Mystic modernism Gifted with a cerebral palette that can seamlessly blend the colours of fantasy and realism, Tapas Konar has given birth to a unique visual rhetoric, which, though inspired by ancient Bengali spiritual texts, is clearly original and contemporary. The ongoing exhibition of his recent drawings and paintings exemplifies his ability to invoke mythological associations only to load conceptual values to his images. The non-specific iconic images, reminiscent of known puranic and Buddhist icons which abound in his works, appear to be part of the fluid rhythm of his compositions. The use of a muted, overall ambient colour creates the perfect pictorial space helping the artist to take off into flights of fantasy. Konar’s images of genderless, translucent human figures in motion definitely indicate post-modern influences. He also employs his music-attuned senses to bind disparate segments of his paintings in a free-flowing strain, endowing his work with a rare musical quality. Event: Drawings and paintings by Tapas Konar When: Till January 31 (except Sunday), 3 pm - 8 pm Where: Akar Prakar, P-238 Hindustan Park

art

Till January 25 at Academy of Fine Arts; 3 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of drawings and paintings by Baniprosonno. Till January 27 at Spandan Art Gallery, 87 Park Street; 10 am - 7 pm: Freedom, paintings by Keshav Roy, Robin Kr Mondal and Suvro Chakraborty. Till January 27 at Galerie 88, 28B Shakespeare Sarani; 3 pm - 7 pm: Recent works by Jyotee and Iris Hudson Ghosh. Till January 28 (except holidays) at Birla Academy of Art & Culture; 3 pm - 8 pm: 40th annual art exhibition of Birla Academy of Art & Culture. Till January 30 at Chitrakoot Art Gallery, 55 Gariahat Road; 3 pm - 8 pm: Euroscapes, sumi ink and pastels works on paper by Asit Poddar. Till January 31 at Mon Art Gallery, Regency, 6 Hungerford Street, 3rd floor; 10.30 am - 7 pm: Paintings by Prabal Roy. Till January 31 (Sunday by appointment only) at Gallery Katayun, 4A Auckland Square, Flat #21; 3.30 pm - 7.30 pm: Knockout, recent works by Snehasish Maity. Till February 3 (except Sunday) at CIMA Gallery, 43 Ashutosh Chowdhury Avenue; 2 pm - 7 pm (Mondays, 3 pm - 7 pm): CIMA Annual 2006, works by 30 artists from across India.

drama

January 26 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: Shouvanik presents Daant Paake Bandha. Direction: Chandan Das. January 27 at Madhusudan Mancha; 6.30 pm: Rang Roop presents Mukhosh Nritya. Direction: Seema Mukherjee. January 27 at Academy of Fine Arts; 3 pm: Lok Krishti presents Page 4 — Its Also A Game. Drama and direction: Bratya Basu. January 27 & 28 at Muktangan Rangalaya, Rashbehari; 7 pm: Kolkata Aryama presents Dakshin Nagarir Utthan.

performing arts

Till January 28 at Sree Thyagaraja Hall, P-530 Raja Basanta Roy Road: Rasika Ranjana Sabha presents its 61st annual music festival to celebrate the 160th anniversary of Saint Thyagaraja. Today at 6.15 pm: Vocal recital by Visalakshi Nityanand accompanied by Kalyani Shankar (violin) and Mannargudi Sri V. Ramamurthy (mridangam). Till January 25 at Nazrul Mancha: Desh presents the 55th Dover Lane Music Conference. Today; 8.30 pm onwards (night-long): Vocal recital by Shubhada Paradkar, sitar recital by Shahid Parvez, vocal recital by Rajan & Sajan Mishra and sarod recital by Amjad Ali Khan. January 26 at Gyan Manch; 6.30 pm: Nuances presents Versedance, featuring Eternal Calling based on Tagore’s Jete Nahi Dibo, Speaking Her-Story and You Are Here. Concept, choreography and design: Jhuma Basak. January 27 at Sisir Mancha; 5.30 pm: Surolok presents Kabi Katha Kabi Gaan. Featuring audio-play Aparichita (dir: Kajal Sur), solo recitation, solo rendition of Tagore songs and giti-alekhya Sudurer Piyasi. January 27 at Swabhumi; 6.30 pm: Madhuja Centre for Performing Arts presents an evening of Kathak dance. Direction: Soma Ghosh.

talk

January 25 at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Shivananda Hall; 6.15 pm: Swami Somatmananda will speak in Bengali on Sri Sri Mayer Katha. January 25 at Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 19B Raja Rajkrishna Street; 7 pm: Swami Samshuddhananda will speak in Bengali on Valmiki Ramayana.

discussion

January 25 at Sri Aurobindo Bhavan; 6 pm: Arabinda Basu will discuss on Deb Jiban. January 25 at Michael Madhusudan Library Sabhaghar, Khidderpore, Kabi Tirtha; 6.30 pm: Saibal Mitra will discuss on Michael Madhusudan: Uttaradhikar. Also, songs presented by Chandrabali Rudra Dutta.

film festival

Till January 25 at Nandan III: The concluding day of TRI Continental Film Festival features Our America (4 pm), Betrayal (5.30 pm), Say Amen! (6.30 pm) and First Lesson In Peace (7.40 pm).

photographs

Till January 28 at Seagull Arts & Media Resource Centre; 2 pm - 8 pm: As part of Tasveer — Opening Season, Dress Circle, photographs by Shahid Datawala.

fair

Till January 28 at Rabindra Sadan - Bangla Akademi premises: Ninth Little Magazine Mela 2007. Featuring story reading, poetry reading and discussions.

poetry festival

January 27 at Bharatiyam Cultural Multiplex, IB-201 Salt Lake; 4 pm & January 28 & 29 at Aikatan, IA-290 Salt Lake; 10 am - 8 pm: International Bengali Poetry Festival Committee, Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre and Indian Council for Cultural Relations host International Bengali Poetry Festival 2007 with participants from countries including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, UK, USA, Japan, Russia, Thaliand and Bangladesh, as well as 12 Indian states. Featuring poetry reading and recitation, songs based on poetry and discussions on Bengali poetry.

quiz

January 28 at Starmark (Emami Landmark Store, 3 Lord Sinha Road) Terrace; 5 pm: Starmark Film and Music Quiz. Three-member teams. Registration from 4 pm. Open to all.

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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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