Myth in modern art An intense attraction to traditional and classical Indian art has inspired Aloke Kumar Paul into this realm. In his childhood, he would make puppets using clay, straw, paper and wood. His interest shifted to painting as he grew older, but his fascination for clay models and colours has remained. Over the years, Paul has experimented with different styles, media and subjects. His works are characterised by the new trend of internalisation of tradition, reverberating the distant echo of our mythical past but displaying a technique of presentation that reflects contemporary fervour. Symphony of Life, the ongoing solo show of his paintings, showcases mixed media works in acrylic, dry pastel, ink and oil, where he deconstructs the myths of the Buddha and Jataka stories. Buddha is often constructed as a mythical structure of consecrated silence. One side of his face is luminous, expressing divine serenity, while the other side is darkened, reflecting the burden of a life full of turmoil and strife. Through this load of monolithic comparison and contradiction, the artist builds up a critique of contemporary globalised existence. Lucid and serious, his works inculcate traditional sources and draw upon personal experiences. He builds a tragic consciousness through fragmentation of structural surfaces, and from the wisdom and profundity of a mythical past tries to construct a requiem for the present. Event: An exhibition of paintings by Aloke Paul When: Till today; 4 pm - 8 pm Where: Aloke’s, 1/42 Shahid Nagar, Dhakuria

Art

Till August 1 (except Sundays and public holidays) at CIMA Gallery; Mondays: 3 pm - 7 pm, Tuesdays - Saturdays: 2 pm - 7 pm: Summer Show 2009. Featuring works by Rashmi Bagchi Sarkar, Sumitro Basak, Shreyasi Chatterjee, Jogen Chowdhury, Sougata Das, Anita Gopal, Farhad Hussain, Paresh Maity, Ganesh Pyne, Satyajit Roy, Suhas Roy, Lalu Prosad Shaw and many other artists from across India. Till July 20 at Aloke’s, 1/42 Shahid Nagar, Dhakuria; 4 pm - 8 pm: Symphony of Life — an exhibition of the latest series of paintings by Aloke Paul. Till July 24 at Academy of Fine Arts, New South-B Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Beauty and Eternity — the 3rd solo exhibition of paintings by Tapan Biswas. Till July 24 at Weavers Studio Centre for the Arts, 94 Ballygunge Place; 10 am - 7 pm: A solo exhibition, Kings Midas & His Dinner, by Sarbani Das Gupta, visual and ceramic artist. Till July 31 (except Sunday) at Galerie 88, 28B Shakespeare Sarani, #2290 2274; 11 am - 7 pm, Monday (2 pm - 7 pm): An exhibition of recent works of Amritah Sen, Sumona Jana and Santanu Maity. Till July 29 (except Sundays) at Experimenter, 2/1 Hindusthan Road, #24630465/ 40012289; 11.30 am - 7.30 pm: Experimenter presents SEZ Who? a unique activism-based collaborative art project, curated by Tushar Joag. This is a project led by a group of artists and Experimenter exploring the impact and rationale of setting up Special Economic Zones in India. Till July 30 at the Palladian Lounge, BCCI, 3rd level, 6 N.S. Road, Dalhousie Central; 10 am - 8 pm: Tejas Gallery, in conjunction with Palladian Lounge, is exhibiting the works of six artists Dhiren Sasmal, Avijit Mukherjee, Shibani Sengupta, Atish Mukherjee, Rajib Bhattacharya and Shambhu Saha. Till July 31 at Idiyas Gallery, 15 Dover Road, #65508418; 10.30 am - 7 pm: Sensorial Realities, an exhibition of paintings by Subrata Gangopadhyay, Suhas Roy, Prakash Karmakar, Shyamal Mukherjee, Samir Paul, Bratin Khan, Sanatan Dinda, Gourango Beshai, Sibsaday Chaudhuri, Atin Basak and others. Till July 31 (except Sundays and second & fourth Saturdays) at Emami Chisel Art Gallery, 687 Anandapur EM Bypass, #64577886; 11 am - 7 pm: An exhibition of paintings and sculptures.

DRAMA

Till July 25 at Bharatiyam Cultural Multiplex, IB 201 Salt Lake; 5.30 pm: A week-long children’s theatre festival, organised by Happenings in association with EZCC. This festival features new productions based on Tagore’s works (poetry, prose and play) being staged by various schools of Calcutta. Today: The Mother, to be presented by Future Foundation. July 21 at Rabindra Sadan; 6.30 pm: Ganakrishti will stage Jhara Samoyer Kabya. Direction: Amitava Dutta. July 22 at Tapan Theatre; 6.30 pm: Niva Arts presents the Rangashram production, Monideepa, which was adjudged the best play at the inter-district full-length drama competition. Direction: Sandip Bhattacharya. July 22 at Rabindra Sadan; 6.30 pm: Sudrak will stage Sahaj Swajan. July 22 at Girish Mancha; 6 pm: Natya Ranga presents Dadu Chaye Nati Chaye. Drama: Surajit Bandyopadhyay. Direction: Swapan Sengupta. July 23 at Tapan Theatre; 6.30 pm: Niva Arts presents the Cinetel production, Homa Pakhi. Direction & performance: Soumitra Chattopadhyay. July 25 at Sujata Sadan; 7 pm: Swapnasandhani presents its latest play, Darjiparar Marjinara. Direction: Koushik Sen.

PERFORMING ARTS

July 20 at Sisir Mancha; 6.30 pm: Dakshin Kalikata Nandanikee presents a Rabindrasangeet recital by Ashis Bhattacharjee, to mark the 109th birth anniversary of Sailajaranjan Majumdar. The songs to be presented are those that Majumdar learnt directly from Rabindranath Tagore and, in turn, passed on to his foremost disciple, Ashis Bhattacharjee, and these songs have certain differences with their prescribed notations. July 20 at Girish Mancha; 6 pm: Sur O Katha observes Sailajaranjan Majumdar’s birth anniversary with a memorial-music programme. The first half features Guru-Shishya Sambad: Santiniketan 1939, where 16 immortal songs that Tagore had composed on the occasion of his last Barsha Mangal will be rendered. In the second half, Tomar Bani, Tomar Parash, Sanjoy Gangopadhyay will render Tagore songs that were taught to him by Acharya Sailajaranjan Majumdar and also share his memories of his association with Majumdar. July 20 at Madhusudan Mancha; 6 pm: On its silver jubilee year, Saptasara presents Megher Porey Megh, an evening of Tagore songs on monsoon and poetry-reading. Participants: Shraboni Sen, Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta, Srikanto Acharya, Lopamudra Mitra, Indrani Sen, Agnibha Bandyopadhyay, Sukumar Ghosh and Subrata Sengupta.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Till July 21 at Gaganendra Pradarshashala, ground floor; 2 pm - 8 pm: Exhibition of a Lensman — a solo show on classical photography of Jayanta Chowdhury.

TALK

July 20 at at Nandan 2; 6 pm: Cine Central, Calcutta hosts the 5th Alok Chandra Memorial Lecture. Speaker: Filmmaker Buddhadeb Dasgupta. July 20 at Ramakrishna Mission Saradapitha, Belur Math; 6 pm: Swami Arunatmananda will speak on Mayer Katha. July 20 at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Shivananda Hall; 6 pm: Swami Prasannatmananda will speak in Bengali on Devavani. July 20 at Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 19B Raja Rajkrishna Street; 7 pm: Dr Bhupendra Nath Sil will speak on Bharat Premik Swami Abhedananda. July 20 at Bidhannagar Ramakrishna Vivekananda Kendra, DD-44 Salt Lake; 7 pm: Swami Gunamayananda will speak on Life and Teachings of Swami Ramakrishnanandaji Maharaj. July 20 at Ramakrishna Math, Baranagar; 7.15 pm: Discourse on Life and Teachings of Swami Ramakrishnanandaji Maharaj by Swami Amiteshananda.

BOOK LAUNCH

July 20 at Oxford Bookstore, 17 Park Street; 6.30 pm: Oxford Bookstore, Calcutta, in association with HarperCollins Publishers India, hosts the launch of Arzee the Dwarf by Chandrahas Choudhury. The author will be in conversation with Anjum Katyal.

EXHIBITION

July 20 - 31 at 23 Raja Santosh Road, Flat 8C, Alipore, #24792697; 11 am - 7 pm: Namrata Kanoi displays her range of contemporary designer bags and footwear for the festive season ahead. Till July 24 at Aranya (Kalighat), Mohar (Dakshinapan) and Indika (City Centre): To mark the third monsoon festival, Aranya showcases its new collection of handmade paper stationery, paper mache items and sling bags. Till July 25 at Weavers Studio, 5/1 Anil Moitra Road; 9.30 am - 6.30 pm: A special collection of Lucknowi embroidery on Kota, Chanderi, Maheshwari sarees and dupattas.

FILM SHOW

July 20 at Nandan-3; 7.15 pm: Screening of the documentary, D.L. Roy, directed by Shankar Majumdar, as part of the birth anniversary celebration of Dwijendralal Roy, Atulprasad Sen and Rajanikanta Sen organised by Rabindra Sadan and the state government’s information & cultural affairs department. July 25 - August 1 at the Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre; 6.30 pm: Beckett on Film, a festival of films based on plays by renowned modernist playwright Samuel Beckett.

WORKSHOP

July 22 onwards at Proscenium Art Centre: Theatrecian hosts a 10-day theatre workshop on film acting and stage performance, script writing, direction and theatre production, and an introduction to television commercials. To be conducted by Tathagata Chowdhury. Details at 09769068989. August 1 - 6 & August 7 - 8 at The Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre, 36C S.P. Mukherjee Road: The Graphic Novel Continuum — two workshops with Rimi B. Chatterjee and Avijit Chatterjee for storytellers and artists on the art of the Graphic Novel. Basic Skills Workshop: August 1 - 6, 3 pm - 7 pm. Masterclass: August 7 & 8, 11 am - 7 pm. Last date of registration: July 25. For details, call 24556942/3All 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