Arts & Culture News - Page 19

Art Attack: The India Art Festival returns to Delhi after two years

Sixth Edition of the India Art festival to be held in Delhi after two long years of the pandemic

Meet Muktamani Devi, Manipur entrepreneur who recently got Padma Shri for her shoe-knitting business

"Padma Shri has encouraged me to do better, provide employment to more people, and improve the quality of my products," Muktamani Devi says with a smile.

Gaurav Gupta on being a culturalist, and designing red carpet gowns for Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, Jennifer Hudson

"Megan Thee Stallion, Cardi B, and Jennifer Hudson are all culturalists. Ours is also a culturalist brand. We also challenge how people think of fashion so that is where we resonate," says designer Gaurav Gupta.

Book Review | BN Goswamy's Conversations, a collection of his art columns, is a guide to every new enthusiast

This book is evidence that an understanding of art need not be presented using convoluted paragraphs of indecipherable sentences.

Know Your Classical Dances: Tracing Sattriya’s aesthetic legacies, from sattras or monasteries to the modern stage

Sattriya has now emerged as a significant body of art that makes relevant the universal ideas of infinite faith, its registers resonating across the globe with practitioners continuing to explore and expand the contours of its performance style

Book Review | Devapriya Roy’s ‘Cat People’ is much more than cats and cat-loving or hating humans

‘Cat People’ can be the ‘light’ read you’re looking for, though this review focuses on grief stories in it.

Forgotten Food: The Eenthu Panna tree's seeds contain the story of a cuisine, culture and its custodians

In addition to being the star ingredient in heirloom dishes like the ‘eenthu pidi’ made by the Mappila Muslims, the seeds of the Cycas circinalis (popularly referred to as the eenthu panna) tree are a living testimony to the age-old reliance of indigenous communities on wild edibles and the unrecorded wealth of ethnobotanical information they possess.

On International Transgender Day of Visibility, read British Muslim trans activist Sabah Choudrey's book

Sabah Choudrey's book also considers how visibility does not always serve trans people; it can be at odds with their safety.

Tarun Tahiliani’s ‘Global Indian’ collection was a playful symphony of luminous hues and cascading drapes

In a conversation with Firstpost, designer Tarun Tahiliani says, “Fashion is becoming more sustainable and versatile with customers wanting to buy pieces which can be worn in multiple ways.”

Divya Prakash Dubey: 'We need to go beyond the traditional platforms to make Hindi cool again'

"It's not like people aren't interested in just Hindi literature. They don’t care about what’s happening in English writing either. It’s not like they are looking forward to what Arundhati Roy is going to write next. That’s a lifestyle issue," says author Divya Prakash Dubey.

Anindita Ghose on her debut novel The Illuminated: 'It is essentially a novel about shifts in perspective'

Anindita Ghose on The Illuminated: 'It is a story about women coming into their own, how they dazzle when they choose to shine together'

AAP MP Raghav Chadha turns showstopper at FDCI X Lakme Fashion Week

The 33-year-old politician, Raghav Chadha walked the ramp for designer Pawan Sachdeva.

Know Your Classical Dances: How Bharatnatyam, rooted in temple dances of Devdasis, contributes to nation's sociopolitical climate

The trajectory of Bharatnatyam, as cultural evolution of a dance form and the political makings of a nation state, provides a fascinating glimpse.

From India to Madagascar: How revisiting Kalidasa can help us become sensitive towards biodiversity and climate change

Like Kalidasa’s Meghaduta, Monsoon not only depicts the rich flora and fauna of the places through which it travels but also highlights their vivid colours and sounds, tastes and aroma of the rich cuisine, and landscapes and monuments

World Theatre Day: Manav Kaul on juggling cinema and plays, and why he keeps returning to the latter

"I have tea as well as coffee, and of course, they are different, they have to be, that is why we are having both. The same is the case with theatre and cinema," says Manav Kaul.

Poet Ranjit Hoskote: I'm fascinated by how art produces possibility of a world aslant

"The activity of writing poetry might be solitary, but it is supported by a community – even a family – of fellow writers and readers, says Ranjit Hoskote, who was honoured with the Mahakavi Kanhaiyalal Sethia Poetry Award at the Jaipur Literature Festival.

What on-ground literature festivals like JLF mean to first-time authors: 'Getting your book out finally feels real'

Jaipur Literature Festival this year was all the more special also because it gave several first-time authors, whose books released during the pandemic, the chance to talk about their work.

Shantanu & Nikhil present their collection 'Nomad' at FDCI X Lakme Fashion Week

Designer duo Shantanu & Nikhil explored their relationship with nature as they presented their collection at the ongoing FDCI X Lakme Fashion Week

Book Review | Namrata Rana, Utkarsh Majmudar argue for sustainability in Shift: Decisions for a Net Zero World

Shift: Decisions for a Net Zero World serves as an excellent manual for organisations that are keen to make sustainability a part of various functions such as hiring, product design, operations, logistics, finance, and employee health.

Finding Kashmir in books: Looking back at the 1990 exodus through writings on and by Kashmiri Pandits

Vivek Agnihotri film The Kashmir Files, depicting the exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley, continues to be a topic of debate two weeks after its release. We take a look at books written over the last three decades that give us an insight into the tragedy

Book Review | In his memoir, Oscar-nominated actor Will Smith presents a raw and painful account that's rarely self-congratulatory

Ahead of him possibly getting third time lucky with a Best Actor win for King Richard at Oscars 2022, here's how you can get to know Will Smith better, through the lens of his recently released memoir.

The FDCI x Lakmé Fashion Week goes physical after two years

Award-winning designer Rahul Mishra opened the FDCI x Lakmé Fashion Week at the Italian Embassy

Know Your Classical Dances: Discovering the devotional and romantic histories of temple dance Odissi

Complexities of passionate and romantic love intermingled with the elements of spirituality and liberation quickly came under attack during the British Raj, vilified for their seemingly lascivious and seductive leanings. 

Robert Stephens: The man who reimagined Bombay into a city that it could have been

Robert Stephens’ new book, which came out this month, is a rigorously researched and originally illustrated compilation of civic projects for the Maximum City that remained on paper

World Poetry Day 2022: Tracing the origins and enduring socio-political relevance of Urdu shayari

On World Poetry Day, it is vital to reaffirm that Urdu and Urdu poetry must never go out of currency because of the curse of time, and definitely not because of its politics.

Reflections on the Hijab ban: In fashion world, an act of cultural pride subverts logic in a polarised world

For young Muslim women in India caught between the state and society, there is little space for them to define themselves outside of the hijab.

Abhijit V Banerjee, Nobel Prize economist and now a cookbook writer, opens up on all things food and economy

"Until we were struck by the pandemic, we did not realise the magnitude of the problem we have when it comes to food security," says Abhijit V Banerjee.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar | Let our lives blossom with the colours of enthusiasm and love

We should play Holi with vivid, fragrant and beautiful colours of life, not with muddy water and chemicals

Sadhguru | Celebrating Holi: The meaning of colours and their role in our lives

Though red, or gulaal, was the only colour used in the tradition, today people are seen covered in brilliant colours

Happy Holi 2022: Treat your taste buds to some amazing gujiyas this festival; here are some suggestions

Gujiyas are dumplings or sweet fried pastries filled with a stuffing of coconut, dry nuts, khoya [milk solids], and sugar. The dish is famous in North India, and is widely prepared during Holi