Plays with a purpose Perhaps one of the biggest events on the Indian theatre calendar, Nandikar’s National Theatre Festival is an annual affair much anticipated by theatre-lovers in this part of the country. Initiated in 1984 to commemorate Nandikar’s silver jubilee, the festival has not looked back since. The ongoing 26th edition of the festival began on a sober, serious note, reminding one of the need for universal peace and brotherhood in these troubled times. In its attempts to promote understanding and amity at the grassroots level, Nandikar has welcomed participation by theatre groups from politically disturbed regions like Bangladesh and Pakistan, besides troubled Indian states like Assam and Manipur. It concludes today with day-long performances of a number of thought-provoking, socially-relevant plays by the festival host. To be staged are: Jaai Ekti Baar; a collage of Tagore’s poetry (dir: Jhulan Mukherjee) and Hariye Jete Nei Mana (dir: Rimi Majumdar) both presented by Nandikar’s Children’s Ensemble,10 am; Dulia (dir: Swatilekha Sengupta) and Indian Idol (by Nandikar’s Children’s Ensemble; dir: Debshankar Haldar) at 3 pm and Ajnatobass (dir: Sumanta Gangopadhyay) at 6.30 pm. Event: Bengali plays by Nandikar When: Today; 10 am onwards Where: Academy of Fine Arts

ART

Till January 9 (except Sundays and public holidays) at CIMA Gallery; 3 pm - 7 pm (Mondays) & 2 pm - 7 pm (Tuesdays to Saturdays): In Search of a Context, an exhibition about the relation of art to its setting of time, place, social and historical moorings. Artworks include paintings, sculptures, drawings, collage, films and video. Featuring works of Manas Acharya, Samir Aich, Rashmi Bagchi Sarkar, Sumitro Basak, Rameshwar Broota, Shreyasi Chatterjee, Swarna Chitrakar, Jogen Chowdhury, Sougata Das, Partha Pratim Deb, Meera Devidayal, Early Bengal School, Anita Gopal, Subodh Gupta, Anup Mondal, Binode Behari Mukherjee, Ravinder G. Reddy, Satyajit Roy, Kingshuk Sarkar, Shakila, Shuvaprasanna, Mayank Kumar Shyam, Arpita Singh, J. Swaminathan, Rabindranath Tagore, Manish Waghdare, Ancient South Indian Sculpture, and Cinematic Installation by Rituparno Ghosh and Mainak Bhaumik. Till December 25 at Gaganendra Pradarshashala; 2 pm - 8 pm: Dum Dum Chitrakar presents an exhibition of paintings, drawings and craft. Till December 26 at Ganges Art Gallery, 33A Jatin Das Road, #2465 3212; 11 am - 7 pm: A Study in Abstraction — an exhibition featuring works of Manjari Chakravarti, Shridhar Iyer, Prabhakar Kolte, Manish Pushkale, Deepak Rajvar, Partha Shaw, S. Harsha Vardhana, Deepak Tandon and Neha Chandria. Till December 27 (December 25) at Birla Academy of Art and Culture; 3 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition to mark the golden jubilee of Society of Contemporary Artists. Till December 28 at Gallerie 52d, 52D Hindustan Park; 11 am - 7 pm: A ceramic show by artists of Delhi and Calcutta. Till December 28 at Starmark, South City Mall; 11 am - 8 pm: Paintings by Nina Das. Till December 29 at Gallery Exposure, 54B Mahanirban Road, #9830654796; 3 pm - 8 pm: Solo exhibition of paintings by Shyamal Sikdar. Till December 30 (except December 26 & 27) at Emami Chisel Art Pvt. Ltd, 687 Anandapur, E.M. Bypass, #40113182; 11 am - 7 pm: Art & Craft Fair. Till December 30 (except Monday) at Ahuja Museum for Arts, 26 Lee Road, #40034974, 22894745; 11:30 am – 7:30 pm: Indian Masters I – an exhibition of painting and sculpture by M.F. Husain, S H Raza, A. Ramachandran, Chintan Upadhyay, Laxma Goud, T Vaikuntam, Yusuf Arakkal, Naynaa Kanodia, Manu Parekh, Satish Gujral, Lalitha Lajmi, Dilip Ranade, Gogi Saroj Pal, C. Jagdish, Badrinaryan, Arpana Caur and Maya Burman from the Museum’s collection. Till December 31 (except Sunday) at Aakriti Art Gallery, 12/3A Hungerford Street; #2289 3027/5041; 12 noon - 7 pm: Not so long ago, a sculpture show celebrating the golden jubilee of The Society of Contemporary Artists. Till January 2 (Sundays by appointment) at Idiyas Gallery, 15 Dover Road, #65508418; 10.30 am - 6.30 pm: Portals of Perception — an exhibition of paintings by Ramananda Bandyopadhyay, Chandrima Ray, Aditya Basak, Sanatan Dinda, Sukanta Das, Subrata Gangopadhyay, Subrata Das, Suhas Roy, Samir Paul, Gourango Beshai, Sibsaday Chaudhuri and others. Till January 3 at Academy of Fine Arts; 12 noon - 8 pm: 74th Annual All-India Fine Arts Exhibition. Till January 3 (except Monday) at Bose Pacia, Stephens Court, 18 Park Street; 11 am - 7 pm: B-Swarga — new works by Jayanta Roy. Till January 3 at Government College of Arts and Crafts, 28 Jawaharlal Nehru Road: Government College of Arts and Crafts is holding its 145th annual exhibition. Till January 16 (except Sunday) at 2/1 Hindusthan Road; 11 am - 7 pm: Experimenter presents Freedom is Notional — works of three of South Asia’s leading artists Shilpa Gupta, Bani Abidi and Naeem Mohaiemen. Till January 17 at Bodhi Tree Monastery of Art, 48/44 Swiss Park, #2424 6534; 2 pm - 7 pm: A solo show of Arnab Basu’s works. Till January 31 (except Mondays) at Victorial Memorial Hall; 10 am - 5 pm: Indian Life and Landscape by Western Artists: Paintings and Drawings from the V&A, 1790-1927, hosted by The Victoria Memorial Hall and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

DRAMA

Till December 31: 12th Ganga Jamuna Natya Utsab 2009, organised by Aneek. Today at Rabindra Sadan, 3 pm: Natya Aanan presents Hirak Rajar Deshe (Dir: Chandan Sen); at 6.30 pm: Aranyak (Bangladesh) presents Rarhang (Dir: Mamunoor Rashid). At Minerva Theatre, 3 pm: Taki Natyam presents Good Morning Nishikanta; at 6.30 pm: Purbabhas presents Chenar Majhe Achena (Dir: Jahar Chowdhury). December 25 - 31 at Bijon Theatre: Shohan presents 7th Desh-Bidesher Natyamela. Today at 6 pm: Inauguration by Bibhas Chakraborty and felicitation to Harimadhab Mukhopadhyay; at 6.30 pm: Nandik, Kanchrapara will stage Parampara (Dir: Partha Bhattacharya) and Eso Natak Shikhi, Calcutta presents Dalchhut (Dir: Tapas Das).

TALK

December 25 at Bidhannagar Ramakrishna Vivekananda Kendra, DD-44 Salt Lake; 6 pm: Swami Somatmananda will speak on Sri Ramakrishna and Jesus Christ. December 25 at Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 19B Raja Rajkrishna Street; 7 pm: Swami Buddhatmananda will speak in Bengali on Vivek Chudamani.

PHOTO EXHIBITION

Till January 2 at Rabindranath Tagore Centre, ICCR; 11 am - 7 pm: Bonjour India presents TV Viewers, an exhibition of photographs taken by French lensman Olivier Culmann that captures the unsettling passivity of TV viewers. Till January 13 (except Sunday) at Weavers Studio Centre for the Arts, 94 Ballygunge Place, #2461 3145; 10 am - 7 pm: Return to Eden — an exhibition of photography by Prabir Purkayastha. Curated by Ina Puri. Till December 29 at Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre; 2 pm - 7 pm: The Seagull Foundation for the Arts and Tasveer present Pan India — A Shared Habitat, an exhibition of photographs by Prashant Panjiar.

KIDS’ CORNER

Till December 25 at Starmark, 3 Lord Sinha Road and South City Mall; 4 pm - 8 pm: Starmark holds face-painting and tattooing sessions for children, with a Santa Claus present, and a lucky dip and gifts. Till December 31 at Starmark, 3 Lord Sinha Road, City Centre (Salt Lake), South City Mall and Mani Square; 11 am - 8 pm: Starmark is holding a kids’ book exhibition.

CARNIVAL

December 25 at Oxford Bookstore, Park Street; 11 am - 4 pm: Christmas carol will be presented by the five-member band, Lush, a traditional jazz band. Also, a special screening of Charlie Chaplin on his death anniversary.

EXHIBITION

Till December 25 at Weavers Studio, 5/1 Anil Moitra Road, Ballygunge Place; 9.340 am - 6.30 pm: Shaal — an exhibition of shawls from all over North India and jewellery from the Nizam’s kingdom. Till December 27 at Fabindia stores (Hindustan Park, Woodburn Park, City Centre, South City, Hiland Park and Rajarhat): Giftware accessories, evening bags and jewellery promo. Till December 31 at Artisana, 13 Chowringhee Terrace, #2223 9422; 11 am - 7 pm: Crafts Council of West Bengal presents Burra Din, an exhibition of colonial embroideries, candles, gifts, ceramic potteries, artifacts, jewellery and exclusive handloom sarees. Till December 31 at Halo Heritage, 26 Ritchie Road; 11.30 am - 8 pm: Soumya’s Creation presents an exhibition of its new range of durries and home accessories. Till January 2 at 3/90 Chittaranjan Colony, Jadavpur, #2713 1031; 11 am - 7 pm: The Indian Handicraft presents brass showpieces, silk/canvas paintings, diyas, gifts items, greetings cards and wooden furniture. Till January 3 at Milan Mela complex; 2 pm - 8 pm; business visitors (10 am - 1 pm): 23rd Industrial India Trade Fair 2009 organised by BNCCI and Government of West Bengal in association with Indian Trade Promotion Organisation.

REUNION

December 25 at Ramakrishna Mission Residential Ciollege, Narendrapur; Vivekananda Centenary Hall; 10 am: Mahavidyalaya Praktani, the alumnus of Ramakrishna Mission Residential College (Autonomous), Narendrapur, holds its 20th reunion.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