The biggest exhibitions and coolest new events look set to rev up your art and cultural calendar.
Celebrating a legacy
Coming in: March 6 to April 2020
Known to be one of India's finest abstractionists, Mehlli Gobhai passed away in 2018 aged 87. After starting off as an art director and illustrator at J Walter Thompson, he went on to study at the prestigious Royal College of Art in London and then New York's Pratt Graphic Centre. This year, his retrospective will be unveiled at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA), curated by Nancy Adajania and Ranjit Hoskote.
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Going big
Coming in: January
Co-presented by Delhi's Nature Morte and Mumbai's Chemould Prescott Road, noted artist Jitish Kallat's next solo will be held at Famous Studios in Mahalaxmi, for the sheer scale of his work. The exhibition titled Terranum Nuncius will see the introduction of two major works — a photographic-and-sound installation called Covering Letter (terranum nuncius) and Ellipsis, his largest painting to date. While in the former piece, Kallat draws from two photographic Golden Records that were hoisted onto NASA's Voyager 1 and 2 space probes in 1977, Ellipsis spans 60 feet with a meticulously hand-drawn graph underpinning the painting.
Of high value
Coming in: February
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (CSMVS) was on a roll in 2019, with the opening of the Children's Museum, the setting up of a pop-up books pavilion and bringing Rembrandt to the city. Now, it's set to give us two new year gifts: Money and Jewellery Galleries. Elaborating on the initiative, director general Sabyasachi Mukherjee says, "They are object-oriented permanent exhibitions in which collections are central and the information is limited and secondary. It enables visitors to understand the subject and message of the exhibition through its design, graphics and technology."
Chronicling the artist
Coming in: January
To honour Riten Mozumdar, an artist and designer who found his place firmly in Indian modernist design Renaissance, Chatterjee & Lal is holding an exhibition titled, Imprint: Riten Mozumdar. A scholar of his work, Ushmita Sahu brings out never-seen-before archival material including drawings, photographs, jaali work, furnishings, scarves and more.
Zakir Hussain. Pic/Dayanita Singh
The making of a maestro
Coming in: January
In a rare occurrence, books will become exhibits at ARTISANS'. photographer Dayanita Singh will exhibit photographs of tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain over the ages. These will be launched as a book, Zakir Hussain Maquette, as she will be in conversation with Nancy Adjania. Singh travelled with the musician over six winters in the 1980s, to capture these.
In Search of Vanished Blood by Nalini Malani
Celebrating classics
Coming in: January
The Dr Bhau Dali Lad City Museum will host an exhibition titled The Witness, of works by painter, Nalini Malani. Curated by Johan Pijnappel and Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, the exhibition will showcase some of her most celebrated work including, In Search of Vanished Blood. It will also open just in time for the Mumbai Gallery Weekend.
(Left to right) Vandana Shiva, Rana Safvi and Pushpesh Pant
Food for thought
Coming in: January
KR Cama Oriental Institute is set to launch a one-of-a-kind seminar on The Past and Future of Food On The Indian Subcontinent. The two-day interdisciplinary event brings together renowned scholars and researchers including Dr Colleen Taylor Sen. Dr Rachel Berger, Dr Benjamin Siegel, Saee Koranne-Khandekar, Rana Safvi and Vandana Shiva. Dr Pushpesh Pant will deliver the inaugural address. The topics under discussion range from labour rights and family recipes to culinary exchanges and the relationship between food and identity. "It took us a year of planning. Through 2020, we aim to focus not just on academics but also on subjects that will appeal to students. We also have a special discount for students who wish to attend the seminar," shares Dr Nawaz Mody, joint honorary secretary of the institution.
Radhika Vaz at CreativeMornings
The morning kick
Coming in: January
CreativeMornings, a series of conversations over breakfast have found a new and permanent home at G5A Foundation for Contemporary Culture. Over the last five years, host Amishi Parekh has taken the initiative around town keeping in line with the format followed in over 200 countries and conceptualised by Tina Roth Eisenberg.
An extraordinary event
Coming in: Post-Monsoon
Harkat Studios is synonymous with the Museum of Ordinary Objects that showcases personal stories attached to day-to-day objects. This year, they're attempting a version on phones with an installation. According to creative producer and art curator Michaela Talwar, the project appeals to millennials. "The phone exhibition is a bit like a time travel machine — a lo-fi re-imagination of the dial-up phone. It is not only confined to the Harkat space, we're going to do this all over the city in public spaces. You will find a dial-up phone at a railway station or bus stop. We're going to set it to ring and when you answer, you will hear a story or poem. We're trying to also include different languages," she shares, adding that the writing is now in progress."
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