‘Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow’, an exploration of the culture of Rajasthan and its ties with Kolkata, opened at Kolkata Centre for Creativity (KCC) on August 18. Besides being an exhibition in a traditional sense, the event was also a conclave of Rajasthani culture across platforms curated by KCC to touch upon all aspects of creativity including contemporary art, theatre, film, craft, design, architecture and history and language and literature, culminating in three days of performances, workshops and talks. The first day of the event, witnessed a warm inauguration ceremony. The organisers and eminent guests lit the lamp. (In picture from left) Vishes Kothari, curator; Pramila Shah, director, cultural events KCC Anamika; Richa Agarwal, chairperson, Kolkata Centre for Creativity; Bhishambar Newar, chief editor, Chapte Chapte; Hinglaj Dan Ratnoo, assistant director, department of public relations and information bureau & Rajasthan Foundation and Sushil Goenka, whole-time director, Emami Limited
All photographs by Ashim Paul
An exhibition, ‘Mapping Cultures’ by Madan Meena, curated by Vishes Kothari was put up for the visitors. Madan is a visual artist and a researcher of oral and textile traditions and hails from Kota. Map-making, block printing and miniature painting all come together in Madan’s art that is at once traditional and contemporary. All manner of imagery — chilies from Mathania, miniature paintings from Bundi and Kota and the Indus Valley sites of Kalibanga are woven together in his compelling imagery
Girdhardan Ratnoo Dasori was the keynote speaker of the day. He spoke about ‘Five Hundred Years of Dingal Poetry — Valour, Satire and Revolution’. Followed by this, a bilingual play was presented in the traditional storytelling style by Ramanjit Kaur and group. The play, ‘Power’ was based upon an old folk story by folklorist Vijaydan Detha and translated by Vishes Kothari
Three workshops were also being held during Ramjhol 1.0. Artists from Rajasthan were here to teach traditional art forms of the state. Kalyan Mal Sahu from Beawar was conducting classes on Pichwai paintings while Nand Kishor from Bhilwara was taking sessions on Phad paintings. Ram Soni from Alwar was leading workshops on Sanjhi paper art. Anyone could join these workshops between 2pm and 4pm
The first day concluded with a Maand recital by Pandit Pukhraj Sharma. Talking about the initiative, Richa Agarwal, chairperson of Kolkata Center for Creativity said: “Over these three days, KCC will come alive with a series of events that will transport us to the land of royals — from an art exhibition by the renowned artist and researcher Madan Meena that will showcase the intricate craftsmanship of Rajasthan, to insightful talk sessions, Pop Ups, musical performance by Pandit Pukhraj Sharma, a play by Ramanjit Kaur and group, traditional performances like Ghoomar and multiple workshops on folk art forms like Pichhwai and a lot more. It is our privilege to have scholars, poets, craftsmen and artists from across Rajasthan includingBikaner, Beawar Kota and Bharatpur among us for Ramjhol 1.0.”
The second day had more events lined up from talks, musical performances, documentary screening etc. There was an exhibition walkthrough with Madan Meena, followed by a conversation with Madan Meena and Garima Dhabai. A multilingual documentary, Jajam by The Wabi Sabi Project was screened and there was a panel discussion on “The future of the ‘Marwari’ social organisation”. A Folk Classics Concert was held by The Marudhara Choir and Pandit Pukhraj Sharma. The day concluded with the launch of STAGE in Kolkata and a stand up act by Funnygoat10 and Ujwal Kedia
Official Press Release
