Cultural Organisations

Bangalore Literature Festival (BLF), the flagship literary event on the cultural calendar of Bangalore city, is all set for its second edition from September 27 to 29 at the Crowne Plaza, at Velankani Park in Electronics City. From (L-R) Shinie Antony, Vikram Sampath, Srikrishna Ramamurthy - cofounders of Bangalore Literature Festival (1) Building on the successful 2012 debut edition, this year BLF will  feature over a 100 authors and speakers, including several distinguished literary names like Gulzar, RamachandraGuha, William Dalrymple, U R Ananthamurthy, Rajmohan Gandhi, Chandrashekhara Kambara, Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Rakesh Omprakash Mehra, Farhan Akhtar, David Davidar, Wendell Rodricks, Prasoon…

The first batch of students from aAp - an Actor prepares Acting and Performing Institute (for film and television) in Nagarbhavi, graduated on 19 May 2013. The occasion was marked by a finale performance that showcased the talents of the first batch of eight students - two girls and six boys, who underwent a three-month course. The show was held at the City Central Library Auditorium, RPC Layout, Vijayanagar on Sunday. Dignitaries lighting the lamp on stage. From left: R Manjunath, Hayavadana, Usha Bhandary, Krishnamoorthy Kavattar and V Manohar with students of aAp in the background. Pic: Ganapa Gowda aAp…

The ecstatic French architecture has been collectively displayed in the National Modern Art Gallery, Palace Road in collaboration with Institut Français in India and Alliance Française, Bangalore, as part of the Bonjour India Festival 2013. The exhibition was inaugurated on the 18th April with the photographs of French colonial edifices in India. Amid the verdant Modern Art Gallery are displayed the delightful photographs of the French Colonial Architecture, which expressed identity, power, superiority and indestructibility. Puducherry Delhi-based Conservation architect, Aishwarya Tipnis, who invited distinctive photographers like Anay Mann, Gigi Scaria, Rishi Singhal, Serena Chopra, Isabel Singhal and Jean-Pierre Dubois, brings…

The Namma Bengaluru Awards, instituted by the Namma Bengaluru Foundation, will be presented this Saturday 16th of March at 6 pm at the Malleshwaram Grounds. The awards will be given away in a glittering event of music, dance and entertainment. Entry to public is free.Total of 53 finalists in 9 categories will vie for the prestigious NBA. They include Prithvi Reddy, Arundhuti Gupta, Bangalore Traffic Police, BESCOM, Indian Centre for Social Transformation, Goonj, Kormangala 3rd Block RWA, Puttenhalli Neighborhood Lake Improvement Trust, Ashok Dalwai , B G Chengappa, BIOCON, IBM, Canara Bank and many more.The Namma Bengaluru Awards this year…

The Chitrakala Parishath art complex is a landmark on Kumara Krupa road, its distinct stone façade and portico stamping itself on the memory of most visitors. This week however, viewers will be in for a surprise - the entire set of buildings has been swathed in diaphanous white cloth as part of an art project by a student in the college, twenty four year-old Ashray Dravidian, currently pursuing his Bachelor's Degree in art History at the institution. The ongoing students' annual show within the galleries seemed an appropriate time for such an experiment. Chitrakala Parishath on Kumara Krupa Road, shrouded…

'Great films will be made only when we become great audience' are the words that greet you, as you enter Suchitra Cinema and Cultural Academy. It was a film society when it was started and gradually over the years it has unfolded itself to other forms art like, music, dance and theatre. View of the academy in Banashankari. Pic: Deepthi M S Built in the 80s, Suchitra Cinema and Cultural Academy in Banashankari, has retained its green element. With an auditorium of its own, a few classrooms, halls and an open air theatre, it is one academy with all facilities…

"Koramangala was a no man's land then," says, Professor N S Ramaswamy, 86, the man behind the Indian Heritage Academy (IHA.) Prof Ramaswamy, Chairman, Director, IHA, believes that a place can be made liveable only through its culture and its ethics. Pic: Deepthi M S Built in the early 80's, the academy's sole purpose was to foster the growth of Indian culture. Situated amidst the a busy area, it has a retained its old charm. The academy, a non-profit making organisation, spread over 30,000sq feet, it has around 500 varieties of plants. With temples, open yards and trees, it takes…

 A Small group of Vintage Scooter enthusiasts and a larger group of photographers converged on Cubbon Park, Bangalore. The retro colors on these bikes rock!  Pic by Ravi Kaushik ⊕

 WHITEFIELD DIARIES:Saythu and Jaaga Media Center present their latest project - Whitefield Diaries. This is a series of six short films that are each about seven mins in duration.Part of a larger idea titled "Neighbourhood Diaries", these short films aim at documenting personal histories as well as the neighbourhood's tangible and intangible heritage and socio-cultural centres that make Whitefield special.The current films are an outcome of Krupa's project to document Whitefield's intangible heritage. In turn this was a continuation of an earlier project to establish the significance of the settlement and its built heritage. The oral history project followed on…

Sobha Nambisan is 1976 batch IAS officer (retired) and took over the reins of NGMA Bengaluru in May 2010.  After retiring from the IAS, she has been at the helm of affairs at NGMA.   NGMA, Bangalore was long-awaited and fought for by the artists community in the state before it finally opened in the city in early 2009. It's entry fee is Rs.10 and all events are free to the public. It is the central government's third such gallery and first one in south India. New Delhi and Mumbai have the other national galleries. Sobha Nambisan talks to Subramaniam…