AAW #206

It is an immensely proud moment for Humans as they capture the first-ever image of a black hole, which is three times the size of the earth. The internet, especially Twitter is going crazy over making memes on the image. As this sparks of numerous debates around existentialism, creators across the world continue in their pursuit of ‘creation’ every day. The 206th Ahmedabad Art Weekly is here to tell you what the creators of the heritage city are upto.

The weekly starts with a soulful food and music event at Karma cafe. Their popular Gandhi Thali will now be accompanied by Gandhi Bhajans sung by prisoners of Sabarmati Jail. This will continue for almost a month at the Navajivan Campus. If it’s been a long time since you’ve last attended a musical, Phir Mohabbat Karne Chala Hai… by playwright-director Snehal Brahmbhatt will definitely be a great restart. The Hindi romantic musical is full of dance and music set to display amorous emotions. To delve deeper into the lives of women who were fervently in love with Lord Krishna, witness a story full of love, truth, passion and compassion called Karshati – Shree Krishna Madhurashtakam coming up to the city of Ahmedabad. Reputed performers will stir the audience with contemporary dance during the show.

079 Stories the popular arts destination of western Ahmedabad is hosting Vyom Mehta’s solo arts show starting from April 12, 2019 and will continue till May 10, 2019. Known for his surreal imagery, which was evocatively displayed in his earlier ‘Asura’ series, with ‘Creature Constant’ Mehta promises to give the city a fantastical display of his artistic instincts. FLARE’19 at PDPU will touch various fields of creativity through dance, dramatics, music, fine arts, literature, and more. The much anticipated Annual Socio-Cultural Fest of the institution has been giving young students a platform to blossom their talent since more than a decade now. Summer has begun and most of the children are already sipping coolers while enjoying their summer holidays! To give their good times a twisting vibe Shreyas Foundation invites children from the age group of 4 to 16 years to play indigenous Indian games like Nagolchu, Bhamardo, Gili Danda etc at the Traditional Games Mela.

Stand-up comedian Chintan Thakkar is all set to perform his original content at ‘My Current Affair’ comedy night. The man promises to give you a ROFL experience with his satirical commentary, which is not recommended for kids at all! Students of Furniture and Interior Design department at NID have made picturesque furniture products using scrap materials. Come and have a look at their unique creations made of used motorcycle fuel tanks, vacuum cleaner, fan covers, and old office chairs at The Thrown Legacy furniture show. Reputed lensman Vivek Desai has worked immensely on various geographic cultures of Kutch, Dang and Varanasi throughout his life. His photography exhibition Banaras – the breathing legacy is a picturesque show full of glimpses that reflects the mysticism of the world’s most ‘ancient’ city – Kashi.

The 206th Ahmedabad Art Weekly is dedicated to Jain monk Acharya Vijay Vallabhsuriji. Known for his tremendous work to establish peace during the turbulent times of partition, Vallabhsuri was an ardent supporter of Mahatma Gandhi’s peaceful resistance movement. Born in Vadodara in 1870, acharya’s work is spread across entire western area of the sub-continent. During the partition he was in Gujaranwala (now in Pakistan) and walked his way to Wagah border. He motivated Jain patrons to establish educational institutes and is the major force behind many institutions spread across – Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, H.P., U.P., Gujarat, Maharashtra. He authored various religious texts in Hindi, Gujarati and Punjabi with the motto of preaching harmony to the society. The noble soul left the earthly boundaries in 1954, more than 2 lakh people came and joined his funeral procession that was held in Mumbai. The Government of India honoured Vallabhsuri’s life by releasing a postal stamp with his impression and erecting a grand memorial in Delhi.

Illustration : Nilesh Ramani