Mumbai Diary: Saturday Dossier

09 October,2021 07:16 AM IST |  Mumbai  |  Team mid-day

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

No Wheels. No Problem: A young boy hitches a ride on a young woman’s back in Wadala. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar


Sculpture? No

Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum

Bengaluru-based Museum of Art and Photography has released a new report based on the insights they've gathered through audience research, conducted in tandem with ReReeti Foundation. The report finds that Indian art lovers are partial towards paintings, with 386 out of 500 respondents selecting it as their favourite art form. Interestingly, the audience was largely indifferent to sculpture, with the art form scoring lowest. Further, while most respondents favoured English as their preferred language for communication in art environments, 60 per cent emphasised the importance of including regional languages in museum programming, and 92.4 per cent favoured the use of regional languages in museum signage. Finally, 68 per cent were optimistic about visiting museums and arts venues in 2021.

How music makes the people come together

Known as one of the best underground MCs in India, rapper Prabh Deep is featured in an international luxury house's musical campaign

Pop taught kids of any generation that music is about celebration, escape and personal expression. It makes us nostalgic, gives us an identity and a place to belong within a larger community. Pop icon Madonna looked at the relationship between music, fashion and subcultures, and gave us lyrics like: Music makes the people come together; music makes the bourgeoisie and the rebel. Unsurprising then, Alessandro Michele, creative director at Gucci, decided to highlight the joint power of music and fashion - so cathartic, ballsy, and liberating from a narrative point of view - to celebrate the Italian luxury house's centennial collection.

According to research from music data company Musixmatch, which collaborated with the luxury house on this project, the word Gucci has appeared in lyrics of a whopping 22,705 songs from 1921 to date. The universal language of music finds itself as the keynote within the Gucci 100 capsule collection, taking notes from a number of songs that mention the brand; along with the brand-new logo specially designed to mark the occasion, in a side-by-side tribute to the past and the present. "[…] Also because, if I were to depict Gucci, for me it would be an eternal teenager who hangs out at places where music is heard and played," Michele is quoted as saying.

To capture this transporting power of music and clothing, the house has collaborated with several young Indian artistes including Sahil Sharma (a.k.a Zaeden), Prabh Deep, Kavya Trehan and Ambika Nayak (a.k.a Kayan) in their latest musical campaign.

Films with a greener gaze

Stills from Moving upstream: Ganga and La saison des tourteaux, which will be screened at the festival

"We're at a point where the environmental issues we face have placed us in an existential crisis. While this realisation can be daunting for many, we want to also bring to the fore the good work that is being done around the world - by people, communities and organisations who are taking the right steps and making the right decisions to facilitate change. This is the theme for our film festival," said Kunal Khanna, curator of the All Living Things environmental film festival that begins today. The festival will feature 33 films from 31 countries. The themes are diverse and wide-ranging, from sustainable agriculture and waste management to wildlife and landscape, to the impact of rapid urbanisation on local communities. Certain films highlight inspirational practices, such as the regenerative style of agriculture. The films are accompanied by talks by prominent names in the field. To learn more, visit alteff.in.

Kunal Khanna

Sound notes for activism

Cultural institute Goethe-Institut has launched a new initiative, called the M.A.P // A.M.P, a platform that seeks to explore, capture, document and present research on the intersections of music and activism in South Asia. The institute has put out an open call, inviting entries for their repository of music. "The initiative is composed of several complementary elements, including a radio programme, a music library and a series of podcasts, among others. It is not bound by geography; as long as they are activist in nature we welcome all entries," said Kanika Kuthiala, programme coordinator.

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