On its 14th year, Mumbai’s Kala Ghoda art festival goes ‘Let there be light’, but offers the unusual mix of art, glamour and glitz
Why is the fair so dimly lit?” bem-oans a dazed visitor, shivering on an unusually chilly Mumbai evening. “There’s light behind you,” sniggers his girlfriend, as he gawks at the levitating Buddha that represents the theme ‘Let there be light’ in Kala Ghoda art festival this year.
Mumbai’s biggest art festival, organised by Kala Ghoda Association, draws an eclectic crowd that mingles in the open space, and lingers in galleries where world cinema and short documentaries flicker across the screens. The fair is as much about about glamour, glitz as cutting edge alternative art — more like a multi-media, multi-locational experience, meandering through the fabric of the island city.
“We have seen around 8 to 10 lakh visitors so far. Considering the low-cost budget of the entire event, we are enthralled with the responses,” said Pallavi Sahney Sharma, chief executive of Kala Ghoda Association. The festival in its 14th year now, offers kitschy fun for the art enthusiasts.
The venue itself, tucked in an enclave bounded by Mumbai’s dockyard, Fountain and Oval Maidan, near the cacophonous Colaba Causeway in an affluent South Mumbai business district, neatly embodies the contrasts of modern India. It draws designer cotton-saree draped industrialists browsing through the ‘madhubani’ painting stalls to street urchins gaping at the art installations on the street. While most Indian galleries focus on commercial prospects of art, Kala Ghoda fair maintains an alternative, artist-led ethos.
The festival has drawn art performers from almost all states of the country and international destinations such as Germany, USA, China, Austria and Pakistan, informed Sharma. “The festival this year is bigger than previous years in terms of the number of art performances, though there are lesser stalls this year. While we have 400 events spanning nine days, we have seen maximum crowd in visual art and street performances such as puppetry,” said Sharma. The crowds particularly throng the chirpy, colourful folk song and dance shows from Rajasthan and Manipur, among others.
The event had international acts such as Guangdong Art Troupe and Pakistani music band Raga Boys. A dash of hiphop, salsa and Bollywood moves lightened up the high-brow air.
Some quintessential concepts such as Mumbai’s cutting chai and tapri (small tea stalls) have been transformed into art work by students of Mumbai city-based Rachna College. The students have built a 14-feet tall pyramid with 4,000 chai glasses symbolic of the three aspects — tapri, cutting-chai and Mumbai.
Though the fair’s supposed to be strictly non-commercial, it is mildly funny to overhear hushed conversations about a business deal, new job opportunity or even invitation to a party. The objectives are met, boundaries are taken forward.
Also, it is interesting to watch the numerous stalls and NGOs dotting the streets, rake in moolah for their overpriced artistic wares. Lasting less than 10 days a year, this high-wattage art fair has nevertheless infused the burgeoning contemporary-art scene in Mumbai with an unmistakable swagger. The festival is on till Feb 12.
Mumbai’s biggest art festival, organised by Kala Ghoda Association, draws an eclectic crowd that mingles in the open space, and lingers in galleries where world cinema and short documentaries flicker across the screens. The fair is as much about about glamour, glitz as cutting edge alternative art — more like a multi-media, multi-locational experience, meandering through the fabric of the island city.
“We have seen around 8 to 10 lakh visitors so far. Considering the low-cost budget of the entire event, we are enthralled with the responses,” said Pallavi Sahney Sharma, chief executive of Kala Ghoda Association. The festival in its 14th year now, offers kitschy fun for the art enthusiasts.
The venue itself, tucked in an enclave bounded by Mumbai’s dockyard, Fountain and Oval Maidan, near the cacophonous Colaba Causeway in an affluent South Mumbai business district, neatly embodies the contrasts of modern India. It draws designer cotton-saree draped industrialists browsing through the ‘madhubani’ painting stalls to street urchins gaping at the art installations on the street. While most Indian galleries focus on commercial prospects of art, Kala Ghoda fair maintains an alternative, artist-led ethos.
The festival has drawn art performers from almost all states of the country and international destinations such as Germany, USA, China, Austria and Pakistan, informed Sharma. “The festival this year is bigger than previous years in terms of the number of art performances, though there are lesser stalls this year. While we have 400 events spanning nine days, we have seen maximum crowd in visual art and street performances such as puppetry,” said Sharma. The crowds particularly throng the chirpy, colourful folk song and dance shows from Rajasthan and Manipur, among others.
The event had international acts such as Guangdong Art Troupe and Pakistani music band Raga Boys. A dash of hiphop, salsa and Bollywood moves lightened up the high-brow air.
Some quintessential concepts such as Mumbai’s cutting chai and tapri (small tea stalls) have been transformed into art work by students of Mumbai city-based Rachna College. The students have built a 14-feet tall pyramid with 4,000 chai glasses symbolic of the three aspects — tapri, cutting-chai and Mumbai.
Though the fair’s supposed to be strictly non-commercial, it is mildly funny to overhear hushed conversations about a business deal, new job opportunity or even invitation to a party. The objectives are met, boundaries are taken forward.
Also, it is interesting to watch the numerous stalls and NGOs dotting the streets, rake in moolah for their overpriced artistic wares. Lasting less than 10 days a year, this high-wattage art fair has nevertheless infused the burgeoning contemporary-art scene in Mumbai with an unmistakable swagger. The festival is on till Feb 12.
Meghna Maiti
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