Mumbai Diary: Friday Dossier

The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce

Hop on to this reel train

Rafique Baghdadi; (righ) Costa-Gavras. Pic courtesy/Wikimedia Commons

Years ago, when Costa-Gavras, a noted Greek-French film director, screenwriter and producer, flew down to Mumbai for a film festival, film journalist and city chronicler Rafique Baghdadi  took on the task of showing him around. Ahead of the Mumbai Press Club Film Study Group’s screening of the director’s film, The Sleeping Car Murders (1965), at the club on Saturday, Baghdadi recalled that at the time, Gavras was 80, and keen on capturing the city through his lens. “The film that will be screened is a French mystery movie that’s beautifully shot in black and white on a [train] compartment,” he told this diarist.

Nature meets sustainability at SGNP bazaar

“For a long time, some of us who visit the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) regularly had been discussing how to attract attention to the plastic nuisance inside the park,” shared Shaheen Desai, co-founder, Street Konnect, a community of women who organise a street festival and events in Thakur Village, Kandivli. To spread the word and promote ideas of sustainability among visitors and tourists, they have teamed up with the Nature Information Centre, SGNP, to host a festival called Upcycle Bazaar on November 13. “The fest will feature sale of upcycled and recycled products, along with workshops. There’ll also be a plastic collection drive,” she added.

A lit idea

Vaccination has managed to offer a ray of hope in our dark and distressful battle against COVID-19. However, despite the efforts of the government and citizens’ groups, there are thousands who harbour misconceptions about vaccination, and have stayed away from getting the jab. To dispel these myths with the light of knowledge, social worker Ashok Kurmi has fashioned a five-foot vaccine-themed kandil in Sanjay Gandhi Nagar, LPC Colony, near Sion-Trombay Road. “I made it with a few bamboo tokris, and then wrapped it with paper. On it, I pasted a print-out of the vaccine text. The kandil is the focus of Diwali; people scout around to check out attractive kandils. So, I felt we could make a vaccine-themed kandil, since in this neighbourhood, there’s limited awareness,” he added.

Go with the flow

Paddling Foundation, a Mumbai-based NGO that helps create awareness regarding menstrual health, recently conducted a campaign among ragpickers in Kalyan village. “The idea was to engage with the community about menstrual health and introduce them to sustainable alternatives to menstrual hygiene,” volunteer Sameedha Bhat, told us. They provided reusable sanitary pads and other products to 269 women. “Our foundation is built to create an impactful presence in the comm-unity about menstrual hygiene,” said co-founder Saloni Bhutra.

Italy calling

Masked Reality by Agrawal

Artissima, Italy’s contemporary art fair, provides a platform for emerging artists. And Bengaluru-based artist Harshit Agrawal, who as made a mark for himself in combining the technical complex-ities of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with artistic expression, will show-case his works at Artissima, in Torino, from today till November 7. “The idea is to remove the Orwellian notions associated with AI and explore the artistic possibilities of such advanced technology,” shared Agrawal. His works, Masked Reality and Strange Genders, will be featured at the fair. Strange Genders combines AI with human perception of gender through drawings, conclusively exploring the idea of gender fluidity while Masked Reality explores artistic liberties through AI. The traditional Kerala art forms of Theyyam and Kathakali that have caste and class connotations are broken down in this piece.

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