The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
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A woman helps her partner with a phone call, as they ride without wearing helmets, throwing caution to the wind on the Eastern Express Highway
Roar for a cause
Striped Tiger
In February, we had written on this page how Singapore’s Gardens by the Bay was abuzz with a roar of activity. As part of WWF-Singapore’s AR-mazing Tiger Trail, tiger-inspired paintings, prints, sculptures and ceramics by international and local artists made their appearance across Singapore. A part of this paw-some initiative is the WWF Tiger Trail online auction, organised by WWF and Sotheby’s, that’s coming to a close on May 5. Fifty-six lots of life-sized tiger sculptures and inspired artworks have gone under the hammer, including Striped Tiger by Michelle Poonawalla.
Michelle Poonawalla, 2022
The work, she told this diarist, is inspired by the Common Butterfly. “Both creatures are borrowing from each other’s strength and positivity. The butterfly symbolises the fragility and the ephemeral, transformative nature of life. As it goes through metamorphosis, the butterfly gives me a sense of hope after a period of darkness,” she said. She added that the auction will help raise money for tiger conservation in South East Asian countries; the funds will aid conservation activities, management of protected areas, and disruption of the illegal wildlife trade, apart from raising awareness.
Booked at the Asiatic Society
Bibliophiles and members of The Asiatic Society of Mumbai can avail of a display and book sale at the venue from May 5 to 18. Dr Shehernaaz Nalwalla, vice-president of the Society’s managing committee shared, “Over the years, we have accumulated many donated books.
Since we are open to donations, people keep sending books and periodi-cals without asking what the library is looking for. Some are not in good condition, but they can be of use.” Books and digests will range from Rs 20 to Rs 30 per title. The books on sale were never accessioned and hence, are not part of the library’s collection.
In all its Maha glory
From capturing her steps as she led the Narmada Bachao Andolan to hearing her break into songs when they camped outdoors, lensman Gajanan Dudhalkar and Medha Patkar go back a long way. The activist recently made her way to NCPA’s Piramal Art Gallery, where Dudhalkar has curated the Maharashtra Photo Exhibition 2022. Mukesh Parpiani, head, photography, NCPA, shared that the exhibit, which opened on Maharashtra Day, features works by 12 photographers who’ve trained their lens on Maharashtra, its people and culture. “Patkar liked that the photographs highlight the colourful side of Maharashtra. The idea is to shine the light on local photographers,” Dudhalkar told us.
Tamasha dekho
Tamasha artistes Sudhakar Pote and Seema Pote
Earlier this year, Kolkata-based Pickle Factory had put out a call for Voices from the South, inviting performance artistes to develop original work that will be premiered digitally at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2023. They recently announced the five winners, who include Mumbai-based theatre practitioners Choiti Ghosh and Savitri Medhatul.
Savitri Medhatul is collaborating
The latter will be chronicling the impact of COVID-19 on Tamasha artistes in Maharashtra through Corona Cha Tamasha. “It’s a Tamasha artistes’ story, in the form of a Tamasha. I plan to research about their lives, the governmental apathy towards these art forms that are surviving on the sheer support of locals and the grit of these artistes, how certain forms are seen as high and low art, and how resources are channelised.” We’ll be waiting for this Tamasha.
How to join the write race
Writers looking to catch that big break might want to thank The Punch Magazine. After the success of their last anthology of short stories by women, the e-magazine has decided to publish another anthology. This time, the doors are open to all writers with a good story and a creative idea, Shireen Quadri, its founder and publisher, shared with this diarist. “There are many who want to get into writing full-time, but are keen to test the waters first with short fiction. There are also novelists who want to take a break and write short fiction,” she explained. With July 30 marked as the deadline, and no genre limitations, the publisher believes that there is enough incentive for writers and their stories. So, get, set and write.
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