AAW #165

This weekend, don’t miss actor Mallika Taneja’s play, which has been fueling discussion about its use of nudity to critique biases about women’s safety. A gifted 10th grader comes out with her first solo art show. And a lot more drama, art and comedy await you this week. 

 

An art exhibition called Splassh is here to usher in a colourful weekend in Ahmedabad. Next week, meanwhile, will play host to the talents of 10th grader Muskaan Shah, a young artist with a gift for expressing herself through colours, in her first solo show Evolving Enigma.

But a lot is happening in the city besides visual arts too, in the coming days. Delhi-based actor Mallika Taneja will be raising questions about women’s safety through her drama Thoda Dhyaan Se (Be Careful), a bold play that’s being discussed for its use of on-stage semi-nudity for asking probing questions. Tanariri, a Gujarati play, will narrate a historical story between two sisters, while Kamlesh Acharya’s The Promise of Heaven is a satirical work about two terrorists out on a mission. Drama lovers can also look forward to experimental play Dastan-E-Narak at Ouroboros.

Enjoy watching performing arts? Attend the Nrutyam classical dance performance. Those looking for pure enjoyment, meanwhile, can opt for an open mic night or a standup comedy act called Acche Din. Acche Jokes.

Gujarati critic and editor Anantrai Raval, known by his pen name Shaunak, is the inspiration for our 165th Ahmedabad Art Weekly. Before joining the government as a director of a language department, Raval taught at various academic institutions and colleges. He edited the works of multiple authors, including legends like Botadkar, Ramanlal Desai, Batubhai Umarvadiya and Narsinh Mehta. As a translator, Raval translated novels of Leo Tolstoy, and as an author, he drafted Aaharvigyan with J. D. Pathak and short stories for his book Chaa Ghar. The Amreli-born scholar was honoured with Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak, Narmad Chandrak and, eventually, the Sahitya Akademi Award for his work of literary criticism, Taratamya.