AAW #182

Catch eminent artist Rini Dhumal’s solo show or attend the opening of the latest cultural hub in Ahmedabad, 079 Stories, with the art show ‘The Art of Storytelling’. Saptak’s intense week-long series of classical music begins and you can experience a live performance of world music at Darpana. Find out what more there is to do this week in our Art Weekly!

Our 182nd Ahmedabad Art Weekly arrives to conclude the nine-day-long revelry of Navratri on a creative note! This Friday, head to the Smartavya exhibition by senior artist Rini Dhumal from Baroda, who is an awardwinning printmaker and painter. The exhibition has been curated by Kirti Parihar, Director of Catharsis Art Gallery, and the inauguration will be followed by a book launching ceremony by Amit Ambalal at Kanoria Art Gallery. The New West Zone of Ahmedabad has a new address for art and culture, and it’s called 079 Stories. Operational since April, the institution will launch its gallery officially on Wednesday with an exhibition from the Tao Art Gallery of Mumbai called The Art of Storytelling. Ten artists, including renowned artist Paresh Maity, will have their works on exhibit for almost a month. Artist and professor Jitu Oghani is also launching his solo exhibition Objectification at Ravishankar Raval Kala Bhavan this Thursday. Audiences can expect a unique take on art, as Oghani uses threads of cotton to capture impressions of ordinary objects.

Photography enthusiasts can look forward to American photographer and architect Robert Stephens’ exhibition of aerial shots of Ahmedabad Walls. Or head to Khadia to attend the Amdavadi Talk featuring culture connoisseur Dr Manek Patel and positive journalist Ramesh Tanna, and see its accompanying exhibition.

Music lovers should brace themselves for a marathon of concerts, as Saptak’s 23rd Sangeet Sankalp Saptah begins this weekend. The one-week long series of musical nights will feature Hindustani classical music artists from various cities of India. Sangeet Sankalp Saptah has been staged in more than 112 cities across India and abroad, in Los Angeles, since many years now.

Playing drums in a group is considered to be a therapeutic experience in various cultures. The Drum Circle of Ahmedabad knows this and wants to share the magic of percussion with the people of Ahmedabad. Their latest show Drumalchemy will explore this, along with deep conversation. This weekend at Natarani Amphitheatre, you can also experience the essence of world music through a performance by Gren Seme and Christine Salem.

Adventure lovers, meanwhile have an opportunity to celebrate the full moon of Sharad Poornima by trekking in the night in the outskirts of Ahmedabad with the hiking group Diving Deep. For a dose of humour, watch the trio of respected humourists and authors – Vishnu Pandya, Pradip Dave and Ratilal Borisagar – at their upcoming Hasyamev Jayate talk show. The trio will be paying tribute to Gujarati humourist writer Jyotindra Dave through their words.

Our 182nd Ahmedabad Art Weekly plays tribute to bronze sculpture artist Jasuben Shilpi, who was fondly known as Jasu Shilpi. Known as ‘The Bronze woman of India’, Shilpi made 525 bust-size and 225 large-size statues over the course of her entire sculpting career. MK Gandhi, Rani Laxmibai, Vivekanand and Sardar Patel were all dexterously sculpted by the gifted hands of this Gandhinagar-based sculptor. Her sculptures are exhibited in various states across India and in multiple places in the USA. She also worked exhaustively with the AMC, and she spent her last days making a bronze sculpture of actor Amitabh Bachchan.