Inspired by the elements The five elements of Indian thought, shunya (space), vayu (air), agni (fire), jal (water) and prithvi (earth) are linked through their very concept, complementing one another perfectly to sustain both the macro and microcosm. Inspired by these primal elements and choreographed in Kathak, Ranan’s production Shunya Se draws on various music genres and design elements to create a breathtaking audio-visual tapestry. First produced in 2003, Ranan has performed excerpts from it at various festivals and venues across India since, with its characteristic grace, vibrancy and visual magic. In conception and range, this evening’s presentation attempts to reach beyond the understanding of choreography as a part of dance terminology. Rather, it is approached in its connotation of designing space using dance, movement, design and spatial elements in stagecraft, light, sound, music, costume, colour, scenography and theatricality. All these aspects come together to create a presentation that is both panoramic in scope and personal in experience. Concept and choreography: Debashree Bhattacharya and Vikram Iyengar. Event: Shunya Se, a choreographic presentation in Kathak by Ranan When: Today at 7 pm Where: Rabindra Sadan

art

Till January 30 at Genesis Art Gallery, 8B Middleton Street; 2 pm - 7 pm: Symphony— paintings and sculptures by Asit Patnaik, Bhagat Singh, Gautam Mukherjee, Shyamal Mukherjee, Seema Kohli, Harish Kumar, Phalguni Dasgupta, Dhananjay Mukherjee, Gosto Kumar and others. Till January 30 at 1/42 Sahid Nagar, Dhakuria, #98311 23151; 4 pm - 8 pm: The Fragmented Traditions 2, an exhibition of Aloke Paul’s recent paintings. Till January 31 at Masters Collection Art Gallery, G-7 Malalay Apartments, 3 Woodburn Park Road; 11 am - 7 pm: Small is Beautiful 3, an exhibition of miniature artworks by some of the greatest living legends along with some of the exciting new talents. Till January 31 at Ganges Art Gallery, 33A Jatin Das Road, #24653212; 11 am - 7 pm: An exhibition of vitreous enamels by Amal Ghosh and linocut prints by Peter Daglish. Till January 31 at Galerie 88, 28B Shakespeare Sarani, #2290 2274; 11 am - 7 pm: Galerie 88 presents recent works by K. Laxma Goud. Till January 31 at Shree Art Gallery, 11 Gurusaday Road, Kusum Apartment, Flat no. 61, #9903235566; 3 pm - 7 pm: An exhibition of paintings, titled Festive Hues, featuring works by B.R. Panesar, Debabrata Chakrabarti, Dhiren Sasmal, Ratan Acharya, Samir Paul, Subrata Das, Sukanta Das, Soumitra Kar, Ritu Singh, Milanendu Mandal, Atin Mitra, Anirban Seth and others. Till February 1 at Samokal Art Gallery, 23 Gariahat Road, Golpark; 2 pm - 8 pm: Paintings and sculptures based on the novels of Ashapurna Devi on the occasion of her birth centenary. Till February 1 at 48/44 Swiss Park, Rabindra Sarovar Metro station, #2424 6534; 2 pm - 7 pm: Vibrant Ghats of Varanasi — an exhibition of paintings by Anirban Seth. Till February 1 at Birla Academy of Art & Culture; 3 pm - 8 pm: The 42nd Annual Exhibition 2009 featuring works by young and upcoming artists from all over India as well as works of senior eminent artists. Till February 3 at Aakriti Art Gallery, 1st floor Orbit Enclave, 12/3A Hungerford Street, #22893027; 12 noon - 7 pm: Paintings by Kazi Ghiyasuddin. Till February 10 at Weavers Studio Centre for the Arts, 94 Ballygunge Place, #2460 4245/2461 3145; 10 am - 7 pm: An exhibition of paintings by Khurshid Alam Saleem. Curated by Radhika Datta. Till February 14 (except Mondays) at Bose Pacia, Stephens Court, 18 Park Street, #40010148; 11 am - 7 pm: Bose Pacia presents a group show, Analytical Engine. Curated by Heidi Fichtner. Till February 28 at Idiyas Gallery, 15 Dover Road, #65508418; 10.30 am - 7.30 pm: The Masters of Imagination — an exhibition of the works by Kartick Pyne, Atin Basak, Tapas Sardar, Prokash Karmakar, Suhas Roy, Sanatan Dinda, Sukanta Das, Bratin Khan, Aditya Basak, Sibsaday, Subroto Das and others.

TALK

January 29 at ITC - The Sonar, Calcutta; 7.30 pm: Celebrating Calcutta’s pre-eminence as a City of Literature, Jenny Brown on Edinburgh as City of Literature and Mani Shankar Mukherjee on Calcutta as City of Literature. (By invitation only) January 29 at Ramakrishna Math, Baranagar; 6.10 pm: Dr Bhupendra Nath Sil will speak on Sri Ramakrishna and Kamalakanta - in speeches and songs. January 29 at Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, 19B Raja Rajkrishna Street; 7 pm: Swami Samshuddhananda will speak in Bengali on Srimad-Bhagavad.

MEMORIAL LECTURE

January 29 at Calcutta Book Fair, UBI Auditorium; 4.30 pm: Asok Kumar Sarkar Memorial Lecture: Alexander McCall Smith will speak on My debt to R.K. Narayan.

IN CONVERSATION

January 29 at Worldview Bookstore, Jadavpur University campus; 1 pm - 2 pm: Scottish author James A. Coghlan in coversation with eminent scholar and novelist Dr Rimi B. Chatterjee, senior lecturer, department of English, Jadavpur University. The discussion will focus on the author’s new book, The Impossible Journey, a Novella.

FOUNDATION DAY

January 29 at the Vivekananda Hall, Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Gol Park; 6 pm: Foundation Day Anniversary Meeting of The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture. Welcome address: Swami Sarvabhutananda. Foundation Day oration: Are Life Scientists trying to play God? Speaker: Prof. Samir K. Brahmachari, director general, CSIR, New Delhi. Presidential address: Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi.

DRAMA

January 29 at Bharatiyam Cultural Multiplex, IB 201 Salt Lake; 6 pm: EZCC's monthly theatre show will feature the Bengali play, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's Dena Paona, directed by Swapan Sengupta and to be presented by Natyaranga. January 29 at Academy of Fine Arts, 6.30 pm: Nehru Children’s Museum presents Saraswati Samipeshu, performed by its students. Direction: Rama Prasad Banik. January 29 at Madhusudan Mancha; 6.30 pm: Nabamayukh Nattya Sangstha presents Gopichand, directed by Rishi Mukhopadhyay.

PERFORMING ARTS

Till January 31 at Sree Thyagaraja Hall, P-530 Raja Basanta Roy Road: Rasika Ranjana Sabha’s 63rd annual music festival. Today at 6.15 pm: Sikkil Mala Chandrasekhar (flute) with Meera Sivramakrishnan (violin), Umayalpuram Sri Mali (mridangam) and H. Sivaramkrishnan (ghatam). January 29 at Weavers Studio Centre for the Arts, 94 Ballygunge Place, #2460 4245; 6 pm: Tribute to Maihar from Jharkhand — a sitar-sarod jugalbandi by the Kedia Brothers, Mor Mukut (sitar) and Manoj Kumar (sarod) of Jharkhand. January 29 at Rabindra Sadan; 7 pm: Ranan presents Shunya Se, inspired by the concept of five elements in Indian thought and choreographed in Kathak. Concept & choreography: Debashree Bhattacharya and Vikram Iyengar. January 30 at G.D. Birla Sabhagar; 6.30 pm: Weavers Studio Centre for the Arts presents Azmaish..., the magic of traditional, world music and dance. Featuring Ustad Sabir Khan (tabla), Pandit Tarun Bhattacharya (santoor), Pandit Ramesh Mishra (sarangi), Pandit Chitresh Das (Kathak), Jason Samuels (Tap dance), Jayanta Banerjee (sitar), Arif Khan (tabla) and Theo Hill (piano).

BOOK SIGNING

January 29 at Calcutta Book Fair, Crossword Bookstore stall; 6.30 pm: Scottish author James A. Coghlan will sign his new book, The Impossible Journey, a Novella.

BOOK LAUNCH

January 29 at Starmark, South City Mall; 6.30 pm: Starmark will host the launch of Vaidya Suresh Chaturvedi's Fit for Life through Ayurveda, by R. S. Agarwal, chairman, Emami Group. January 29 at Park Hotel, Banquet Ebony; 4 pm: Goutam Ghose will launch Deep Prokashan’s Park Street, a collection of 60 short stories.

MEET

Till February 2 at Rights Hall, Calcutta Book Fair; 12 noon - 8 pm: Scottish publishers’ meetings with Indian publishers.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Till January 31 at Calcutta Information Centre; 3 pm - 7 pm: Water: Painter of Life — an exhibition of photographs by Alain Dumas and Jayanta Guha of Quebec, Canada.

QUIZ

January 29 at Subhas Mela, Madhyamgram Choumatha; 2 pm onwards: Subhas Mela of Madhyamgram and Quiz Maniacs Society of Barasat host two school quiz contests. For details, call Pijush Nandi (98304 95857) or Partha Gupta (98303 18721).

EXHIBITION

January 29 & 30 at J.D. Birla Institute, main campus, 11 Lower Rawdon Street; 10 am - 4 pm: Helping Hands, social club of J.D. Birla Institute, department of home science & commerce, presents CARITAS: An Endeavor to Encourage the Underprivileged — an exhibition cum sale of products made by children with special needs and marginalized women. Till January 31 at Cottage Emporium, 7 Jawaharlal Nehru Road: Cottage hosts an exhibition of shawls procured from all over India.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