.

As you might know, Full Circle also has bookstores in Khan Market, Nizamuddin and Greater Kailash, which enjoy a reputation of stocking the best collection of books in the country. All genres are selected with great care, including fiction, non- fiction, a wide range of art books and, of course, the genre Full Circle is best known for—mind, body, spirit.

The bookstores draw an interesting group of dedicated people from all over the globe, ranging from authors to literary figures, politicians to decision makers, as well as theater personalities and artists – making this space a cultural hub. Atop each Full Circle bookstore is the celebrated Café Turtle, which has a special mention in Lonely Planet India. This café, which specializes in wholesome vegetarian fare, is the perfect place to relax, catch up with friends, enjoy a cup of coffee, read a book and unwind.

Continue Reading

‘Nemai Ghosh: Satyajit Ray and Beyond’ Photo Exhibition Begins in Delhi

Report by Santanu Ganguly, New Delhi: To mark the occasion of the centenary of Indian cinema this year, Delhi Art Gallery is pleased to present the first showing of Photographer Nemai Ghosh Archive—Nemai Ghosh: Satyajit Ray and Beyond. The event will run till January 28, 2013 at Delhi Art Gallery, 11 Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi.

While justly associated primarily with photographing the films and the person of the auteur Satyajit Ray, the exhibition attempts to bring to light his lesser-known but equally extensive documentation of cinema, both mainstream Hindi cinema from Bombay as well as regional Bengali cinema. This exhibition brings together for the first time this rich body of work, as a tribute to the individual filmmakers, including Satyajit Ray, Indian cinema in its centennial year, as well as the power of the photograph to witness, record and tell stories.

Sharmila Tagore, Nemai Ghosh, Satyajit Ray

Curated by Pramod Kumar KG, the exhibition presents several iconic and many never-before-seen images of actors, scenes, sets and locations during the filming of Satyajit Ray’s films as well as the filmmaker at work, taken over a twenty-five year period, as well as an array of images of regional films and actors.

The accompanying book on the exhibition has essays by Pramod Kumar KG, Sabeena Gadhioke and Jai Arjun Singh, beside a timeline of Nemai Ghosh’s career, as well as an array of images marking his tryst with cinema. These include the 250 specially selected images that form the focus of the exhibition, and are accompanied by detailed captions. All prints are on archival paper and are part of an edition of six each.

Through this celebration of Nemai Ghosh’s work with cinema, Delhi Art Gallery is pleased to showcase a section of this archive, an invaluable part of India’s cinematic and photographic history. Acquired in 2006, the nearly 1,20,000 images have been digitized and form part of Delhi Art Gallery’s extensive archives. This, its first exhibition that explores the medium of photography, adds to its ongoing engagement with exploring and documenting the reservoir of the history and richness of Indian art.

Ashish Anand, Sharmila Tagore, Kiran Nadar

Photographer Nemai Ghosh has been the quintessential Satyajit Ray biographer through his decades-long close association with the master filmmaker. Over a lifetime of work, he has built up a vast and valuable photographic archive, now housed at Delhi Art Gallery.

Delhi Art Gallery was established in 1993, and has since grown to become a premier institution of art. It boasts of a distinctive and extensive collection of early-modern as well as modern and contemporary art, ranging from names such as Rabindranath Tagore and Nandalal Bose to FN Souza, MF Husain and SH Raza, from Avinash Chandra and GR Santhosh to Sohan Qadri and Gogi Saroj Pal, from Chittaprosad to Haren Das, among the over 400 artists in its inventory.

Delhi Art Gallery employs a large number of professionals to manage the affairs of the company. It consists of a Research and Documentation division that creates superior publications and provides support for its exhibitions. A Sales and Marketing team takes art to homes and offices through an interface program and manages and maintains art resources for companies and collectors whom it also advises on art purchases.

In the under two decades since it was established and as one of the largest repositories of Indian modern art anywhere in the world, Delhi Art Gallery has become distinguished for its focus on 20th century Indian art. Its collections provide a critical link for everyone from art-lovers, collectors and investors to academicians, scholars and researchers. It has traced, compiled, restored and archived entire collections. Documentation processes across various genres have resulted in some iconic exhibitions, known for their breadth of scale and depth of research. Extensive exhibition catalogues and books – part of its ongoing efforts on shedding new light on, of course, the well-established artists and their genres, but also on the lesser-known but equally talented painters and sculptors – is a measure of the seriousness of Delhi Art Gallery’s effort of concentrating not just on the names of Indian artists familiar to all art-lovers, but also those artists who deserve their space on the same firmament.

Continue Reading