PICTURE SPEAK

Old fabrics on display

DELHI Imagine looking at fragments from the ancient past which tell you stories of a bygone era. Unusual as it sounds, that's what is happening at the National Museum. No, we are not talking about sculpture or paintings, but something far less durable-Indian textiles.

As anthropologist Lewis Henry Morgan said, "The fabric of a people unlocks their history. It speaks a language that's silent yet more eloquent than the spoken word." And that's what makes the exhibition "Masters of the Cloth", covering a period of 700 years, a unique effort. For instance, did you know that Indian textiles were a favoured medium of exchange, especially in the East? Or, more significantly, that the world's insatiable appetite for Indian cloth stimulated its large-scale production and export, making it the largest industrial product in pre-modern times?

The exhibition, on till December 18, showcases an array of "trade cloths" from the Tapi collection, one of the foremost private textile collections brought together by Praful and Shilpa Shah. These were fabrics produced in India but with a foreign clientele in mind. That is why along with desi motifs and patterns one can see overtly Chinese designs on a cloth produced in the Coromandel Coast several centuries ago. Rare etchings and lithographs of people and places, photographs, maps and first-hand accounts of travellers and merchants of that time have also been included in the exhibition.

If all this is not enough, every Friday till the exhibition is on, film buffs can catch Dev Benegal's award-winning films-Anantarupam, which studied Andhra Ikats; Kalpavriksha, a film on the technique of Macchlipatnam kalamkari and Kanakambaram, an ode to Kanchipuram brocades. A symposium, titled "Indian Trade Cloths to the East and West", which boasts eminent textile scholars from India and abroad, is scheduled for November 12. It is a chance to weave through the past.

-By Sushmita Choudhury

PICTURE SPEAK

The young Beyond Borders team in a festive mood

DELHI I extend my hand to you ... with my heart in it. So ends the vision statement of Beyond Borders, a project under the aegis of the British Council's Connecting Futures Programme. To put thought into action, the Beyond Borders team is holding its annual festival at the British Council grounds on November 29 and 30. The festival, which is centred on the theme of "identity, diversity and active citizenship", will also witness participation from Beyond Borders teams of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the UK. It will include screenings of short films and documentaries by young amateur filmmakers, a photo exhibition and pantomimes and street plays by college groups. Workshops on T-shirt painting will begin on November 28. The festival will end with a concert featuring rock band Rudraksh. It promises to be an eye-opening experience with a generous helping of fun and colour.

-By Gaurav Rajkhowa

PICTURE SPEAK

Ulhas Kashalkar performing

KOLKATA Every once in a while comes an event that promises to add some excitement to life in Kolkata. The 13th ITC Sangeet Sammelan is one of them. This year, the Sammelan has come with its usual list of big names in Indian classical music. While the coveted ITC award will be presented to Sandhya Mukhopadhyay, who trained under the late Bade Ghulam Ali Khan Sahib, the three-day festival will also showcase ITC's own talents like Pandit Ulhas Kashalkar. At ITC Sangeet Research Academy, November 11-13.

-By Swagata Sen

PICTURE SPEAK

The lead pairs in the film

SHAADI NO. 1
Director: David Dhawan
Starring: Sanjay Dutt, Fardeen Khan, Zayed Khan

In a film that seems to comprise the B-list of Bollywood and a strangely enlarged Sanjay Dutt, it is not surprising that the humour falls flat. A film which is a reprise of No Entry, which was a reprise of Masti, can go only so far. Three men with three girlfriends and three wives who are advised to have three boyfriends. The lines are supposed to be funny: "TV chale remote se, biwi chale note se." But this is young writer Milap Zaveri's nadir. A moratorium on sex comedies will do this genre a world of good as will alternative employment for Rajpal Yadav. His time starts now.

-By Kaveree Bamzai

PICTURE SPEAK

The album features a hit song by Abida Parveen

Sing with Sufis, Music Today
CD: Rs 195

Sufiana qalam seems to have caught the imagination of all creative people-there's Sufi food, dance, poetry and clothes. But what takes you on a high is Sufi music.

The album Sing with Sufis kicks off with Tu mane ya na mane, sung by the Wadali Brothers. A spirited medley, this song weaves the verses of Bulle Shah and other Sufi poets into an engrossing narrative, peppered with jokes. Hans Raj Hans sings Sufi pop. His Nit khair manga is a traditional composition presented in a modern style. Then there are Rekha Bharadwaj's Tere ishq mein, the late Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan's Sanson ki mala. Abida Parveen sings her most popular hit Ho jamalo, a lively, bouncy track based on a folk song in the Multani dialect. The latest entry into Sufi music is Zila Khan, daughter of sitar maestro Ustad Vilayat Khan. She sings Bulle Shah's poetry in a composition of Anil Sharma. It is the first ever compilation being released in vcd and dvd formats simultaneously. A double treat for Sufi fans.

-By S. Sahaya Ranjit

Index