4 posts tagged “art”

 

Mumbai is famous for the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival held every year in February. It is held in a little alley called Kala Ghoda ("Black horse" in Hindi), and is a brilliant mishmash of music, dance, theatre, handicrafts, shops, installations and other odds and ends.

Here are some pics from my Kala Ghoda sojourn this year.

 

 

The entrance usually has some really nutty installations. Set against a backdrop of quaint, beautiful Victorian buildings, it makes for a whimsical composition.

 

 

And here's Big Ben's twin.

 

This was the most striking piece - a giant wheel made up entirely of bicycles belonging to Mumbai's legendary dabbawallahs.

 

Here's a closeup. Check out the steel lunch boxes on the carrier!

 

There were also some wacky cars painted with wild colours and motifs. This Maruti Suzuki Zen was particularly outstanding. The motifs remind me of tattoos.

 

Here's another crazy car whose make is unfamiliar to me. An Ambassador, perhaps?

 

A painted bike. This looks like a Royal Enfield Bullet, but it's hard to tell.

 

And an Ambassador which is probably the craziest car I've seen in this country.

It was probably a statement about the insane cold wave that hit Mumbai!

 

 

My favourite car, the 100% electric and eco-friendly Reva, was also one of the victims of this bizarre makeover. But if anything, it only made me love the car more.

 

Here are a couple of the sober ones.

 

And here they are, in carnival gear.

 

This one was my favourite.

 

Various other kitsch:

 

The festival also includes various stage and theatre performances. One was an Odissi performance. Odissi is a classical dance form from the eastern Indian state of Orissa.

 

There was also a Kuchipudi performance. Kuchipudi is a classical dance from the south-eastern state of Andhra Pradesh.

 

As I left Kala Ghoda and its traditional yet avant-garde glory, a marvellous sight greeted my eyes: the historic Victorian buildings of the Old Bombay Presidency that needed little more than lamp posts to be transformed into ghostly yet opulent gateways to the past.

 

 I'm really looking forward to next year's festival.

...but I not eated dem yet.

 

First, some silly animal-motif snowflakes for the pet peeps. (The puppeh is the best, IMO.)

 

 

Something curvy...

 

Something wacko (these look somewhat Maori to me)

 

Something slithery (didn't really turn out that way, though)

 

 

Some more mask-like stuff....

 

 

 

More eccentric intricacies.

Make these here!

Didn't take me long to jump in.

1. Tried some wordplay. Didn't like it. :(

2. Then some *evil* wordplay. Hee hee.

3. Practice makes perfect.

(Sorry, the last two are neighbours-only)

Today's your lucky day, peeps. Since I'll be busy on Valentines Day with my upcoming animation, I'm giving out free Vox banners today itself. Bwahahaha.

Yeah, I'm a cynic and I usually hate Valentine's Day (too damned commercial for my liking, and mostly just plain silly) but today I'm strangely lovey-dovey. Whatever. Make hay while the sun shines. (It's raining here, but whatthehell.)

They're not great, of course. All 5-minute Photoshop jobs, though the last one, my personal best IMO, took nearly 15 minutes. And since I did the drawing too on photoshop, the drawing quality is icky - I'm a pretty good artist and my lines are much better with pencil than with a damned mouse.

Here they are, from "worst to best". If you do take them, out of ill-judgement or pity, leave a comment. ;)