The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
City of lights: Traditional paper lanterns add a twinkle to the night sky at Mahim. Pic/Shadab Khan
Van-guards of art
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The folks at Hers is Ours, a group that creates awareness on gender-discrimination using the arts as a medium, are now spreading their message across 18 different spots in the country. They have started The Outsider Festival, which entails a van travelling across Agra and urban and rural spots in Rajasthan, ferrying artists, filmmakers and storytellers who will educate local communities about issues including marginalisation and inclusivity. The core team behind the endeavour comprises Ayushi Shriramwar, Anal Jha, Trina Talukdar and Naomi Jahan. Talukdar shared that they are also hosting menstrual hygiene and awareness workshops. “We have started a crowdfunding campaign to cover our costs,” Jahan added. Visit startsomegood.com If you want to pitch in.
Icy developments
Today, through a poetry performance and talk, writer and artist Himali Singh Soin will dig deeper into ice, the theme of her book titled We Are Opposite Like That. The book is a compilation of a series of poems, historical documents, calligrams, logograms, topological design elements and fictional mythologies based in the polar regions. “Himali has been researching the idea of ice and polar regions for a while now. She received a grant from India Foundation for the Arts [IFA] in 2018 for this project, through which she is also exploring writing about ice through a cultural lens,” explained Menaka Rodriguez, head of resource mobilisation and outreach at IFA.
Call for better representation
Photo by Peter Bos from his book on the Konyaks of Nagaland
“If you search for images of tribal culture or heritage online, the images that come up typically do not represent the communities in a positive light,” shared Sudhir John Horo, convener of the Tribal Design Forum, a platform that explores the role that design can play for tribal communities in India. This sparked the idea behind the first ever Tribal Heritage of India Photography Contest, where participants are invited to share photographs that aptly capture the spirit of the tribal people, and their culture and heritage. Horo added that this contest was also envisioned as a way of crowd-sourcing images to enable better representation online and of encouraging photographers (amateur and professional) to capture their own communities through their eyes. In doing so, they are seeking to encourage individuals belonging to tribal communities to self-determine their identity. An international jury, whose members are either representatives of indigenous communities in their countries, or have worked extensively with indigenous communities, will judge the entries. To participate, register on tribaldesignforum.com before October 29.
Photo from Aman Chotani from The Last Avatar
Diwali lights on Singapore streets
Taking the opportunity to celebrate Singapore’s strong cultural ties with India, the festival of lights is being ushered in with great festivity in Little India — one of the country’s most vibrant cultural districts. Revellers will be greeted by an elaborate display of lights, candles and rangoli decorations, with the motifs of peacocks, lotus flowers, oil lamps and Mahalakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, becoming a common sight on Serangoon Road. They’ve also lined up events such as treasure hunts and a briyani festival, in addition to virtual activities such as food masterclasses and entertainment shows, to prevent overcrowding.
Exploring Mumbai’s Portuguese ties
“While so many people drive past St Andrew’s Church in Bandra, few know that it was built by the Portuguese before the Taj Mahal in Agra. It is a part of what makes Mumbai one of the top five cities with Portuguese influence across the world,” said archaeologist Kurush Dalal, who is one of the speakers at an event dedicated to the Portuguese heritage of Mumbai. This session aims to explore and decode how the unique culture of these pre-British settlers has historically, geographically and socio-culturally shaped the city of Bombay. The other speakers include historian Fleur D’Souza, author Sifra Lentin and Portuguese architect Sidh Losa Mendiratta.
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