28 February,2022 06:56 AM IST | Mumbai | Team mid-day
Pic/Anurag Ahire
Three friends enjoy an intense game of Snakes and Ladders at Shivaji Park in Dadar.
Here's what caught our eye over the weekend. The Revolver Club (TRC) published a vintage anti-war poster in solidarity with Ukraine on their Instagram page @therevolverclub. The poster, contributed by Sujit Sinha, who is a member of the Bombay Record Club by TRC, was an advertisement sponsored by Hotel Oberoi Towers in the 1986 brochure of Jazz Yatra - the country's most iconic jazz festival. Sinha claimed that the artwork was by Nexus, an advertising agency. He said, "Jazz and anti-war messaging go hand-in-hand." Explaining this, the 47-year-old noted that the wider framework and nature of jazz,an amalgamation of sounds, is essentially anti-war. Sinha cited protest jazz tunes such as Sonny Rollins' 1958 Freedom suite and John Coltrane's Peace on earth from 1966. First held in 1978 in Bombay, Jazz Yatra's success introduced the world of jazz to the remaining population who weren't already fans.
As Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, causing irreparable damage to life and property, this diarist came across a few updates on its museums and art community. Its museums are home to priceless collections, and across the country, these custodians of the nation's treasures are working overtime to safeguard their collections. In an interview to New York Times, Aleksandra Kovalchuk, director of the prestigious Odesa Fine Arts Museum, shared that the staff was holed up in the basement of the museum. Ukraine was scheduled to participate with a pavilion at the Venice Biennale in April. They are obviously not preparing for it, due to serious threats to their lives, according to local newspaper reports. Pavlo Makov, a leading Ukrainian artist who was to be the big-ticket presence for that show, revealed that he is staying put in Kharkiv, adding that he wasn't going to be running away from his home.
There's a roar of activity at Singapore's Gardens by the Bay. As part of WWF-Singapore's AR-mazing Tiger Trail at Supertree Grove, tiger-inspired paintings, prints, sculptures and ceramics by international and local artists dot the island. The goal of the six-week trail: to raise awareness about the importance of the tiger's role in mitigating climate change. Apart from curated art tours, workshops and the displays, an online auction by Sotheby's will witness 33 life-sized tiger sculptures go under the hammer. Among the artists showcasing their work at the trail is Michelle Poonawalla. Her fibreglass and paint sculpture Striped Tiger has been inspired by the Common Butterfly which bears tiger stripes on its wings. The sculpture bears the butterfly's wings on its body, symbol-ising a sharing of strength and support. "I've always wanted my art to stand for a greater cause, and it's a privilege to be able to make art that supports the tiger," she said.
Poetry, rhythm and a dash of inspi-ration will meet in the hallowed halls of NCPA's Experimental Theatre on International Women's Day as UnErase Poetry - a space for spoken word performances - turns five. Founder Simar Singh shared that from tales of gender-benders to verses on sexuality, the idea is to present a range of narratives that fill viewers with introspection. "The past five years have been great. This year is special as shows are back, and we hope to continue," he told us.
Get booked for technology
Non-fungible tokens or NFTs have been steadily gaining popularity. Now, Delhi-based author Anirudh Suri has released The Great Tech Game NFT Collection Series - purportedly the first book with a limited-edition NFT collectible memorabilia cards. The title, Great Tech Game: Shaping Geopolitics and the Destinies of Nations (HarperCollins India), brings to the fore the numerous ways in which technology and geopolitics interact to shape our world. Proceeds from the NFT sales will support groups that lack access to tech. "Technology is all around us. But we don't grasp how it's changing our future. I've written this book to help all of us understand how we need to adapt to compete in the tech-driven future. Creating NFTs for my book is a way for me to demonstrate the importance of being early adopters of these technologies," he shared.
