29 January,2025 06:55 AM IST | Mumbai | Team mid-day
Pic/Atul Kamble
A visitor at the ongoing Kala Ghoda Arts Festival pores over her phone in the foreground of a striking installation depicting a brightly coloured reimagination of the eponymous horse.
Books are often called man's greatest companion, and this adage found a new meaning at Dombivli-based Pai's-Friends Library which hosted a multi-lingual book exchange festival at Savlaram Maharaj Mhatre Sport Complex. "We were inspired by open air book exchange festivals in Europe and wanted to do something similar for the city," Pundalik Pai, founding member, told this diarist. The recently concluded festival housed nearly one lakh books and featured an installation of the letter âM' in Devanagari to commemorate Marathi being conferred the status of a classical language. "We ensured that the festival not only focuses on a single language but a range of Indian languages including Urdu poetry, Marathi novels and English bestsellers," Pai shared.
City-based art space Method is expanding its canvas northwards with a new venue in Delhi. Set to open on January 31, the Defence Colony space will mark the gallery's first foray outside Mumbai. "The new space has a very raw, industrial vibe to it, with a 18-ft high ceiling that gives us more freedom to experiment," co-founder Sahil Arora revealed. Opening with an ensemble exhibition paired with a music gig, Arora looks forward to future programming that is set to bring familiar names like poet-author Jeet Thayil on board.
City-based naturalist Sahir Doshi's visit to Dubai is powered by rhyme, and reason. After shining a light on conservation and sustainability at the Nature Connection Conference at Jebel Ali School in Mudon, Dubai, Doshi is now using rap music to spread the word among students. "The children are loving it. They join me in the chorus of my impromptu raps featuring animals and birds, some even chime in with their own rhymes," the naturalist shared over a call from Dubai.
Doshi will remember the trip for more reasons than one. At the conference venue, the naturalist found an unusual ally in Sri Lankan international cricketer Wanindu Hasaranga. "I had no idea Hasaranga was an avid wildlife photographer. Coincidentally, Sri Lanka happens to be home to leopards, just like Mumbai. It was a pleasant surprise. We had an insightful chat before presenting our photographs to the bright minds in the audience," Doshi revealed.
Siliguri-based blues band John Blue Ensemble have struck a chord far away from home in Mumbai. The blues trio comprising Kunal Kalikotay, Anish Chanda and Salim John Sadiq bagged the Mahindra Blues Big Blues Band Hunt title after a tough competition at a Lower Parel venue on Monday, judged by stalwarts Ehsaan Noorani and Zubin Balaporia. With the win, the band now looks forward to playing at the two-day festival that begins on February 8. "The audience for pure blues music is limited, but we stuck to our guns and took the challenge head on. This win is a reassurance that you need not tweak the genre to make it big," the trio shared. Judges Noorani and Balaporia had it no easier, we learnt. "Choosing between the finalists was extremely difficult. We were stoked to see how good these guys were. They are torchbearers of Indian blues. Blues in India is alive and rocking!" the duo said.
On the back of more than 14 lead-up events, Mumbai Queer Pride is all set to unveil the Mumbai Pride Parade on February 1. "In light of countries like Georgia, Kazakhstan and USA passing regressive bills recently, the theme this year is âNo Going Back'," revealed Ashish Pandya, organising member, adding that the parade will kick off at August Kranti Maidan to the beats of Shikhandi Dhol Tasha Pathak, a Pune-based group comprising transgender percussionists.
