Kantha stories Biswajit Mukhopadhyay is an artist/craftsman with a difference. Instead of using the conventional canvas, paper, brush, etc, he uses cloth and needles to create multi-coloured dreams with threads. Sewing deftly, Mukhopadhyay brings alive complex, semi-abstract tribal motifs in his works. Born and brought up in Santiniketan, the culturally rich seat of Bengal Renaissance, Mukhopadhyay has the inherent vision for beauty. From a very young age, he developed a keen interest in old, forgotten art traditions of Bengal. This was further stoked as he came in close contact with the tribal arts of the region. This inspired him to unravel the mystery of the peculiar, typical symbolism associated with folk art. His venture in creating art pieces with Kantha embroidery is his tribute to an ancient tradition and also a way to boost and revive this ethnic art form. Musical Drawings and Surreal Paintings in Stitch, the ongoing show of his works, features unconventional, semi-abstract designs that improvise on the folk arts of Bengal and Bihar. With his unfettered imagination, he creates a riot of colours as he crafts a synthesis of various art forms in his works. Rich in colour and texture, his thread-woven creations present a mind-boggling array of human forms, flora and fauna, and abstract motifs that are bound to captivate those with an eye for the aesthetic. Original and individualistic, what makes the pieces remarkable is that, besides being a work of art, they can also be used as scarves, stoles or even wall-hangings. Event: An exhibition of Kantha-stitch embroidery works by Biswajit Mukhopadhyay When: Till November 20; 3 pm - 8 pm Where: Academy of Fine Arts, South Gallery

art

November 17 - 20 at Gallery Upstairs, 16 Loudon Street, #98319 08133; 3 pm - 7 pm: Paintings by Rabin Mandal, Veena Bhargava, Prokash Karmakar, Jogen Chowdhury, Niranjan Pradhan, Shipra Bhattacharya, Dwijen Gupta, Wasim Kapoor, Sukti Subhra Pradhan, B.R. Panesar, Shakila and others. Till November 18 at Weavers Studio Centre for the Arts, 94 Ballygunge Place, #2460 4245; 11 am - 7 pm: Glasscapes — a show of glass sculptures, paintings, photography and object d’art. Till November 19 (except Monday) at Birla Academy of Art & Culture, #2466 6802/2843; 3 pm - 8 pm: Nature Invited — an exhibition of sculptures by Manik Talukdar. Till November 20 at Academy of Fine Arts, South Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of musical drawings and surreal paintings in stitch by Biswajit Mukhopadhyay. Till November 20 at Anant Art Gallery, 18A Alipore Road; 11 am - 7 pm: Fieldsoflabour — an exhibition of paintings by Pradeep I. Mishra. Till November 22 at Academy of Fine Arts, North Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of paintings and sculptures by Indrani Barman, Amit Kumar Dhara, Manish Moitra, Kartik Chandra Saren and Touhidul Islam. Till November 22 at Academy of Fine Arts, New South Gallery-A; 3 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of sculptures by Chandan Das. Till November 22 at Galerie 88, 28B Shakespeare Sarani, #2290 2274; 11 am - 7 pm; Monday (2 pm - 7 pm): Recent works by Chandra Bhattacharjee. Till November 22 at Academy of Fine Arts, West Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Images of Destitute Children — Nikhil Biswas’ recent paintings. Till November 22 at Academy of Fine Arts, Central Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Untitled 2008, an exhibition of paintings by Debashis Mitra. Till November 23 at Gallery Kolkata, 41 Shakespeare Sarani, Duckback House, 2nd floor, #2287 3377; 11 am - 7 pm: An exhibition of creative art furniture, installation and sculptures. Till November 24 at Chitrakoot Art Gallery, 55 Gariahat Road, #24752275; 3 pm - 8 pm: A group show by Atanu Bhattacharya, Atin Basak, Partha Dasgupta, Sadhan Chakraborty and Swapan Kumar Das. Till November 24 at Shree Art Gallery, 11 Gurusaday Road, Kusum Apartment, Flat no. 63, #30222040: Festive Hues, an exhibition of paintings by well-known artists. Till November 25 at Genesis Art Gallery, 8B Middleton Street, #2229 3886/2837; 2 pm - 7 pm: Exhibition of paintings by Phalguni Dasgupta. Till November 28 at Idiyas Gallery, 15 Dover Road, #6550 8418; 10.30 am - 6.30 pm: The Voices of the Canvas — an exhibition of the works of 20 well-known artists. Till November 29 (except Sunday) at Gallery Sanskriti, 5C Alipore Park Road, #24484925/24497931; 11 am - 8 pm: Beyond the Dark — Recent works: Mixed Media and Sculptures by Shuvaprasanna. Till November 30 at Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre, 36C S.P. Mukherjee Road (#24556942/43) and at 46 Satish Mukherjee Road (near Rashbehari crossing); 2 pm - 8 pm: The Seagull Foundation for the Arts presents Suranjan Basu: A Retrospective, an exhibition of Basu’s works (1957-2002). Till November 30 at Gallery K2, Supra Court, 35 Lansdowne Terrace, #2465 1444; 11 am - 7 pm: In Search of Language — an exhibition of paintings by Sunando Basu. Till November 30 (except Sunday) at Aakriti Art Gallery, Orbit Enclave, 1st floor, 12/3A Hungerford Street, #2289 3027/5041; 12 noon - 7 pm: Masters Collections featuring works by Ganesh Pyne, Jogen Chowdhury, Kartick Chandra Pyne, Manjit Bawa, Paritosh Sen, Partha Pratim Deb, Prokash Karmakar, Sanat Kar and others.

DRAMA

November 17 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: Sayak presents Saanjhbela. Performance: Swatilekha Sengupta and Meghnad Bhattacharya, who also directs. November 18 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: PLT will stage its latest production, Utpal Dutt’s Kirat Parba, directed by Asit Basu.

DRAMATIZED READING

November 18 at Bangla Akademi; 7 pm: Dramatized reading of Raja Oedipus and Antigone by Bijoylakshmi Barman and Sujoy Prosad Chatterjee. The cast would be supported by Partha Mukherjee, Shantanu Gupta and RJ Kaushik.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Till November 20 at Photographers’ Gallery, 59A Southend Park; 3 pm - 8 pm: Album # One — selected photographs by Uday Shankar Hajra. Till November 23 at Ganges Art Gallery, 33A Jatin Das Road, #24653212; 11 am - 7 pm: Patterns — an exhibition of photographs by Susan Aurinko, Sanjeet Chowdhury, Anirban Das Mahapatra, Gaurav Gangwar, Naquib Hossain, Naveen Kishore, Ameet Mallapur, Mrinal Mandal, Deepak Tandon and Ian Umeda. 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.

TALK

November 17 at Ramakrishna Mission Saradapitha, Belur Math; 5.30 pm: Swami Arunatmananda will speak on Mayer Katha. November 17 at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Vivekananda Hall; 6.15 pm: Swami Ritananda will speak in Bengali on Swamijir Patravali. November 17 at Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 19B Raja Rajkrishna Street; 7 pm: Dr Bhupendra Nath Sil will speak on Bharat Premik Swami Abhedananda.

CONFERENCE

November 17 & 18 at ITC The Sonar: British Council hosts a conference on English language, English for Progress - 2nd Policy Dialogue, with discussions on the use of study of English at the state level I as well as the corporate world. Speakers include policymakers from both the education and employment sectors from India, Sri Lanka and the UK. Inaugural ceremony today at 8.45 am in presence of Rod Pryde, regional director (India & Sri Lanka), British Council, and Simon Wilson, British Deputy High Commissioner, Calcutta. Keynote address by David Graddol, well-known writer, broadcaster and lecturer on issues related to global English.

WORKSHOP

November 17 - 21 at Bharatiyam Cultural Multiplex, IB 201 Salt Lake; 11 am - 5 pm: EZCC holds a five-day workshop on contemporary music to be conducted by Chandan Roychoudhury. Details at 98300 54386 / 2335 6796.

EXHIBITION

November 17 - 23 at Farah Khan Boutique, Kalyani Shopping Arcade, Fort William, #22310415/9836049988: Exhibition of crepe kantha saris and pashmina shawls and stoles. November 18 & 19 at Taj Bengal; 2 pm - 7 pm: Education UK Exhibition.

PERFORMING ARTS

November 21 at Sisir Mancha; 6.30 pm: Doshar Jejan — Koushiki Bandyopadhyay’s first solo recital of Tagore songs as a tribute to her father, Ashoketaru Bandyopadhyay. Reading/narration: Shankar Chakraborty.

BIRTHDAY

November 21 at Rabindra Sadan; 5.30 pm: Bhavna’s celebrates Rabindrasangeet exponent Maya Sen’s 80th birthday with an evening of Tagore songs, reading and recitation. Participants include Abhirup Guha Thakurta, Anindya Narayan Biswas, Anuradha Biswas, Enakshi Chatterjee, Gouri and Partha Ghosh, Gopa Roy, Chandana Chowdhury, Chandrabali Rudra, Dipak Rudra, Pubali Debnath, Pabitra Sarkar, Pramita Mallick, Mrinmoy Roy, Manomoy Bhattacharya, Manisha Murali Nair, Rakhi Sen, Rokeya Roy, Rachayita Roy, Rajasree Bhattacharya, Rajeshwar Bhattacharya, Bratati Bandyopadhyay, Sreeradha Bandyopadhyay, Shrabani Sen, Swastika Mukhopadhyay, Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta, Swapan Gupta, Subrata Sengupta, Sukhabilas Barma and artistes of Ananda Dhwani.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