Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Indo-Aussie weave
Yesterday, if you happened to drop in at ARTISANS', you'd have spotted master weaver Liz Williamson flanked by beautiful rugs and stoles in muted colours and contemporary designs.

Here for a two-day exhibition, she interacted with the guests to offer insights into the process of making them. An interesting one considering the pieces were created as part of a cross-collaboration between Australian students and artisan communities in Gujarat.

The students were part of the 2016 batch of a fieldwork-based cultural textiles programme offered by University Of New South Wales. Through the course, led by Williamson, they get to visit various museums, print units and handloom shops in Ahmedabad, attend block printing and Bandhani workshops in Bhuj and spend time with Bhujodi's weavers all to innovate, design and create.

So what if he isn't looking!

Pic/Satej Shinde

Selfie-obsessed fans of Shah Rukh Khan seem content with capturing King Khan in the frame, never mind if he isn't even facing the camera.

IIT-ian takes solar bike race
Remember Sushil Reddy of IIT Bombay, who made headlines last year when he pedalled 7000 kilometres, riding across five states to embed the message of solar energy? Taking that mammoth project a notch further, the 27-year-old is in the process of organising a pan-India competition where participants, mainly students from various engineering colleges, will have to build their own solar powered bikes and race them.

KJ Somaiya, Thakur College, VJTI are among the top engineering colleges that are likely to participate. "We'll divide the students into groups and they'll have to build the solar-powered bike as per the specifics we provide - in terms of height, weight, length and battery power.

We will also mention a specific number of solar panels they can use to run the bike," Reddy says. Currently, they are ironing out the details, working towards an announcement date in a month's time. "We are looking at including at least 100 colleges in the competition," Reddy adds.

God's own (art) country
The verdant landscape, swaying palms, backwaters, boat races and ayurveda aside, Kerala has come to be known for the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India's first of its kind international exhibition of contemporary art. What's heartening to see is that the third ongoing edition of the biennale has now become the subject of Kerala Tourism's advertising campaign.

Pic/Facebook page of Stark Communications

Called ‘Live Inspired', the posters of the campaign are fittingly aesthetic, where a photograph of a picturesque scene from the southern state gets reflected in a corresponding painting. Calling on tourists to visit Kerala for a biennale now, we cannot think of a better way of popularising art.

Aâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088stint in the desert
A shoot in the Thar desert during the chilly month of January doesn't sound like fun, but Irrfan Khan and the rest of the team for his forthcoming film seem to be having a jolly good time. Shot extensively in Rajasthan, Khan plays the role of a camel trader in the film and Iranian actress-musician Golshifteh Farahani plays his wife. We'd love to see how this desert romance pans out.

Harsha's found a new pitch
Harsha Bhogle recently treaded out of his comfort zone and made an appearance in a popular Marathi comedy/talk show with his wife Anita. The cricket commentator and columnist had been apprehensive about how he would sound in a language he doesn't use professionally, but looks like he needn't have worried.

Harsha and Anita Bhogle on the sets of the show

According to Anita's recent tweet, of all the television appearances Harsha has made, their driver was most thrilled by this one. We wonder if Harsha would consider switching to Marathi if TV commentary in regional languages were to become a reality!