AAW #179

In the coming days in Ahmedabad, listen to a recital of Dinkar’s famous epic ‘Rashmirathi’ or head to Natarani to experience India’s only professional orchestra, The Symphony Orchestra of India. Find out what popular comedian Preeti Das has to say or visit the Shanti Sadan for a textile art exhibition.

Like every other week, Ahmedabad is again abuzz with art, culture and creativity. After a daunting selection process, we are out with our Art Weekly to give you a view of the best events to attend this week. Check out artist Pisurow Suralkar’s exhibition Ajanta Gufa to Amdavad ni Gufa. Suralkar, who has been personally invited to exhibit this show by curator Anil Relia, is exhibiting female forms painted in his surreal manner on both fabric and canvas. After a very long time, the gates of Shanti Sadan located in the historic Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises (ASE), Mirzapur, have reopened to allow visitors to experience the colonial design of the building and the Many Moons art exhibition housed within its walls. The show has been created and curated by designer Jayshree Poddar and weaves a magical feel by portraying different phases of the moon on textile. The 100 year old building is owned by Kartikeya Sarabhai, director of CEE, and it serves as an open school, club cum nursery, and now also an exhibition space.

For a dose of inspiration in your day, join the 7th episode of The Culture Talk with stand-up comedian Preeti Das and actor-director Archan Trivedi as they share about their experiences.Don’t miss the opportunity this Friday to attend an exclusive show of India’s “first and only professional orchestra”; it’s open for all. If you’re looking for a full day of recreational learning, then attend a full-day tour at IIM Ahmedabad.

Literature lovers have a great week ahead of them. Head to the recently opened cafe079 Stories for a gathering Celebrating Agatha Christie, in which like-minded fans of crime fiction can discuss their favourite Christie books. Fanatika has opened its gates this week to welcome audiences for its recital Rashmirathi. Rashmirathi, which is an epic work of literature written by poet Ramdhari Singh ‘Dinkar’, narrates accounts from the Life of Karna from Mahabharata. There’s also a special alert for enthusiastic poets– the open mic poetry platform called Mushaira is back with its second season. Tarz e Thetar will refresh your evening with theatre songs that have been sung in theatres across India.

The inspiration for our 179th Ahmedabad Art Weekly is Gujarati author Ramanlal Desai; a man who wrote 27 novels in his lifetime and has been a recipient of the highest literary award in Gujarati literature –the Ranjitram Suvarna Chandrak. Desai was born in 1892 in a small hamlet called Sinor near Vadodara and studied Masters of Arts in English and Gujarati literature. He delivered lectures on Socialism and Communism in his younger years and headed the Pragatishil Sahitya Mandal and the Baroda Sahitya Sabha. His most famous works are titledBharelo Agni, Gramalakshmi and Apsara.