ARTS and CULTURE

A week long musical treat is in store at Shree Ramana Maharishi Academy, 3rd cross, 3rd phase, JP Nagar, from January 23rd. The event, ‘Aradhana Sapthaha' will witness about 60 musicians delivering vocals, whistling and instrumental music, over 6 days, under the guidance and expertise of Vidwans and Vidushis in Carnatic classical music. The stage will be on a high octane drive with all the musicians delivering Purandaradasa, Thyagaraja, Muthuswamy Dikshithar, Shyamashastry, Jayachamaraja and Kanakadasa's krithis. The concerts are organised by the BTM cultural academy. The vocalists and instrumentalists are disciples of very well known names in carnatic classical music.…

Moon Arra Pic: bengaluruhabba.co.in Bengaluru habba kicked off on 11 January, art lovers of Bangalore are in for a beautiful rendezvous with music, culture and art. So, for anyone who would like to get a hold of what's in store, here is a roundup of the bands that’ll be churning out the best of music across various genres, from funk to rock to contemporary and world music. The selected bands/musicians playing at UB city, for Bengaluru Habba are quite literally hand-picked for the expertise in their respective genre of music. Sanjay Divecha - World music will reverberate through Sanjay’s compositions…

The literary works of illustrious playwright and poet, Thyagaraja Paramasiva Kailasam or TPK, are, without doubt, the best among the modern day writings in Kannada to date - a captivating mix of humour, poignancy & relevance. His works have an essential realism and meaning that are valid to this day.He remains the soul of Kannada theatre and resides in the heart of every connoisseur of Kannada theatre and poetry. Thyagaraja paramasiva kailasam-hailed as a great humourist and one of the doyens of kannada literature A peek into Kailasam's life:The saga of T P Kailasam (1884 to 1946), begins in southern…

A Bangalore of leisurely afternoon siestas, trees in abundance, monkey tops adorning grand bungalows, joyous celebrations unrestrained through the night and cycle rickshaws that got you about town. How do you celebrate the best years of your life? Artist Paul Fernandes does it with a series of 50 paintings that relive vibrant Bengaluru of the 70s. While the series currently reflects life in the Cantonment areas, Paul hopes to extend this in the coming months. aPaulogy opened on 21 December 2011. Paul Fernandes. Pic: Christina Daniels The paintings themselves are not easily classified into any genre, as humorous caricatures meet…

    The newspaper write-up for Dustin Bayi describes the play as "the complex relationship of a Christian family with local rituals and belief in spirit worship". Further "a powerful plot, reputed artists, authentic sets, music, and colorful costumes make this play a must-watch". This write-up seemed exciting enough, particularly in the light of the recent incidents with churches in Mangalore and Bangalore. Also, the play being staged on Christmas Day seemed symbolic as the occasion to watch it. The plot Pic: Kriyative Theatre Dustin Bayi is a short story by Gopalakrishna Aithal. It is adapted for the stage by…

The 4th edition of the Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFES) concluded on December 22, 2011. Like with previous events, BIFFES brought the best of international world cinema to the city. But unlike in the past, this year it routinely ran to full houses, with venues like Lido Mall even accommodating audience members on the floor because seats were all full. With screening venues spread out from Bangalore East to Bangalore South, the fourth BIFFES was more inclusive than past editions. Movie: When We Leave Pic:Wikipedia Using a combination of traditional media and social networking sites, the organisers generated the right…

About six hundred people gathered at Kuvempu park, Ranga Mandira, BTM Layout on 18 December, Sunday to participate in the 106th birth anniversary of Rashtra Kavi Kuvempu. He was the first Kannada litterateur to be honoured with the Jnanpith Award. His birthday falls on the 29 December. Samana Manaskara Vedike, BTM layout, 2nd Stage and Bhagavadgita Abhiyan State Committee Karnataka, jointly organised this event. Yakshagana performance Kuvempu park, BTM. Pic: C R Sridhar The evening began with a prayer and was followed with an enthralling display of the Yakshagana by the artistes of Sirsi-Siddapur Vrinda. Yakshagana is a popular form…

It is curtains up for the 4th Bengaluru International Film Festival (Biffes) on December 15, 2011. About 175 feature films from around the world will visit the city over the eight-day event. They include 130 foreign films from 40 countries, 30 from Indian Cinema and 15 from Kannada Cinema. This year's country focus will be on Polish cinema, Egyptian cinema, Asian cinema, contemporary Indian cinema and contemporary Kannada Cinema.         Significantly, for the first time, Bengaluru's annual film event has finally received the attention it deserves, with the goal being to establish it amongst India's premier film festivals. This edition of…

Alliance Francaise hosted Kaleidoscape 2011 an exhibition of paintings, photographs and sculptures by seven eclectic artists on 10th and 11th December. Philippe Gasparini the Director of Alliance Francaise inaugurated the event. Pic: Suja Sukumaran Ramesh Nambiar, Pooja Surana and Adithi Sarovar presented their paintings while Chandrashekar Naik, Yatiraj M and Hemavathi S L exhibited their sculptures. The group of seven diverse thinkers with their medium and tools captured the imagination of the viewers in the gallery making it an enjoyable evening.Pooja Suvarna a student of Chitrakala Parishath (CKP), gold medalist and rank holder in Arts was thrilled with the prospect…

      The Water Station is a critically-acclaimed play written by the Japanese playwright Shogo Ohta. It is the most famous piece of his "Station" trilogy, which includes The Earth Station and The Wind Station. The play was first performed in 1981 with a Japanese cast, and has since been performed all over the world with various actors of diverse origins. Director Sankar Venkateswaran of Theatre Roots and Wings first directed the play for Ninasam in 2010, and this time around he has put together a varied cast auditioned from all over  India. Scene From the rehearsals. Pic courtesy:…