6 weekend exhibitions in and around the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival
With the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival on till February 13 getting people out and about in South Mumbai, we compiled a list of certified fresh culture going on this weekend.
The Psychic Plumber & Other Lies at Blue Frog Studios
Graphic novelist Sarnath Banerjee and musician Ashu Phatak put on an exhibition of their work merging sound with visuals at Blue Frog's studio space. Here's a 14-track sampler.
The theme of the show is inspired by the life and times of India in the 1970s and 1980s and happily the show is on till midnight every day.
A must-see must-hear show.
Till February 28, 11 a.m–midnight, Blue Frog Studios, Lower Parel; +91 (0) 22 4033 2300; Facebook group
Live Dream Hair Installation by Sapna Bhavnani at KGAF
Mad o Wot hair stylist extraordinaire Sapna Bhavnani wants to expand the definition of art in Mumbai to celebrate digital graphics, fashion and hair as art. But her 30-minute installation from 8.00-8.30 p.m. on February 12 at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (KGAF) will not be about cutting hair.
Instead the stylist/motorbiker/film producer will be wearing, along with five or six other folks, self-designed intricate head gear, which will be on display -- live as it were on their heads -- for half an hour in the streets of Rampart Row.
"The installation I will wear is a self-portrait. I've taken a bird cage on a helmet and created this beautiful aquarium feel inside, with fish on the outside. It's me suffocating, it's self-referential ... it's very much about somebody shedding old skin," Bhavnani says. "And it all looks like part of my hair."
On February 12 from 8-8:30 p.m. at Rampart Row, Kala Ghoda Arts Festival.
Read more about "Sapna Bhavnani: The mad barber of Bandra" on CNNGo
The ABSOLUT Art Tour featuring Subodh Gupta at Project 88
For 30 years this Swedish vodka brand has collaborated with the creative world to culminate in The ABSOLUT Art Tour, consisting of 20 original artworks from The ABSOLUT Art Collection which tours Mumbai this week.
Alongside original works by Andy Warhol, Francesco Clemente, Louise Bourgeois, Rosemarie Trockel, Angus Fairhurst, Jan Saudek, Béatrice Cussol, Robert Indiana, Douglas Gordon and Michael Kane is Indian contemporary artist Subodh Gupta, who has transformed traditional kitchen utensils into an ABSOLUT bottle in his distinct style.
Till February 13 at Project 88, BMP Building, Ground Floor, N A Sawant Marg, Colaba; +91 (0) 22 2281 0066/99; www.project88.in
Obataimu gentleman's peep show, pop-up store at KGC
There's a secret new show on at the Kala Ghoda Café (KGC). You won't see it initially because it's in the back and was constructed from the ground up in just ten days.
What was once a pile of rubble is now a guerilla pop-up concept store for menswear, plus some far out furniture, lighting and other custom accessories by a new design studio named Obataimu.
Obataimu is Japanese for overtime and promtes old world living in a contemporary context.
A black curtain opens into a temporary gentleman's den where soft cotton t-shirts and all sorts of other fabric innovations including reversible faux linen jackets in soft pastels, make for a touchy-feely experience.
Note: Obataimu is also working with The Impossible Project to revive polaroid instant film use in India.
Till approximately February 27 at Kala Ghoda Café, 10 Ropewalk Lane, Kala Ghoda, Fort; +91 (0) 22 2263 3866
Symphony Orchestra of India and Kailash Kher at RWITC
Jamming the Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI) with singer Kailash Kher, whose turf spans Indian folk music and sufi influences to make many a Bollywood soundtrack, and you've got an undeniably soulful and unique musical event.
Make the venue a canopy of stars on the lawns of one of Mumbai's most hoity-toiy heritage landmarks, the Royal Western Indian Turf Club (RWITC), where you sit in the members stand for a 75 minute performance followed by Chef Farrokh Khambatta's food for dinner....and it's a score.
On February 12, 8 p.m.; Tickets available at Royal Western Indian Turf Club, Mahalaxmi; +91 (0) 2301 4364/6577 0000
"Sweet Unease" by Ranbir Kaleka at Volte
Not only is "Sweet Unease" a very special art show, but also an important instance in Indian art history.
Artist Ranbir Kaleka, a 57-year-old British citizen, moves to New Delhi in the late 1990s after gaining a Masters Degree in Painting from the Royal College of Art in London in 1987.
His presence in galleries here is largely absent though he exhibits and is comissioned by prestigious art institutions around the world, till 2011 when Kaleka's first solo show in India is mounted without fault by a relatively new gallery called Volte in Mumbai and the show near sells out.
Kaleka's collection of video installations with projections on paintings is imperceptibly, deeply moving and is the kind of video art so refined you can easily imagine just loving living with it.
It's on only a few more days, so head to Arthur Bunder Road.
Till February 15 at Volte, 2/19, 1st Floor, Kamal Mansion, Arthur Bunder Road, near Radio Club, Colaba +91 (0)22 2204 1220; www.volte.in
