Mumbai Diary: Wednesday Dossier

Pic/Shadab Khan

A brush with Bombay blue

Artists lend finishing touches to a wall mural of fisherwomen at Sassoon Dock, Colaba, for the Mumbai Urban Art Festival, which begins tomorrow.

Benching the trash talk

One of the benches

A young citizen's movement in Bandra is quietly turning trash to treasure. Take for instance, this bright red bench at Carter Road, which will be unveiled tomorrow. Carter Clean Up, a group that has been consistently cleaning up the beach and mangroves in the area, initiated a week-long operation to remove 36,000 kg of construction debris from the site earlier this year. The debris was then recycled to create five public benches. Ashwin Malvade, who founded the movement along with Harold Fernandes, Freishia Bomanbehram, Maansi Desai and Nupur Agarwal, shared that the debris was illegally dumped at the beach amid the pandemic. "Citizens, including Dia Mirza, came together to fund this project. We didn't want the debris to land at any landfill. They were sent to Metro Waste Handling Pvt Ltd, Thane, which converted it into benches. They also made desks, which were sent to civic schools in Thane," Malvade added.

The initiative is led by the Carter Clean Up team

The art of crafting new beginnings

Gallery Maskara, T Venkanna, Still life, 2022, oil on canvas

From Kala Ghoda to Bandra, Mumbai will witness an art-y kick-off to the new year as the Mumbai Gallery Weekend returns in a grander format. Spanning four days from January 12, 2023, the weekender will feature new and old galleries such as Æquō, Akara Art, Chatterjee & Lal, Chemould CoLab, DAG, Cymroza Art Gallery, Galerie Isa, Experimenter Colaba, Gallery Maskara, IF.BE, Priyasri Art Gallery, and Art and Charlie, among others. Attendees will get to engage with a range of visual arts including painting, sculpture, photography, media art, installation, decorative arts, and design. Some of the highlights include a Young Collectors' Weekend at IF.BE, the chance to view the first-ever commissioned portrait by Raja Ravi Varma at DAG, several pop-up exhibitions, a dance performance at Art and Charlie, among other interesting sessions. Ranjana Steinruecke, lead, Mumbai Gallery Weekend 2023, shared that this will be their 11th edition. "We have an unprecedented participation of 32 galleries. Mumbai does have the most impressive spaces for art, all of which will have new shows opening on January 12. There will be art talks and walkthroughs as well," she told this diarist.

Ranjana Steinruecke

Peer reviewed

Arun Fulara received a pleasant gift to kick off the festive season. Fulara's short film, My mother's girlfriend, won him a second prize trophy for Best Director at the Smita Patil International Film Festival that was held last weekend. "It is always great to be recognised at home, but to win in Pune is a matter of joy," Fulara told this diarist. Maharshi Kashyap's Horse From Heaven was adjudged the first Best Film, while Jyothi Kalyan Sura's Dos Bros Force came second. "To be felicitated by fellow filmmakers is special. Especially since the award is instituted in the name of Smita Patil, one of India's best actors," he admitted.

For young readers

It's been two years since Peek A Book - a platform founded by author Lubaina Bandukwala - held its last on-ground children's literature festival. The return had to be elaborate, said Bandukwala who is bringing the festival to Khar's Jasudben ML School on December 22. The carnival will introduce young readers to authors and illustrators including Nandita da Cunha, Komal Narwani, Vineet Nair, Vaishali Shroff and Lavanya Karthik. "Many children's books have been published since 2019 but due to the pandemic, there was little opportunity to reach their audience. We will focus on middle school readers and young adults," she shared.

A window into a winter wonder-land in Bandra

Catch the city's most awaited Christmas window display at Bandra's Damian home décor store. Every year, owner and interior designer Frederick Pereira creates a showcase with life-sized characters fit for the large store window. This year, Santa has arrived in the city with his entourage, a carriage of toys and reindeers, along with the Nativity scene and Christmas tree. "It's always an original concept and displays are never repeated," he told us. This festive frame beautifully ushers the holiday season for us.