With venues finally opening after nearly two years, there’s a lot to look forward to in terms of plays, gigs and museums
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya
By Shunashir Sen, Anindita Paul and Sammohinee Ghosh
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Centenary cheer
Coming in: January
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) will be commemorating 100 years in January since it opened its doors to the public, and while a series of events will line the year, as promised by its director-general Sabyasachi Mukherjee, the first exhibition that visitors can look forward to will showcase a collection of Tanjore (Thanjavur)-style paintings donated by late Kuldip Singh, one of the modern architects of Delhi. The town planner and collector gifted these paintings to the museum; 60 of them will be on display for this much-awaited show.
Allied for theatre
Coming in: January
A play reading for Taking Sides
The Company Theatre has got a series of 12 shows lined up for a play it’s staging at G5A in Mahalaxmi this year. It’s called Taking Sides, and the plot revolves around the age-old conflict between politics and the arts. It is based in a post-World War II era when the Allied Forces enter Germany to fish out Nazis who’d gone into hiding and take a famous music conductor into custody. He had refused to flee the country when all other artistes were escaping the Nazi regime, and that makes him suspicious in the eyes of the Allied Forces.
Going underground
Coming in: January
Rahul (left) and Monish Rohra
Mumbai has a serious deficit of gig venues, with music buffs rotating to the same few places every week for concerts. But the good news is that there is a new place, Pandora, which is coming up in Khar and is dedicated solely to music. The owners, brothers Rahul and Monish Rohra, were inspired by underground venues they had seen abroad, and are keeping that same ethos for the spot. The space will open only for gigs in the evening, and that too only on days when there is an artiste playing. It will remain shut on other days. The food is a mix of dishes that will be served up from the two cloud kitchens that the Rohras already run in the area, and there will also be an in-house bar serving a variety of cocktails.
Time to dance
Coming in: January
International electronic DJs have started making a steady comeback to the city, and two of the more popular names scheduled for gigs here are Benjamin Damage (in pic) and Dubfire. The former is a British DJ based in Germany who has already landed in India, having played gigs at places like Goa. Dubfire, on the other hand, is a Grammy Award-winning Iranian-American house music DJ who was part of celebrated electronic act Deep Dish. Catch them as they set the dance floor of a Lower Parel venue on fire.
Getting to know Radha
Coming in: January
Art historian and scholar of Indian miniature paintings Dr BN Goswamy (in pic) will speak on Radha (Companion, Beloved, Aaradhya) from the viewpoint of an artist and devotee. This illustrated talk at NCPA will see Goswamy focusing on a song by Vidyapati where the words are spoken by Vraja, a damsel hopelessly in love with Krishna. But the question asked towards the end of the song might as well be posed to Radha as she is omnipresent. The scholar looks into the concept of Radha as poets and painters of the Subcontinent knew her.
Thrift and the city
Coming in: February‒March
Bombay Closet Cleanse is a Bandra-based thrift store
Bandra-based thrift store Bombay Closet Cleanse will host a city-wide thrift festival, featuring over 50 local thrift stores as well as local F&B brands and small businesses that are focused on sustainability. Besides thrifting, the festival will involve art shows and performances. “Our goal is to make a definite change in consumer behaviour and encourage them to shift towards sustainable shopping — and, to do so, we have to make thrifting exciting. The festival will be a community engagement initiative that educates and entertains the lay consumer. We hope to make this an annual affair,” said Sana Khan, its co-founder.
Mixing mediums
Coming in: March
The Harkat Collective will be staging a theatre show with a difference, titled Preet. It will be a hybrid event that fuses elements of cinema and theatre. The stage will have screens that depict certain characters, who will also be there live on stage, interacting with their own on-screen personas. All the sounds are live, and the plot follows a tragic story that explores love and grief.
Fairs and retrospectives
Coming in: february‒March
The fair will showcase a range of contemporary handmade products
Dr Bhau Daji Lad City Museum is known for striving to support the living traditions of India while promoting creator-to-consumer non-profit initiatives. It will collaborate with Hundred Hands, a Karnataka-based not-for-profit group, to bring a handicrafts fair at the museum. The fair will showcase a vibrant array of contemporary handmade products made by traditional artisans. The platform will also be used to host talks and workshops by craftsmen and artists. In March, the museum will also host an exhibition of contemporary works and installations by Reena Saini Kallat. It will be a mini retrospective charting out the artist’s evolution.
Happy tails
Coming in: January
The under-construction site for the new shelter. Pic/Bipin Kokate
Animal welfare organisation YODA will launch a new, larger shelter in Khar. This space will accommodate 70 animals (dogs and cats) at a time and will also include a free OPD for the benefit of strays. “Through our OPD, which will be equipped with diagnostic equipment, we will serve nearly 400 strays a month. We will also have in-house vets on call and an ambulance service to tend to emergencies. Our goal is to be the best-in-care hospital for strays in the city, and to also amplify our work in the areas of adoptions, awareness and education,” shared founder Priya Agarwal. The new shelter has been partially crowd-funded by animal-loving citizens.
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