Cultural Organisations

Music lovers in BTM Layout and surrounding localities were treated to a grand flute concert on Sunday 24th April organised by the BTM Cultural Association at the Ramana Maharshi School for the Blind in 3rd Phase J P Nagar. The looming clouds had kept many from attendance but close to a hundred people turned up to listen to flautist Mysore A Chandan Kumar. Mysore Nagaraj accompanied him on violin, B C Manjunath on mridangam and Giridhar Udupa on ghatam. The oohs and the ahs from the audience, appreciating the flautist's intricate rendering of musical compositions indicated a gathering a connoisseurs. …

Dalai Lama, the Noble peace prize laureate is scheduled to visit St. Joseph college of Arts and Science, Bangalore this coming Sunday. Source: Wikimedia Commons. (Jamling_with_HH_Dalai_Lama.jpg) "H.H. the Dalai Lama has been invited to attend S Nijalingappa memorial function at Chitradurga, 500 km from Bangalore on coming Saturday", said Tashi Phuntsok, the chief representative of Central Tibetan Administration in South India (CTA). Nijalingappa was the first Karnataka chief minister, and the one who initially welcomed the Tibetan refugees into Karnataka state. The address at the college will be followed by a public talk on “Finding Happiness in Troubled Times,” organized…

On Gandhi Jayanti, as I was walking past the United Theological College (UTC) on Millers Road, I was delighted to see a banner regarding its centenary celebrations still displayed. Although I was aware that this renowned institution turned a hundred in July 2010, I was unable to participate in any of the relevant events. Curious to know what was on that afternoon, I entered the green and serene campus. The helpful security guard and a staff member directed me to the large group of Mizo youth (our siblings from the state of Mizoram) chatting and playing merrily. Learning that there…

 Beautiful Graffiti adorns the walls of Max Muller Bhavan at Indiranagar. Pic by Ravi Kaushik ⊕

It is very easy to review a play which has had a house-full audience, which was cheered to the echo, and was obviously enjoyed to the hilt by every child in the audience!"Tale of Haruk", a Korean fairy tale, staged by TUIDA, a Korean performance group (that aims to be nature-friendly in play-making) was brought to the Bangalore children by way of Ranga Shankara's AHA! initiative to provide theatre for children, supported by Britannia. The production used puppetry, some amount of sleight of hand, a set of musical instruments that are recycled from items of ordinary use,and a talented cast…

The air was abuzz with excitement and anticipation at Jaaga Creative Common Ground on January 6th evening. The occasion was Lakeview Award for Everyday Achievement (LAEA) held for the first time to recognise the efforts of selfless citizens residing in Shanthinagar, Langford Road, and Richmond Town "for micro-level achievements in making individuals or community life better". German artist Mathias Einhoff. Pic: Venkatesh L. The event was a brainchild of German artist Mathias Einhoff, co-director of Skulpturenpark Berlin_Zentrum and former lecturer at the Universität der Künste in Berlin. He was in the city on a Goethe-sponsored six-week artist residency at Jaaga.…

I was on the 25th Chennai Photo Walk and we were walking past the Annamalai Mandram, in front of which is the statue of the famous banker/philanthropist, Rajah Sir Annamalai Chettiar photographed here with an alert citizen in front :)....  and when I looked at the plaque, I realized that the king of the erstwhile kingdom of Mysore,  Jayachamaraja Wodeyar had been the Governor of the erstwhile Madras Presidency, and had actually unveiled this statue in 1954!   It's only now that we have Andhra and Karnataka and Tamil Nadu...we were all brothers, not so long ago!   ⊕

Following a long wait, Bengaluru inaugurated its very own National Gallery of Modern Art earlier this year. Functioning under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, National Gallery has its head quarters in New Delhi, and another centre in Mumbai. Originally established in 1954, NGMA developed as a premiere institute for the housing and display of modern and contemporary art objects, of which they currently have more than 17,000. Over 500 items from this collection – paintings, sculptures, prints - were selected to be part of the inaugural exhibition at the Bengaluru centre with the title of ‘Signposts of the…

The Bengalee Association held Durga puja celebrations at the RBANMS grounds in Ulsoor. It was my first Dussehra, Bengali style! The idol of Goddess Durga at the decorated pandal Bangalore's Bengalis turned up in hundreds for Durga's blessings  Both young and old were a part of the celebrations  Plenty of food stalls, all a tribute to the Bengali's love for food  Old habits die hard, they say. Despite the presence of many garbage bins, this was the scene at the grounds  The toysellers had quite a day themselves! ⊕ References

TOTO FUNDS THE ARTS ANNOUNCES 2010 AWARDSTOTO FUNDS THE ARTS (TFA) invites submissions for its sixth annual arts awards for young photographers, writers, musicians and bands. There are five awards to be won - one for music (Rs 50,000), two for photography (Rs 25,000 each), and two for creative writing (Rs 25,000 each).TOTO FUNDS THE ARTS was founded in 2004, in memory of Angirus ‘Toto' Vellani who was intensely passionate about music, literature, films and the arts. Toto's untimely demise spurred his family and friends to create a non-profit foundation that would encourage the young to give expression to their…