The 11th edition of the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival is here. these are some events that you just cannot miss
The 11th edition of the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival is here. these are some events that you just cannot miss
IT'S time to live it up at Rampart Row again as the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival rolls out its specials mind-bending performances, striking art installations and art and craft stalls from across the country. Sunday MiD DAY asks some KGAF participants on their festival favourites and picks the top events for the festival.
The Regulars Food Chetana Restaurant
Kala Ghoda Arts Festival will see stalls put up by neighbouring restaurants Joss, Bombay Blue and the Gujarathi thali special, Chetana. For Chetana owner Kavi Arya, the festival is one of the city's only pedestrian-friendly events in the whole year.
"It's a space on the road where the pedestrian gets to be safe and happy instead of being treated like a third class citizen," he says. The chaat items on the Chetana stall's menu will remain the same: aloo chaat, bhel puri and pani puri, as will the ice golas. Arya himself enjoys exploring the tribal handicraft stalls at the festival, and shopping for offbeat products. 
Artifacts kuprakabi stall
Vanmala Jain has showcased her designs at KGAF for 11 years. The highlight of the stall this year are her dragonfly showpieces. "It's here that my latest designs get picked up by retail and other consumers, and I look forward to it every year," she says. Vanmala works with a group of 100 women who live in the city slums and create the artifacts within their own homes and at their own pace.
"This year, we've done a lot of chimes, dolls, parrots, frogs and much more. We've blended terracotta and fabric, something that's never been attempted before," she says proudly. A single dragonfly piece costs Rs 350. There are also the tic-tac-toe game sets made of ceramic, in which the noughts and crosses are replaced by pictures of animals, birds, fruits and vegetables and cost Rs 850.
The newbies
Fashion Mora Fashion Art
A media professional, Ritika Mittal broke off to explore another interest: fabric designing. She will display her sarees, dupattas and launch a new line of skirts, for the first time at the KGAF. "I remember walking around the festival last year, wishing I could be a part of the stalls. And this year, I am," she says, smiling.
There are two brands by the same name, Mora, so Ritika's carries her name on it. She travels around the country picking up design elements and different traditional fabrics, before incorporating them in her creations. While the sarees begin at Rs 4,000, the dupattas range from 2,500 to Rs 3,000. The skirts start at Rs 10,000. "They're a cross between a gypsy skirt and the traditional Indian village skirt," she explains.
Her favourite pick at the festival are the kinds of honey on sale courtesy Under The Mango Tree.
African Safari Gagan Seksaria, Everything Africa stall
Gagan recently quit his corporate job so he could travel. He set out for Africa, a continent that he had explored with his friend Tejas Nataraj. The duo scaled 5,900 feet of the Kilimanjaro, toured the cities in local buses, looked up villages and wildlife, and returned to India with various knick-knacks.
"We picked up paintings made by villagers from the interiors, chappals and bags made by the Mara people off used truck treads and parakites, some traditional African ceramic pieces etc," says Gagan. All of this is for sale (priced between Rs 2,000 to Rs 4,000) at the Everything Africa stall at KGAF this year. 
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