PICTURE SPEAK

VIEW FROM THE MARGINS: Sound of Fragrance by Khodke

Lokesh Khodke, for example, juxtaposes time, space and power to portray the condition of the marginalised in society. One of his works harks to the grim aftermath of 9/11. Puja Chauhan attempts to question the stereotypes of women in society through her life-size women cloth sculptures-the very medium of feminist art. Pradeep Cherian invokes religion to show religious intolerance and the absurdities of inequity in today's world. While Ashutosh Bharadwaj ridicules the consumer culture by mimicking the "subway" mindset, K.K. Muhamed leaves his realistic imprint on large oil canvases, one of which reads, "This is not a still life".

"In many ways, these artists are only trying to counter the media-generated images of realism-mediatic realism-and have used parody and surrealism to convey their perspective," says curator Jayashree Venkatadurai. The other participating artists include Viplav Sashi, Puja Vais, K.P. Reji, Satyanand Mohan, Chinnan and Shefali Jain.

These GenNext artists, who passed out of Baroda around four-five years ago, are questioning the ideas of our times in a medium that is both fresh and engaging. "This exhibition is also an attempt to build bridges between the Baroda artists and the artists and viewers of Chennai," adds Venkatadurai, who plans to take artists from Chennai to other parts of India in a reverse flow. The exhibition will be on from June 10 to July 31 at Hues Art, Eldams Road, Teynampet. A must-see show.

-By S.S. Jeevan

PICTURE SPEAK

Birju Maharaj

JAIPUR: If today's youth know the difference between the sitar and the guitar, it is largely due to the efforts of spicmacay (Society for Promotion of Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth). From its small beginnings in 1977 this dynamic organisation has grown to become a huge success among students and artistes. There is no artist, small or big, who has not participated in spicmacay events. Its tremendous growth has benefited the Indian arts scene significantly. So if you want to soak in Indian culture, chalo Jaipur for their convention on June 19-24. It is not just gana-bajana. It has yoga, talks, discussions on the gurukul parampara, movie discourse, overnight concerts and more.

The line-up is impressive, including Birju Maharaj (Kathak), Alarmel Valli (Bharatnatyam), Asad Ali Khan (rudra veena), Shubha Mudgal (vocal). Shaid Parvez (sitar), Anjolie Ela Menon (painter), Gulzar (poet-writer) and Shyam Benegal (film director). Enriching days ahead

- -By S. Sahaya Ranjit

PICTURE SPEAK

Filth evokes anger and fright

MUMBAI Filth is a theatrical experience to be witnessed. The one-man show delves into the frightening realm of banal, everyday corruption through the story of a corrupt, racist white police officer investigating the murder of a black man.

Over the course of a Christmas season, Robertson, the evil cop, ruins the life of a colleague, battles an intestinal parasite, snorts coke and bites out a guy's tongue. The play shifts from Robertson to his boss to his wife to his enemies to his friends to the parasite in his colon-all played by Rajeev Ravindranathan-in a stream-of-consciousness style. The worm is used as an interesting device to tell stories about this man's past. Set in Ireland, the play evokes anger, fright and hatred all at the same time, and the pity quickly transforms into fear and hatred for the evil cop who does not have an iota of goodness in him.

Filth is at once a frightening, funny and tragic journey into the mind of a very disturbed man. Designed to make people uncomfortable, it raises complex questions about nature, madness, reality and hyper-reality, malevolence and benevolence.

But most of all it forces the audience to confront a hell that is always present beneath the surface of our everyday lives. At Prithvi Theatre on June 13-16

-By Aditi Pai

KOLKATA India's Marxist capital is all set to screen four films on Che Guevara in a festival titled "Che Lives". It starts with Russian film I am Cuba. Next are El Che in Spanish and Canadian documentary Tracing Che. Last comes the widely acclaimed Spanish film, The Motorcyle Diaries. At the Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre on June 14-17.

MUMBAI The "Summer Salon" exhibition being held at Sunny House brings together seven painters, photographers and sculptors with no particular theme in mind. Works showcased include hand-embroidered canvases and artistic photographs by Tejal Shah and Sunil Gupta. From June 10 to August 9

MUSIC REVIEWS
Master's Men
PICTURE SPEAK Global Records GAURAV MAZUMDAR Talk of young sitar players who are the faces of the future and Gaurav Mazumdar's name is sure to crop up. But what sets him apart from other sitarists is his training in vocal music. It shows in his latest album, which contains morning raga Todi and romantic raga Sindhi Bhairavi. "Because I have learnt vocal, it became easy for me to master the gayaki-ang of the instrument," says the son of musician Dulal Mazumdar and disciple of Pandit Ravi Shankar. Mazumdar is accompanied by Subhankar Banerjee on the tabla in this fine recording. "I internalise the raga and every note contains something of myself," says Mazumdar. That is why every note sparkles.
A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY
Universal, CD Rs 290 The album captures the inimitable style of Tarun Bhattacharya-the "baaj" style of the Maihar gharana he perfected under the tutelage of maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar. The album has four easy listening numbers. Bliss is his interpretation of the state of mind that is pure and enduring. Soul is a soothing number and Tarun delves into the intricacies of the instrument. Bikram Ghosh's tabla with strong deep bols sounds more like the pakhawaj. Tranquillity is a meditative piece. What is impressive is the sound Bhattacharya's santoor produces-rich in melody and tone. It is a challenge to produce meends (glides) on this instrument but he makes the santoor sing.

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