Culture conflict Focusing on a period in Calcutta’s history that prevailed long before the emergence of modern urban culture, Ramnidhi evokes surprising parallels between circumstances of the past and present. It draws attention to the course of cultural change and the insecurities and clash of beliefs that attend every transitional phase of society. Set in early 19th century Calcutta, the play narrates the tragic story of Kripa Sunri, leader of a group of kabi-gaan performers. After the advent of the famous and popular tappa musical style by Nidhubabu, the city’s so-called ‘sophisticated’ patrons of music reject kabi-gaan as a common, lowly form of entertainment. Losing his former clientele one by one, Kripa Sunri makes a desperate attempt to learn the new musical form. However, he soon realises that his efforts will be in vain, as neo middle-class patrons would always be contemptuous of traditional performers and shun their style of entertainment. Direction: Runu Chowdhury. Presented by EZCC. Event: Play in Bengali, Ramnidhi, produced by Ekush Shatak When: Today at 6 pm Where: Bharatiyam Cultural Multiplex, IB-201 Salt Lake

art

Till August 24 at Academy of Fine Arts, South Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Paintings by Indrani Sengupta. Till August 25 at Academy of Fine Arts, Cnetral Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Eighth solo exhibition of paintings by Dibyendu Mitra. Till August 25 at CIMA Gallery, 43 Ashutosh Chowdhury Avenue; 2 pm - 7 pm: Summer Show, featuring paintings by Ramananda Bandyopadhyay, Jogen Chowdhury, M.F. Husain, Paresh Maity, Ganesh Pyne, Lalu Prasad Shaw, K.G. Subramanyan and others. Till August 26 at Masters Collection Art Gallery, G7 Malayalay Apts, 3 Woodburn Park Road; 11 am - 7 pm: New Horizons, paintings by 25 emerging artists of Bengal. Till August 26 at Academy of Fine Arts, North Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Drawings, paintings and sculptures by members of Chitri-O-Bhaskar Gosthi. Till August 26 at 5 Hastings Park Road terrace; 4.30 pm - 7.30 pm: A Tribute to Monsoon, terracotta sculptures by Ramkumar Manna, Minu Manna and Sunayani Manna. Till August 27 at Charnock City, KB-26 Salt Lake; 3 pm - 8 pm: Paintings and sculptures by eminent artists. Till August 27 at Samokal Art Gallery, 23 Gariahat Road, 1st floor; 4 pm - 8 pm: Young Contemporaries, paintings by young artists.n Till August 28 at Chemould Art Gallery, 12F Park Street; 2 pm - 8 pm: Traditional Indian folk paintings by Tapan Karmakar. Till August 27 at Gallery 79, 79 Raja Basanta Roy Road; 4 pm - 8 pm: Paintings by Pallab Kanti Mitra, Nabendu Sengupta, Snigdha Banerjee and Tania Hazra.

drama

August 24 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: Sansriti presents its new production, Ye. Dir: Debesh Chattopadhyay. August 24 at Girish Mancha; 6.30 pm: Abhaash presents its new play, Roopkatha. Drama and direction: Sekhar Samaddar. August 25 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: Sayak presents Saanjbela. Dir: Meghnad Bhattacharya. August 25 at Madhusudan Mancha; 6.30 pm: Kalyani Natyacharcha Kendra presents Hariye Jai Manush. Dir: Kishore Sengupta. August 25 at Max Mueller Bhavan; 7 pm: Mirror, Mirror On The Wall. Drama and direction: Anindita Sarbadhicari. August 25 - August 27 at Loreto Day School anganmanch; 7 pm: Three plays by Badal Sircar. Aug 25: Nichak Bhuter Gappo, presented by Pathasema; Aug 26: Hattamalar Opare, presented by Sathabdi & Aug 27: Karigor, presented by Ayna. August 26 at Rabindra Sadan; 6.30 pm: Sayak presents Basbhumi. Dir: Meghnad Bhattacharya. August 26 at Mukta-Angan; 6.30 pm: Sayongsandhya presents Bodhon. Drama and direction: Asis Mazumdar. August 27 at Pyarimohan Library Hall, Belghoria; 6.30 pm: Ethic will stage its latest production, Sanglagna Kuashara.

performing arts

August 24 & August 25 at Rabindra Sadan; 6.30 pm: The 10th anniversary celebration of Bhowanipore Baikali Association features Tagore’s Kalmrigaya (August 24) and Shravangatha (August 25). August 25 at Kala Mandir; 6.30 pm: Upasana Centre for Dance presents an evening of Kathak. Choreography and direction: Ashimbandhu Bhattacharjee. August 27 at Science City auditorium; 6.30 pm: Annual demonstration show of Ananda Shankar Centre for Performing Arts.

talk

August 24 at The Crystal Room, Taj Bengal; 6 pm: Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi will deliver the inaugural speech at the Amiya Gooptu Memorial Lecture on Are We Deceiving Ourselves?. Hosted by Bengal Initiative. August 24 at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture,Shivananda Hall; 6 pm: Swami Sarvabhutananda will speak in Hindi on Sri Sri Narada Pancharatram. August 24 at 24 Aswini Dutta Road; 6.30 pm: Sekhar Basu will speak on Vivekananda’s Views on Arts and Literature. August 24 at Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 19 A&B Raja Rajkrishna Street; 7 pm: Swami Samshuddhananda will speak in Bengali on Valmiki Ramayana.

seminar

August 24 at Bangla Akademi Sabhaghar; 6 pm: A seminar on Bharater Darshan-Darpaney Banglar Mancha-Gaan.

photographs

Till August 24 at Academy of Fine Arts; 3 pm - 8 pm: A Retrospective, photographs by Aroop Datta. Till August 25 at Gaganendra Shilpa Pradarshashala; 3 pm - 8 pm: Photography exhibition by members of Third Eye.

festival

August 24 - August 26 at Shovabazar Natmandir premises, 33R Raja Nabakrishna Street: 15th Sutanati Utsav. Today: Inauguration (6.30 pm), Odissi recital by Aparupa Chattopadhyay (7.30 pm) and Thakurbarir Gaan by Srobona (8 pm).

competition

August 26 at Indian Life Saving Society, Rabindra Sarobar; 11 am - 3 pm: All-Bengal Swimming Competition for the Sightless.

exhibition

August 24 - September 14 (except September 6) at 57/9 Ballygunge Circular Road; 10.30 am - 8.30 pm: Soumya’s Creation presents Pujo Special, a new range of saris and costume jewellery.

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All those who wish events to be included in this column should write not less than a week ahead to:

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