Patriotic theatre songs Academy Theatre celebrates its 21st anniversary with Manchageeti: Swadeshpriti, a programme that explores an oft-overlooked facet of Bengali theatre songs. Tracing the close connection of the Bengali stage with nationalist movement and aspirations since the days of the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857, the programme emphasises the role of Bengali theatre as a driving force that inspired many to join the country?s freedom struggle. As drama became a potent vehicle to hold aloft the flag of patriotism, the demand for independence as expressed in theatre-songs turned into concerted clarion calls for the freedom of the motherland. Taking in its sweep two centuries of musical and political history, this evening?s presentation also attempts to bridge the cross-cultural divide that exists in the songs of Bengal and Bangladesh. Participants: Riddhi Bandyopadhyay and Devajit Bandyopadhyay in songs and Bratati Bandyopadhyay and Ramendu Majumdar in narration. Script and direction: Devajit Bandyopadhyay. Presented in collaboration with Victoria Memorial, Calcutta. Event: Programme of Bengali nationalistic theatre songs When: Today at 6 pm Where: Rabindra Sadan

art

Till December 31 at CIMA Gallery; 2 pm - 7 pm: Contemporary Forms: CIMA Annual Exhibition. Featuring works of Akhilesh, Aku, Rashmi Bagchi Sarkar, Arun Bose, Sumitro Basak, M.F. Husain, Rameshwar Karmakar, Madhuri Kathe, Bimal Kundu, Paresh Maity, Rm. Palaniappan, Pampa Panwar, Manu Parekh, Kingshuk Sarkar, Joydip Sengupta, Shakila, Lalu Prosad Shaw, Paramjit Singh, Arpita Singh, Chintan Upadhyay, Uday Kumar Mondal, T. Vaikuntam, Yusuf and others. Till December 31 at Aakriti Art Gallery, 1st floor Orbit Enclave, 12/3A Picasso Bithi, Hungerford Street; 3 pm - 7 pm: Works of G.C. Chakravarty, Gopal Ghose, Jamini Roy, K.H. Ara, N.S. Bendre, Nirmal Bhadra and Sailoz Mookherjea. Till December 31 at Asutosh Birth Centenary Hall, Indian Museum; 3 pm - 8 pm: Annual exhibition of paintings and sculptures by the students of Bengal Fine Arts College. Till December 31 at Birla Academy of Art & Culture; 4 pm - 8 pm: 45th annual exhibition of works by the members of Society for Contemporary Artists. Till January 1 at Gallery Chemould, 12F Park Street; 10 am - 7 pm: The Eye Within presents My Country Village, a solo exhibition of paintings by Sudip Banerjee. Till January 1 at Birla Academy of Art & Culture; 4 pm - 8 pm: An exhibition of painting and works by Italian artist Sergio Barletta. Organised by Consulate General of Italy in Calcutta. Till January 1 at Government College of Art & Craft, 28 Jawaharlal Nehru Road; 2 pm - 8 pm: The 141st Annual Exhibition 2005-06 ofr Government College of Art and Craft, Calcutta. Till January 2 at Bharatiyam, IB 201 Salt Lake; 11 am - 5 pm: In collaboration with Reflections of Another Day (RAD), EZCC presents an exhibition of paintings. Till January 2 at Genesis Art Gallery, 8B Middleton Street; 2 pm - 7 pm: Mirror of Mind, a painting show by Bappaditya Roy Chowdhury, Nafisa Khatun and Partha Protim Das. Till January 7 (except Mondays) at Victoria Memorial Hall; 10 am - 4 pm: The French Embassy in India, the French Association, Calcutta and the Victoria Memorial present the exhibition, enkibilalinindia. Till January 8 at Academy of Fine Arts; 12 noon - 8 pm: The 70th Annual All India Fine Arts Exhibition by the members of Academy of Fine Arts. Till January 31 at Arts & Ideas Designshop, UZ 213 Swabhumi; 12 noon - 8.30 pm: Arts & Ideas presents Down to Earth, an exhibition of Bengali pottery. Participants: Arun Mukhoty, Gourab Malakar, Manik Das, Manoj Kumar Das, Mousumi Roy, Payel Sarkar, Partha Dasgupta, Soumen Basu and Tanmoy Das.

DRAMA

Till December 31: The 8th Ganga Jamuna Natya Utsab organised by Aneek. Today at Academy of Fine Arts, 6.30 pm: Adrishya Asukh (dir: Malay Biswas) by Aneek. December 29 at Madhusudan Mancha; 6.30 pm: Bohurupee presents Deepdanda, directed by Kumar Roy. January 1 at Girish Mancha; 6.30 pm: Rang-Roop presents Tagore?s Sesh Raksha. Direction: Seema Mukherjee.

PERFORMING ARTS

December 28 at Dakshin Kalikata Sansad; 7.30 pm: Bandish Fusion by Subhen Chatterjee and Karma, with Raghav, Jojo, Lew Hilt and others. December 28 at Rotary Sadan; 6 pm: Manasi presents Ekti Anubhabi Sandhya, with songs by Sukanya Nath, Madhumita Basu, Chitra Lahiri, Kanchan Sarkar and Srabani Sen. Also, felicitation to Sunil Gangopadhyay, Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Suchitra Bhattacharya and Haimanti Sukla.

EXHIBITIon

Till December 31 at Artisana, 13 Chowringhee Terrace (1st floor); 10 am - 7.30 pm: Crafts Council of West Bengal presents Burra Din, an exhibition featuring Christmas decorations, lamps, gift items, household items, artifacts and jewellery. December 28 - 31 at Weavers Studio, #24408937: Weavers Studio presents End of the Year celebrations with woolen woven shawls and scarves.

FILM SHOW

December 28 at Madhusudan Mancha: The state government?s department of information and cultural affairs along with Federation of Film Societies of India present children?s film festival. Featuring Harbie Fully Loaded (12 noon); The Day After Tomorrow (3 pm) and Iqbal (Hindi, 6 pm).

TALK

December 28 at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Vivekananda Hall; 6 pm: Professor Dr R.D. Lele, Hony Chief Physician and Director of Nuclear Medicine, Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre, Mumbai, will deliver Surrendra Paul Lecture 2005. Topic: Advanced Health-care for All. December 28 at Sri Aurobindo Bhavan; 6 pm: Biswanath Roy will speak on Sri Aurobindo?s Savitri. December 28 at Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 19A & B Raja Rajkrishna Street; 7 pm: Parimal Kanti Das will speak on Sri Ramakrishna and Jesus Christ.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Till December 31 at Seagull Arts and Media Resource Centre; 2 pm - 7 pm: Neon Tigers ? Asian Mega Cities, and Heimat ? Contemporary German Landscapes: Photographs by Peter Bialobrzeski.

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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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Fax: 2234-8244