My first trip to Vaishnodevi was unimpressive. Climbing was hard, and it only served to highlight how badly out of shape I was, while my in-laws managed to cope so much better. Further, I hadn’t quite realized that the cave experience wouldn’t be the same as I had imagined, since the original cave was only opened at certain times a year, and that we only entered a newly created tunnel, one far easier to access, and hence more manageable with the crowds that thronged the mountain shrine. The resulting experience at the shrine, for barely a fraction of a second, hardly compared to what I had expected / imagined / heard about. So, for me, Vaishnodevi was like any other temple, nothing to write home about, something that was reflected (though not explicitly mentioned) in the blog post I wrote then.
This is the third part
of my series on the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival. Please read Part 1 and Part 2
before reading further.
Continuing with the visual art displays....
This one was entitled ‘Tarevarchi kasarat’, which loosely
translates into ‘tightrope walk’. It depicts the tightrope we walk every day,
trying to balance our lives, tied down by various threads....
Violence against women was a major theme this year, with
this broken doll house needing no more words of explanation...
This one showing the various issues women face, living as we
do, under a tree filled with prying eyes, peering at their every movement.....
And this one at first glance seemed to be a well grown tree,
laden with ripe fruits.
A closer look showed us what it really was... the
representation of trauma victims, seemingly normal outside, but hollow and
empty inside...
With corruption so evident these days, how could it escape
representation? This one speaks for itself...
On the other hand, there was this representation of a
tortoise... with our five sense organs peeking out, encouraging us to keep our
senses in control...
This huge T shirt with Nataraja on it represented Indian
culture with western influences...
And this one is ‘Plastic Rain’, which Samhith and the other
kids loved walking into!
This untitled work by artists from the British Council was
intriguing....
This one was beautifully done... bangles and bangles stacked
in a row... seemingly with no pattern.. but move a bit away and you can see an
image emerge.. the Mona Lisa!
We had seen this globe being set up on the very first day...
and were curious about it... it turned out to be ‘Earth Recycled’, with a map
of India covered with LED bulbs... which lit up when anyone pedalled the cycles
connected to it!
This one, entitled ‘procession’, was something I didn't even
notice on the first day.... it took a second visit to see so many ants, made
with just Bullet Bike tanks!
These tetrapods are a common sight on the sea shore at
Marine Drive... Here, they form an art installation...
Finally, one more horse, completes my tour of Kala Ghoda....
But before I stop, there are some others who are a regular
feature of the festival – the Bahurupiyas. The word would translate loosely
into ‘impostors’... these are people who dress up in various garbs and
entertain us...
But that’s not all. I have only captured some of the visual
art installations at the festival with my camera. There is so much more
happening there, so if you are in Mumbai, head out and be a part of it. Here is
a link to the complete schedule....
And no, I am not yet done with my series. So far, you have
seen what I enjoyed at the fest... you have yet to see what Samhith did... and
since the workshops for kids are an integral part of the festival, they deserve
a separate post, don’t you think? So, that’s the post you can look forward to
reading, tomorrow!
Inspiring pictures Anu. I have only read about Kala Ghora on various blogs but it sounds like an excellent event.
ReplyDeleteThanks Mridula! next year, plan a trip to Mumbai at this time... that way, u can see the fest and we all can meet!
DeleteIt's my favourite time of the year in Bombay - miss being there. Thanks for giving me these glimpses from KGAF, Anu :)
ReplyDeletewould have loved to have u here this year.. met so many travel bloggers!!! but we seem to have a good system of show and tell.. u showed me the Kochi biennale and i showed u kala ghoda!!!
Deleteshow and tell! that's an interesting thought - in any case, travel blogging and reading travel blogs is to see the world through someone else's eyes!
DeleteAbsolutely, Charu! and its fascinating to see how different the same place looks through different eyes... and that really helps when we eventually do go to the same place!
DeleteBeautiful pictures. First time heard about Kala Ghoda festival.
ReplyDeleteThank you! if you are in mumbai, u shd attend it!
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