A perfect tribute Known for his serene and contemplative abstract paintings and sculptural pieces in ceramics and pottery, artist Badhan Das was at heart a social activist, who tried to preserve, revive and encourage the folk culture of the Santhals of Santiniketan. His belief in human emotions was shaken by war, rebellion and insurgency during the days of his youth. Thus his early works were primarily figurative and narrative in nature, with a focus on the reformatory role of art. In later life, he became more of an individualist, and his art gradually turned non-figurative and introspective. His last works were almost in monochrome and seemed to underline a quest for a new reality. On Their Own, the ongoing exhibition of abstract paintings by veteran and contemporary artists, pays tribute to the master artist-activist. Participating artists: M.F. Husain (a painting by him appears above), S.H. Raza, Ram Kumar, Amitava Das, Mona Rai, Sunil De, Amitava Dhar, Yogendra Tripathi, Samindranath Majumdar and Partha Shaw. Event: An exhibition of paintings by well-known artists When: Till January 31, 3 pm - 7 pm Where: Aakriti Art Gallery, 12/3A Hungerford Street, 1st floor

art

January 31 - February 6 at Gandhara Art Gallery, 1B Gurusaday Road, Flat 5A; 12 noon - 7 pm: Non-figurative paintings by Badhan Das, Ganesh Haloi, Prabhakar Kolte, Jayshree Chakravarty and John Tun Sein. Till January 31 at Gallery Katayun, 4A Auckland Square, Flat #21; 3.30 pm - 7.30 pm: Knockout, recent works by Snehasish Maity. Till January 31 at Akar Prakar, P-238 Hindustan Park; 3 pm - 8 pm: Solo show of recent drawings and paintings by Tapas Konar. Till January 31 at Anant Art Gallery, 18A Alipore Road; 11 am - 7 pm: Crossroads, artworks by Amritah Sen, Balaji Ponna, Joydip Sengupta, Santanu Maity and Sumona Jana. Till January 31 at Mon Art Gallery, Regency, 6 Hungerford Street, 3rd floor; 10.30 am - 7 pm: Paintings by Prabal Roy. Till February 1 at Academy of Fine Arts, North Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Bratati Mukherjee’s first solo exhibition of paintings. Till February 1 at Academy of Fine Arts, South Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Cosmic Freedom, paintings based on Vedantic lores by Dipankar Mani. Till February 3 at CIMA Gallery, 43 Ashutosh Chowdhury Avenue; 2 pm - 7 pm (Monday, 3 pm - 7 pm): CIMA Annual 2006, works by 30 artists from across India. Till February 3 at G.C. Laha Centenary Fine Arts Gallery; 2 pm - 7 pm: Lunette hosts an exhibition of works by contemporary artists of Bengal. Till February 17 (except Sundays and holidays) at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Gol Park; 4 pm - 6 pm: Annual exhibition of Sarada Devi School of Fine Arts and Crafts.

drama

January 31 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6.30 pm: Sayak presents its latest production, Dildar. Direction: Meghnad Bhattacharya. January 31 at Madhusudan Mancha; 6.30 pm: Sundaram presents its latest production, Ranger Haat. Drama, direction and acting: Manoj Mitra. February 1 at Academy of Fine Arts; 6 pm: Nandikar presents Jaha Chai.... Direction: Rudraprasad Sengupta and Goutam Halder. February 3 at Girish Mancha; 6.30 pm: Nandipat presents Ramanimohan. Direction: Prakash Bhattacharya.

performing arts

January 31 at Bangla Akademi; 5.30 pm: Smriti Shruti presents Abritti Utsav. Puspita Chattopadhyay and Amit Pal Chowdhury will read from their own poems. Also, recitation by Subir Dhar, Anupam Chowdhury, Ushashi Sengupta, Adrija Ray, Snehadeep Mukhopadhyay, Anirban Banerjee and others. Direction: Kajal Sur. January 31 at Swabhumi; 7 pm: Kabye Gaane, a presentation by Goutam Halder. January 31 at Max Mueller Bhavan; 7 pm: The first anniversary celebration of Sapphire Creations’ school section features Dialogues, Conversations in Movement in the Moment, a collaborative interaction between Sapphire Creations Dance Workshop and Collective MoreSpace. February 1 at Bharatiyam Cultural Multiplex, IB-201 Salt Lake; 5 pm: EZCC presents Chhau Nirtya Samaroh with chhau dance performances of troupes from Purulia (West Bengal), Saraikela (Jharkhand) and Mayurbhanj (Orissa).

talk

January 31 at Bose Institute, Lecture Hall (main campus); 3.30 pm: Nobel laureate Paul J. Crutzen will deliver the Jagadis Chandra Bose Triennial Gold Medal Lecture 2002 on Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate in the ‘Anthropocene’. January 31 at Ramakrishna Mission Saradapitha, Belur Math; 5.30 pm: Swami Tattwasarananda will discourse on Swami Brahmananda. January 31 at Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Vivekananda Hall; 6.15 pm: Swami Prabhananda will speak in Bengali on Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita.

interaction

January 31 at Padatik’s Buildwell Theatre; 6.30 pm: Ranan presents Proximities, an informal forum of discussion and exchange. Featuring an interaction with Sudeshna Banerjee, translator, editor and cultural studies researcher. Topic: Critiquing Culture in Nineteenth Century Calcutta. February 1 at Oxford Bookstore; 6.30 pm: An interaction with eminent Australian authors Tom Keneally, John Zubrzycki and Margo Lanagan, who will also read from their works. In conversation with them will be Prof Supriya Chaudhuri and Nilanjana Deb.

book launch

January 31 at The Palladian Lounge (Third Level), The Bengal Chamber of Commerce & Industry, 6 N.S. Road; 7 pm: The launch of Paritosh Sen’s The IXth Decade. Followed by premiere of the film Self Portrait: Paritosh Sen by Vijay S. Jodha.

commemoration

February 1 at Bangla Akademi; 6 pm: A programme to commemorate R.D. Burman’s 13th death anniversary. Music composer Rocket Mondal will be felicitated on the occasion.

photographs

Till February 1 at Academy of Fine Arts, South Gallery; 3 pm - 8 pm: Silver Memories, photographs by K.G. Maheshwari.

exhibition

Till February 3 at 8/2 Loudon Street, 2nd floor; 11 am - 7 pm: Earthy Myth showcases creative fashion in sarees and ensembles.

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