AAW #180

Artists like Atul Dodiya and Manu Parekh are celebrating Amit Ambalal’s 75th birthday at an exhibition of his works this week. And Bindi Sheth is out with a solo photography show on children with special needs. There’s more! Find out in our Art Weekly.  

This week in Ahmedabad, you won’t want to miss a life-sized art event at Archer Art Gallery. The newly opened gallery is celebrating the 75th birth anniversary of veteran painter Amit Ambalal by dedicating an exclusive exhibition to his paintings. What’s most intriguing is that several senior contemporary artists have been mobilised to contribute paintings made in Ambalal’s style as part of this show, including Jogen Chowdhury, Atul Dodiya, BV Doshi, Manu Parekh and Nilima Sheikh.

The rest of the week is also filled with visual art events, including two solo shows by emerging Amdavadi couple Rakesh and Roma Patel titled Urban Uproar and KHOJ My Inner Quest, respectively. Both the shows have been sponsored by Lalit Kala Akademi, and the plans are in progress to send the couple for a show abroad this month. Photographer Bindi Sheth, meanwhile, is opening her solo photography show Like Us at KL Museum this weekend, the theme of which revolves around children with special needs.

Interior designer Surendra Patel is inviting all to Vechaar Museum of Utensils located in his culturally rich restaurant of Vishala to attend the Water Varta exhibition. The event is a combination of talks, displays and interactive activities based on our heritage around culture, water and food.

Carnatic and Hindustani classical singer Shruti Viswanath is coming to  Project Otenga to perform some unexplored poems by women warkari poets at The Mystic Feminine concert. If you’re in the mood for musical nostalgia, head to Pt Dindayal Upadhyay Auditorium to remember the life of legendary Ghazal singer Jagjit Singh in a documentary screening of Kaagaz Ki Kashti.

Literature lovers, meanwhile, can head to Gujarat University to attend a poetry recital evening dedicated to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the revered poet and politician of India. People looking for a good laugh can attend A True Tinder Tale with stand-up comedians Shreemayee Das and Rohan Desai who will be performing original jokes.

The inspiration for our 180th Ahmedabad Art Weekly is veteran Amdavadi architect Hasmukh C Patel. Born in Bhadran, a small town in Gujarat in 1933, Patel’s father had a small construction business so he was interested in buildings since a very early age. Patel gained an architecture degree from the MS University and completed his masters in New York. But rather than working abroad, Patel shifted back to his homeland to establish HCP Design Planning and Management in 1961. Patel designed more than 300 buildings over the span of his career, some of which stand as landmarks in Ahmedabad’s skyline today – Patang Hotel, St Xavier’s Primary School and Reserve Bank of India. Patel was one of the main persons behind the ideation of the Sabarmati Riverfront Development Project and he mentored young aspiring architects at CEPT University as Dean.