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Festival
Reawakening the saree: The Saree Festival hopes to bring together various voices and ideas around the Saree, in a multidisciplinary approach to celebrate the wondrous swirl of the Saree. The festival includes talks, discussions and presentations introduced by practitioners from diverse practices like art, social sciences, architecture, film, multiple design mediums, and other artistic media. In addition, it will also feature performances by dancers, musicians, writers, poets, and possibly also include work in other artistic media like theatre, visual art, film and performance art. For schedule, visit http://2015.thesareefestival.com/.
Where: Alliance Francaise, Lodhi Road
When: May 2 to 4, 11 am to 7 pm
Between still and moving images: To celebrate May Day, head to Delhi’s unique left-wing May Day Bookstore and Café. They have a great collection of new, used and rare books, a super line-up of performances and readings, cakes, pastries, coffee and more. This year’s celebration is dedicated to Pakistani activist Sabeen Mahmud, with tributes to Eduardo Galeano and Gunter Grass. Details here.
Where: Shadi Khampur, New Ranjit Nagar
When: May 1, till 8.30 pm
Art
Celebrating Labour Day: Photoink is hosting Afterimage, a collaborative work by Madhuban Mitra and Manas Bhattacharya exploring digital works in negative format. Apart from photographs, the work also incorporates photo based animations. Composed of photographs, the animations explore the space between the still and the moving image. The photo animations emerged from the need to record small movements, mutations, discreet and subtle variations in the space that were not possible to examine with the still photograph.
Where: Photoink Gallery, Jhandewalan
When: Till May 2, 11 am to 7 pm
Film
Bearing Witness presents the New Delhi premiere of ‘When The Bird Became a Wave’, a documentary on noted filmmaker Kumar Shahani. One of the pioneers of new Indian cinema, Kumar Shahani is best known for his parallel cinema works like Maya Darpan, Khayal Gatha and Kasba. The film is a four year journey with Shahani across Kerala, in which he discusses history, cinema, music, performing arts, politics, the growth of the market, traditional trade relationships across the country and the globe. Knowledge against the military-industrial complex, creativity against oppressive systems and establishments — Kumar's eternal concern continues as a debate and an argument throughout the film. The screening will be followed by a question and answer session with Kumar Shahani and director MR Rajan, moderated by Rizio Yohannan Raj.
Where: UChicago Center, Connaught Place
When: May 2 to 4, 5.30 to 7.30 pm
Music
An evening of smooth jazz: Depot 29 is hosting a musical evening featuring a live set by Sava, Takar Nabam and Saurabh Suman. Nabam is a popular guitarist who was also a member of the band Guillotine. Suman is an ace bassist who has played with bands such as Adil and Vasundhara and Map.
Where: Depot 29, Safdarjung Enclave
When: May 1, 9 pm onwards
Mumbai
Art
Between cultures: Tarq Art in collaboration with The Polish Institute - New Delhi and with support from Adam Mickiewicz Institute present Encounters, an exhibition focussed on cross-cultural dialogue between the traditional forms of folk art and craft from across the globe. London-based artist Alicja Dobrucka uses traditional Polish paper cut out of roosters on a journey to different countries, mainly India, but also Palestine and Turkey, and collaborates with local craftsmen, to produce and reproduce the original design using techniques that are unique to different regions. This experimental project aims to become a commentary on the various traditional art practices and narratives, which delineate where one culture starts and another ends.
Where: Tarq, Colaba
When: Till May 28, 11 am to 7 pm
Films
Films from Europe: The 20th European Union Film Festival is all set to begin the screenings of a collection of 21 award winning latest European films showcasing different genres of European cinema. Films to be screened include Jappeloup by Christian Duguay, Living images by Hardi Volmer, The last sentence by Jan Troell, The Candidate by Jonas Karasek and the Oscar-winning Ida by Pawel Pawlikowski, amongst many others.
Where: Alliance Francaise, Churchgate
When: From May 13 to 17, noon onwards
Dance
A festival of contemporary dance: Jugnee is a five-day contemporary dance festival to be held in Mumbai from April 29th to May 3rdIt aims to give young emerging and professional dancers a voice and platform to showcase their talent under one roof. Visitors can attend workshops by international faculty, view movie screenings of dance films that are not available in theatres or online, attend panel discussions with celebrated key figures and artists in the contemporary arena. Also on offer are performances by acclaimed international and Indian dancers such as Joe Alegado, Peter Jasko, Nakula Somana, Marina Fernandez D Haro, Quasar Padamsee, Jayachandran Palazhy, Terence Lewis, Ranjana Dave, Arundhati Ghosh, Mandeep Raikhy, and Robin Mallick.
Where: NCPA Experimental Theatre (29th April), Prithvi Theatre (30th April), St Andrews Auditorium (1st May)
When: 9 am onwards
Bangalore
Festival
Films for May Day: A film festival celebrating May Day is being organised by Maraa, titiled “Strike!”. Films that will be screened include the acclaimed Fandry, in which a young boy Jabya falls in love with his classmate but his caste and the ascribed occupation which includes all kinds of odd jobs like catching pigs, become insurmountable obstacles. A Touch of Sin, by Jia Zhanke, reflects on acts of violence in the rapidly changing society of China, where isolation, Isolation, search for meaning, class oppression and quest for justice intersect.
Where: Maraa, No.3, 4th Cross, Michaelpalya, 2nd Stage, Benglaur
When: May 1, 7 pm onwards
Music
Celebrating the blues: This year's edition of CounterCulture's Ode To The Blues will feature Madou Sidiki Diabate from Male, Steve Treble and Rick Payne from the UK and Soulmate and Chronic Blues Circus from back home for the grand finale. The days before it will see performanes at various venues throughout the city from bookshops to pubs.
Where: CounterCulture, Dyvasandra Industrail Estae, Whitefield Road, Bengaluru
When: May 9, 5 pm onwards
Info: Passes at the gate Rs 1,000
Theatre
In memory of Habib Tanveer: Mandap, a play about revenge os against the backdrop of caste, an oppressive social system that remains unchanged after centuries. The play revolves around a couple who flee their village to escape humiliation, but end of renting a house from someone who belongs to the same caste as the one responsible for their distress. Written by theatre educator Vijay Padaki, the play is dedicated to the late Habib Tanveer, who was closely involved with it and was supposed to produce it.
Where: Alliance Francaise, Vasanth Nagar, Bengaluru
When: May 3, 5 pm
