The city - sliced, diced and served with a dash of sauce
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Husain's India makes its way to the US
Three years before his death, legendary artist MF Husain was commissioned to create 32 large-scale paintings depicting Indian history and culture. The prolific painter that he was, he managed to complete eight triptychs by 2011. Beginning July 14, these final works of Husain from the Indian Civilization series will be exhibited in the US for the first time at the Art Institute of Chicago. The stunning art covers a range of themes such as traditional festivals, dance forms, typical Indian households, etc. If only the artist, so much in love with his country, was allowed to live and breathe his last here.
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Mumbai gets a corner for art and design
Our friends in the art world know of CONA, a modest art residency space run by artists Hemali Bhuta and Shreyas Karle by the edge of Sanjay Gandhi National Park. Now, CONA is set to expand into a co-working space and is inviting applications from artists, designers, and even researchers with a design, social sciences or visual arts background. You could be a biologist who wants to collaborate with an artist to make children's books - you are welcome here.
CONA also has an analogue set-up for printing techniques such as etching, woodcut, plate lithography, linocut and screen-printing. "We have been functioning in small ways with our funds and with a little help from our friends, but have now boldly taken up more on our hands with the setting up of a print studio, a co-working space and, soon, a mentorship programme," says Karle.
Indulge in dark chocolate, and Faiz
It's easy to imagine losing oneself in the sublime prose of Faiz, or celebrating nature in Kalidasa's soothing verse. Now, imagine the same imagery with a chocolate-y twist. Piqued? So was this diarist. Turns out, World Chocolate Day (July 7) was an occasion for chocolate maker AllThingsNice to join hands with publisher, Penguin India to announce a set of premium chocolates inspired by plots, characters and themes from three of India's most loved literary classics: Meghdutam by Kalidasa (Belgian Milk Chocolate with Lemon Zest and Cream Cheese flavoured White Chocolate Ganache), The Cat and Shakespeare by Raja Rao (Belgian Milk Chocolate with Coconut Crumble) and The Colours of My Heart by Faiz Ahmed Faiz (Dark Chocolate and Earl Grey infused Vodka).
"People love books; people love chocolates - it was a simple idea; it was adding a sense of taste to the story for the reader. That's why it's the perfect syn-aesthetic combination — you read it, and now you can taste it too!" says a delighted Vaishnavi Singh, content marketing head, Penguin, on hitting upon the idea. Priced at '360 each, there are plans to introduce more flavours later. With such melt-in-the-mouth indulgences, who needs higher intellectual stimulation? We're off to place that order.
Pic/Satej Shinde
Make way for the pro
Ileana D'Cruz tries her hand at the camera at an event in a Juhu five-star, over the weekend, as an amused Anees Bazmee (left) looks on.
The elephant reaches Edinburgh
Yuki Ellias's Elephant in the Room, which delves into Indian mythology to tell an important story about migration, identity and the environment, has won fans among both adults and kids.
Written by Sneh Sapru, and directed and performed by Ellias, the play won several awards at METAâu00c2u0080u00c2u00882017. Adding another feather to its cap, the play will travel to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, to be held in August. "I have attended the festival as an audience member, but this is special. We will be doing 20 shows over 20 days," Ellias told this diarist.
Kiss and tell across India
Boko, ghelo, dom kudi, bhukki peena..does a kiss by any other name sound as sweet? We think so. Online multi-media project, Agents of Ishq, recently shared a map telling us what kiss is called in different parts of the country. So, there's boko in Madhya Pradesh, muttu in Tamil Nadu, cho'k in Jharkhand, suma in Assam and chumban or chummi in Himachal Pradesh. The colourful, illustrated map was not only informative but has quirky detailing specific to a region - puppets holding hands in Rajasthan, the iconic umbrella scene from the film Shree 420 in Maharashtra, and a shikara in Kashmir. And there are red lips everywhere, the entire North Eastern region being one big one. Now, this is one map we don't mind studying in detail.
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