Lone women dream of liberty Woven, embroidered, knitted, stitched and other textiles with hand-crafted work have always been considered as art objects. Kanthas of Bengal, Ikkat of Orissa and Jamdani of Bangladesh are likewise works of art, as are the ornately designed tapestries of French, Italian and Spanish artists. What makes Shrabani Roy’s works distinctive is her use of fibre-yarn. Mostly dyed, she uses it to form images rather than simply creating a pattern for her surfaces. Unlike traditional craftsmen, this young artist from Santiniketan combines weaving, stitching, knitting and embroidery, blending yarns of different fibres. Though in the past she would construct landscapes in typical Santiniketan style, Shrabani’s Alternative, the ongoing show of her recent works, features themes far removed from natural, idyllic surroundings. It depicts lonely and vulnerable young women confined to small spaces, either trying to portray their sexual attractiveness or a desire to communicate and liberate themselves from their state of imprisonment. Event: An exhibition of recent fibre-yarn works by Shrabani Roy When: Till December 20 (except Sundays); 2 pm - 7 pm Where: Akar Prakar, P 238 Hindustan Park

art

Till December 3 at Academy of Fine Arts, South Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of drawings and paintings by the students of Renaissance. Till December 3 at Weavers Studio Centre for the Arts, 94 Ballygunge Place, #2460 4245; 10 am - 7 pm: Sculptures by Akhil Chandra Das, Amit Debnath, Anil Sen, B. Banamali Sharma, Bimal Kundu, B. Ruma Sharma, Chandan Roy, Chinmoy Karmakar, Gopinath Roy, Kinkar Saha, Pravat Majhi, Shankar Ghosh, Somnath Chakraborty, Sudarshan Pal, Subrata Biswas, Subrata Pal, Sukumar Ghosh, Tanmoy Banerjee and Tapas Sarkar. Till December 4 at Chitrakoot Art Gallery, 55 Gariahat Road, #24756587; 11 am - 7 pm: Inner Quest through Harmony of Hues — an exhibition of paintings by Ananya Banerjee. Till December 6 at Academy of Fine Arts; 3 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of sculptures by Asis Ghosh. Till December 6 at Academy of Fine Arts, Central Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: The third solo exhibition of paper collages by Ashok Kumar Varma. Till December 6 at Galerie Karma, P 505 Keyatala Road; 11 am - 7 pm: Synthesis, featuring drawings and paintings by Sanjay Sen Gupta. Till December 9 (except Sunday) at Ganges Art Gallery, 33A Jatin Das Road, #2465 3212; 11 am - 7 pm: Endless Night — an exhibition of the works of Sunil Das from the collections of Juergen Fischer and the artist. Till December 10 at Birla Academy of Art & Culture; 3 pm - 8 pm: Liminal Figures Liminal Space — works by K.S. Radhakrishnan. Till December 14 at Artists Circle, 46 Circus Avenue, #2283 3176; 2 pm - 7 pm: An exhibition of paintings by M. Senathipathi. Till December 20 (except Sundays) at Akar Prakar, P 238 Hindustan Park, #2464 2617; 2 pm - 7 pm: Shrabani’s Alternative — an exhibition of recent work by Shrabani Roy. Till December 31 (except Mondays) at Shree Art Gallery, 11 Gurusaday Road, Kusum Apartment, Flat no. 61, #30222040; 3 pm - 7 pm: An exhibition of paintings, titled Festive Hues, featuring works by B.R. Panesar, Debabrata Chakrabarti, Dhiren Sasmal, Jiban Biswas, Ratan Acharya, Samir Paul, Subrata Das, Soumitra Kar and others. Till January 6 (except Sundays & holidays) at Tejas Gallery; 1 pm - 7.30 pm: An exhibition of artworks by various artists from Calcutta, Santiniketan and Vietnam. The collection includes acrylics, charcoals, woodcuts and small sculptures.

DRAMA

December 2 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: Sayak presents Chandan Sen’s Dildar. Direction: Meghnad Bhattacharya. December 4 at Sisir Mancha; 7 pm: Little Thespian presents Guldasta consisting of two stories, Do-Pahar (translated version of the story Afternoon by Ismail Choonara) and Ishq Par Zor... (by Prof. Muzaffar Hanfi) under Katha Collage-4. Design & direction: Uma Jhunjhunwala. December 7 at Madhusudan Mancha; 6.30 pm: Ajantrik will stage Pratham Paath, written and directed by Ramaprosad Banik. December 7 at Girish Mancha; 6.45 pm: Rang Roop presents Byaram Biram. Story: Bhagirath Misra. Direction: Seema Mukho- padhyay.

PERFORMING ARTS

December 2 at Bharatiyam Cultural Multiplex, IB 201 Salt Lake; 6 pm: EZCC hosts an evening of instrumental music, to be presented by Violina. Direction: Ramen Sinha. December 3 at Gyan Manch; 6 pm: Kalamandalam presents the Bharata Natyam arangetram of Amrita Ghosh, disciple of Guru Thankamani Kutty. December 3 at Girish Mancha; 6 pm: Jhiki-Miki-Roddur — a children’s dance drama presented by Angikar North. Music: Dr Kakali Chattopadhyay. Dance direction: Sutapa Awon Prodhan. December 5 at Madhusudan Mancha; 5 pm: Gouriprasanna Smriti Sansad will observe Gouriprasanna Majumdar’s birth anniversary with an evening of songs by Nachiketa, Parimal Bhattacharya, Saikat Mitra, Devjit, Nirmala Misra, Banasree Sengupta, Sreeradha Bandyopadhyay, Shampa Kundu, Ruprekha Chattopadhyay, Rajyasree Bandyopadhyay and Chhanda Dev; a programme of dance, directed by Arundhati Roy; and recitation by Shankar Bhowmick and Ranjit Bandyopadhyay. December 7 at Saastha Samooham, 42 Lake Avenue; 5.30 pm: Bharata Natyam by Abhoy Pal and his group of Koothambalam Cultural Association, Calcutta as part of special programmes during Mandalam 2008.

TALK

December 2 at Ramakrishna Math, Baranagar; 5.45 pm: Discourse on Sri Sri Ramakrishna Punthi by Dr Bhupendra Nath Sil. December 2 at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Vivekananda Hall; 6.15 pm: Swami Sarvabhutananda will speak in Hindi on Manas me Sri Rama ka Charitra. December 2 at Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 19B Raja Rajkrishna Street; 7 pm: Swami Atmabodhananda will discuss in Bengali on Sri Sri Mayer Katha.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Till December 12 (except Mondays) at Bose Pacia, Stephen Court, 18 Park Street, #4001 0148; 11 am - 7 pm: Bose Pacia Calcutta Gallery, the Embassy of France in India, The Consulate General of France and the Alliance Françiase du Bengale present Tribute to Henri Cartier Bresson: Commented Images.

EXHIBITION

Till December 6 at Artisana, 13 Chowringhee Terrace, 1st floor, #2223 9422; 10 am - 7 pm: Shrujan, a non-profit voluntary organisation working among rural women in the region of Kutch, Gujarat, showcases its exclusive hand-embroidered products, including sarees, chaniya cholies, dupattas, salwar sets, stoles, cholies, bags, tops, skirts, pants, shawls, wall hangings, bed spreads and cushion covers. Till December 6 at Kanishka’s, 2/1 Hindusthan Road; 10.30 am - 7.30 pm: Exhibition of the Kora Winter Collection 2008 of contemporary women’s wear created with natural fabrics. Till December 3 at Soumya’s Creation, 57/9 Ballygunge Circular Road; 10.30 am - 7 pm: Silk Chanderis, an exhibition of his heritage textile enhanced with more part silk to make it suitable for winter wear. December 2 - 5 at Senbati, 3A Mandeville Gardens, #98300 54718; 11 am - 8 pm: Joyita’s Selection presents a winter collection of designer sarees in cotton, tussar, silk, matka, chiffon, georgette, dress material, kurtas and kurtis, bedcover and bedsheets and a range of ethnic Lucknow chikan along with fashionable jewellery and gift items.

FILM SHOW

December 2 - 4 at Nandan II: Tapan Sinha Foundation, in association with Cine Central, Calcutta, presents the screening of five children’s films by Tapan Sinha. Justice Shyamal Kumar Sen will inaugurate the festival today at 5 pm. Chief guest: Shirshendu Mukherjee. Anokha Moti will be shown on the occasion.

WORKSHOP

December 5 - 7 at Emami Starmark, Lord Sinha Road; 3 pm - 5.30 pm: Kriya hosts the Learn Smart Workshop for children (7 yrs to 13 yrs) to make them proficient in Vedic mathematics, public speaking and creative writing. December 5 - 7 at The Kenilworth Hotel; 9 am - 6 pm: California Hypnosis Institute of India hosts a workshop on Clinical Hypno Therapy, Level-I course. Details at #9830129292. December 6, 7, 13, 14 & 16 at Royal Calcutta Golf Club; 10 am - 1 pm: Click Away — a photography workshop for youngsters (10 yrs to 18 yrs) includes everything from learning outdoor and indoor photography, moving objects photography, exciting photo projects, lighting techniques, basic techniques for better images, advanced functions for shooting, etc. For registration, call 9830379166 or 9831444138.

QUIZ

December 6 & 7 at Rail Quarter Park, Sonarpur; 1 pm: As part of its cultural competition, Sonarpur Book Fair Committee 2008 organises two quiz contests for school and open-to-all category. Any two-member teams can participate. Details at #94334 29988 or 6515-1719 (3 pm - 10 pm).All those who wish events to be included in this column should write not less than a week ahead to: Time out, The Telegraph, 6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta-700 001; Fax: 2234-8244

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

Time out, The Telegraph, 6, Prafulla Sarkar Street, Calcutta-700 001;
Fax: 2234-8244