Thursday, 08 January 2026
Thursday, 08 January 2026
Soumyadeep Roy worked on bamboo and papier mache structures, brush and ink paintings and beads to create art installations whose central theme was fish — a constant motif in human imagination across ages, according to him.
“The figure of the fish swims across mythologies, across cultures, sometimes transforming into makara or the dragon or a monster or even as incarnations of god. Whether it is the symbol of the Ichthys (from Greek) or the Mughal honour of maahi martib (highest honour in the Mughal empire), the fish also takes on a socio-political character or meaning,” said Roy, whose works dwell on shared cultures through different mythologies and histories.
A group of students from Jadavpur University, Calcutta University and Bethune College enacted theatre of assault over half an hour at the start of the event. Short plays, each lasting two minutes, on different themes were presented by Iskra. A scene in one of the plays depicted the horror of the Gujarat riots of 2002. Kinkini Sengupta, the lead performer of the group, said they wanted to show the brutalities of the riot such as a seven-month-old foetus being pulled out of a woman’s womb. “The photograph of Qutubuddin Ansari was chosen to highlight the terror that has gripped the minority community yet again,” Sengupta said. Ansari, a tailor, was the face of the Gujarat riots in 2002 when he was photographed pleading with folded hands with a rampaging mob.
Picture by Gautam Bose
Partha Majumdar, 61, came to the carnival with a walking stick for support. He had suffered a fracture in his right leg a year ago and finds it difficult to walk. But Majumdar could not resist the call of the carnival.“I have not been able to join any of the protest marches because I cannot walk. But my blood is boiling over what is happening. Today, I came here so that I could sit and enjoy the performances by the artistes,” said the Hindusthan Park resident. Majumdar, who has worked for an NGO, went to Park Circus on Friday night. “The spirit of protest is the only way forward. It feels good to see artistes, students and housewives raising their voice,” he said.
Picture by Gautam Bose
Band Borno Anonyo performed a song that was a combination Jyotirindra Moitra’s Heiyo Ho, Pulak Kanti Ojha’s Koto bhoyo ashe jay ma and Tagore’s Bangladesher hridoy hote.The three songs talk about the fearless mother and her fearless sons who toil hard to sail the boat through the journey of life. “It talks about the land of undivided Bengal embodied in the mother figure who is called upon through the philosophy of dibyodrishti, where the seer and the seen become one. A call to rise to the occasion,” said Rajarshi Ghosh, a member of the band.
Picture by Bishwarup Dutta
