At the core of the KGAF, every year, is the street art. From the bizzare to the thought provoking, from the quirky to the cute…. each year the street exhibits manage to get the crowds gawking. And, this year was no exception.
At the centre piece of the KGAF exhibtion was a giant ferris wheels of cycles with dabbhas….

Mumbai Masti - from the exhibition:
If the world is your playground, then Mumbai is certainly a giant ferris wheel. And one that carries everything with it, as it goes around its axis going about its daily business.
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The Tibet India Foundation has a long association with the Kala Ghoda Festival. After keeping visitors hooked last year, they came in this year with what seemed like’Tibetian Opera’.

On a nice winter’s day in Mumbai, with crowds bustling in and around the KG venue, the amphitheater was packed,

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Sunday afternoon at Kala Ghoda meant that you are jostling for space with families, who had brought kids in to see the festival. This time there seemed to be more events for children than ever before. Or, maybe it is that the corporate sponsorship - The Surf Excel Chidren’s Festival - has got the events a higher visibility, simply by being plastered everywhere.

This year, kids were everywhere. From long queues to participate in something or the other, to getting their faces painted, to watching Rajasthani puppets, to sending out messages for peace and goodwill…And it really felt good to see so many children out and about at the KGAF….

(Pictures below)

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The Kala Ghoda area has always an art enthusiast’s delight. The area is dotted with galleries - and of course some of the best art is found in the open air pavement exhibitions.

The main display of the KGF was a giant white sukhoi like aircraft right outside Rythm House. I am sure that there was deep underlying meaning to it, but it somehow escaped me!

At the pavement art gallery - there was the very interesting “This revolution is for Display” - a kind of fond look back memory lane - with posters, slogans and images of revolution. The “in Dog we Trust” was an artisitic comment on the of the killing of street dogs in Mumbai - little stuffed dogs on the pavement representing their real life counterparts.

The foot by foot exhibition put up by the Tao Art Gallery was striking. 50 artists given a canvas, a foot by a foot, to paint. And the gallery itself, prices art by the foot. An interesting marketing concept. And, this is mainly stuff that will look good on walls -I am not so sure about the ‘art’ part of it, but it is ‘pretty’ stuff.

The exhibit that struck me most was the sculputer “She Smoker” - for obvious reasons. A set of hands holding a variety of smokes - from beedis to cigarette butts - it seemed to be a comment on the attitudes towards women smoking.

The Bodhi Art Gallery carried a lovely set of prints by Zarine Hashmi in an exhibition entitled “Weaving Memory” . A US based artist, her medium is paper. And she uses a of lines and calligraphy in her work. In this particular exhibtion she explores living spaces - there are a set of wonderful floor plans and maps that she has has created.

visitors seeing a set of exhibits at the “weaving memory” exhibition

The “Alternate Shapes of Earth” exhibits - was a set of 5 large, blue differently shaped globes. A call for a more tolerance in dealing with differences.

My favourite caption on an exhibition, however, was that at the “Only Tangibles” display. It said that the display is “aimed at showcasing two and three dimensional works, which are not only restricted in size and can fit an average apartment of an urban home or office”. Straight and to the point - and they didn’t even use the word art.

a pencil for your office or home

The street exhibition around Jahangir was interesting. My favourite exhibit was a giant painted umbrella. Very Gauginesque.

Art Quest had a striking display of very retro and filmy furniture. Lots of reds and earths in their work. Very bright and attractive display. They had a lovely little bar that i coveted from afar !

All in all - good stuff all around. Pictures will be up soon.up now.

Once every so often, I decide to see Mumbai from the eyes of a tourist rather than a citizen. Saturday was one such day. I kind of combined the day at the festival with a visit to art galleries and the museums in the vicinity. I shot a lot of pictures - but a vanished USB cord means that i have to wait a couple of days before uploading.

I got to KGF bright and early - by 11.30. The festival was just about coming awake. The scheduled chidren’s Bollywood dance at the amphitheatre (11.30) was possibly rescheduled. Parents with children, making full use of the weekend were begining their day at the KGF. An instant attraction -an instant click point was the giant lemon & chillis warding off evil. And of course a lot of people were fascinated by the giant black and gold lemon exhibits. The helirickshaw - replete with a cracking music system - was the other ‘tourist’ attraction!

The stalls were slowly begining to buzz with both exhibits and customers. But, unlike previous years - this one had more stalls, but they were very run of the mill. The stall that had most customers was the one that had the most ‘made in China’ stuff. I don’t have anything against “made in China” products, but it may have been better if these were handicrafts from NGO’s in China rather than the mass produced stuff that they had. There was a stall from Ranthambore that was selling traditional crafts that were very interesting. As usual the large book sale - which took up around 3 stalls was the one with the most crowds, and possibly the most sales.

Food was a huge disappointment. Unlike the previous years where there was a variety of street cuisine available - this time around there was over priced, over oily and run of the mill stuff from the biggies that inhabit the area. The food outside the KG festival circuit - where you could get mouth watering ragda pattice and spicy bhel was more interesting than the stuff available.

As far as the street performances were concerned, we caught a nice bit of ‘tamasha’ by a couple and their two children. The man was the circus master. The woman the main acrobat, adn the kids were the filler material. As the kids jumped through a hoop of fire, or the woman walked on a tightrope (actually a metal braided wire) - the gasp from the audience was palpable. I was actually expecting one of the NGO’s that had stalls around, to come and stop the performance on grounds of child endangerment, but nothing of that sort happened. The lady afterwards told me to send her the photograph. First i have to find the USB cord!

Finally, I tottered across to NGMA to catch the Oddissi workshop by Ileana Citarista. She was tutoring a bunch of teenagers (seemed like teenagers) on upper body movement. She was fluid, graceful, and each of gestures carried power. I tottered out feeling like a clumsy sack.

I also caught the Bombay Bonanza exhibition at the Museum - not really part of the KGF but could just as well be part of it. A lovely visual history of Mumbai and how she evolved.

Hopefully next year there will be more street in the street festival!

Retrieved via the Wayback Machine. Originally posted by Harini Calamur

Kala Ghoda is a foodies delight. The food stalls probably equalled the art stalls - and definitely gathered more crowds. When one of the hoardings for the festival used this motif - i don’t think that they realised how much food was going to be an integral part of the show.

And people enjoyed the variety. A number of restraunts in the area - Chetnas and Bombay Blues - put out outdoor stalls to attract a fairly ravenous crowd. A friend of mine, who lives in the area, said that he hadn’t seen so many people try out so much food in such a short period of time. It was great stuff. And the cleanliness the area was so great, as was the absence of a million odd flies - that even people who otherwise wouldn’t risk street food gravitated towards it.

Mouth watering kulfi - rasberry was a particular favourite. I was unadventurous and stuck to malai. which was a generous portion. Almost a complete meal in itself.

The chaat stalls saw rapid business too. Crowds thronged to sample the paani puri, sev and bhel puri.

And of course no street festival can be complete without a beverages sponsor. And for this one it was Pepsi. There was pepsi everywhere. This particular graphic, i found particularly amusing.

The dosa and Chaat menu under a pepsi logo is a true sign of global brands becoming part of the Indian culturescape. That and MacD’s presence. Afterall culture is not static, fossilized in time. In today’s day and age - they are as much part of our culture as anything else is. And it is nice to see organisers who are sensible about these things.

Retrieved via the Wayback Machine. Originally posted by Harini Calamur

One of the first organised exhibits that you come across at the Kala Ghoda festival is the Art Quest exhibit. A series of poster, graphic, art - with the theme Bollywood bole toh Jhakaas - that takes a tounge in cheek look at, not just Bollywood but the whole mass media. Its penchant for extravaganze and over the topedness (if such a word exists) and a basic level of crassness (aapko kaise lagta hai - from a earthquake to a rape victim and everything in between) - is reflected very well in the exhibition.

As the blurb says:

using Bollywood as a launching pad, the artists from Artquest will be recreating scenes from popular entertainment in mixed media.

The one on Rajat Sharma’s over the top interrogation style - shoot first and worry about answers later - was quite apt. The term a sledgehammer to crack a walnut springs to mind.

There was great one on sting operations. Ultimately everything in the media is a commodity used gainfully to attract eyeballs. The truth be damned:). The use of ratty methods to catch the rat!

Now, no media satire can be complete without a tribute to kekta kapoor - of the kserial ksoap fame. Check out “kaun karega kachra serial ki safai“.

There was a lovely little “koffee with karan” tribute. Cute Hindi film poster art feeling that they managed on a fairly traditional coffeee set.

And of course the rickshaw from filmdom - a modified basanti ka tanga. I wonder if RGV’s sholay will have basanti as a rickshawali - if so then this is the rickshaw :)

Retrieved via the Wayback Machine. Originally posted by Harini Calamur

Today I went touritst. At the Kalaghoda Festival. Walked about without an agenda, took in the sights, smells, sounds and more.

It was a lovely, sunny saturday. And entering the Kala Ghada area seemed like walking thorugh the looking glass - a differnt world of vibrant colours, passionate artists and mouthwatering khana. There were as many people there for the food as for the culture. You left the stress, strain and, most importantly the vehicular traffic & honking horns of Mumbai behind. You stepped into Kala Ghoda and you feel the pace of life changing gears to a much mellower and introspective one.

Various types of artists (painters, sketchers, caricaturists) were busy displaying their wares - for them maybe it is just another day. a whole bunch of outsiders in ‘their’ space. But the crowds saw, lingered, appreciated and participated. Young and old alike had this burning desire to get their potrait made. And crowds just gathered watching someone draw.

Street stalls, poster art, and an incredible looking rickshaw and whole bunch of street exhibitions later, you get into - Rampart Row - the performaance & food area area. Three very differenct performances:

The first a street bansuriwalla - who was selling various types of flutes and playing along to entice crowds. The wasn’t great, but atleast it didn’t have you reaching out for the ear muffs. He did fairly decent business.

The second was Sur Aur Taal by Nrityanjali - seemed like bollywised kathak, thought it was advertised as folk and classical dance. Dancers with flowing white costumes performed in the blazing sunshine. The seating was occupied sparsely - with lots of gaps. But there was a lot of standing crowd. It ended with a famous piece from Paakezah.

And then of course were the puppets.

And tons of food - but that is a different post.