AAW #185

With the 185th Ahmedabad Art Weekly team, Creative Yatra wishes its audience a delightful New Year.

This week is a feast for performing arts lovers of Ahmedabad. It initiates with a three day long Karana Classical Dance Festival at Natarani where stalwarts like Shama Bhate and Nad Roop, Sharmila Biswas, Vanashree Rao, and Abhimanyu Vadh will be performing Indian Classical Dance with all their grace and passion. There is an upsurge of experimental plays in Ahmedabad after brave creators of the city initiated initiatives like Ouroboros and Scrapyard for emerging recitalists. The vernacular play, Drashti, taking place at one of the above mentioned experimental theatre  is featuring budding actors Jay Vithlani and Reeva Rachh in the lead cast. The story revolves around a young sightless girl who is mentored by a middle-aged blind man with life skills lessons. After performing at The Mumbai Assembly Performer Poorna Swami and team is collaborating with composer and musician Marcel Zaes to create a unique sound performance called ‘The Long and Short of It’ at Conflictorium museum.

Get ready to experience the rich history of our culture through soulful voice renditions by doyens like Darshana Gandhi, Shruti Modi, Nirav Vaidya and Shyamal-Saumil at KathaGeeto musical evening. Or music buffs can also soothe their ears by listening to the Indian classical music tunes and watching the son of Pandit Dipak Maharaj, who is the heir of famous classical dancer Pandit Birju Maharaj at Prayas. People who are looking for an enjoyable listening can pocket their phones for a while and head to the Motojojo Gatherings, where poets, storytellers and musicians will assemble to narrate their creations.

One of the most significant art exhibition of this year, Women Seen and Remembered, Drawings of Women by Padma Vibhushan K. G. Subramanyan is opening at Hutheesing Visual Art Centre this week. The exhibition will also have a lecture by Padma Bhushan Ghulam Mohammad Sheikh on the art of Subramanyan. Water Varta is a unique gathering organised by the Centre for Heritage Management, where like-minded citizens will talk about the cultural and environmental significance of water and watch visuals, arts and multimedia related to it. The audience can also witness some age-old water-bearing vessels and artefacts during this event.

Before the two mega lit fests of the city hit the calendar, literature enthusiasts can head to the Ahmedabad Melting Pot at Project Otenga to discuss authors, books, thoughts and even genres.

The inspiration for the 185th AAW has been borrowed from Rajkot born late poet Gaura Pant, dotingly recalled as Shivani by literature adorers. Born in the year 1923, the Hindi author was a pioneer in writing Indian women based fiction and was awarded Padma Shri for her contribution in Hindi vernacular literature. The author is frequently recalled for her novel Krishnakali which were hugely popular as series in Hindi magazines Dharmayug and Saptahik Hindustan. Her Hindi novel Kariye Chima was recreated as a film, and her other works like Surangma, Rativilaap, Mera Beta, and Teesra Beta were successfully converted into television series.

Illustration : Nilesh Ramani