Arts & Culture News - Page 24

Divya Dutta on her new book The Stars in My Sky and writing about people who matter

In this exclusive interview, actor Divya Dutta talks about her new book, her roles that are the closest to her heart, how she has managed to choose diverse characters, and why she doesn’t regret not becoming a mainstream heroine.

How Coming Home helped pastry chef Pooja Dhingra find herself again

In an exclusive interview, celebrated pastry chef Pooja Dhingra opens up about her new book Coming Home, cooking in her family kitchen again after so many years, fusion desserts, food photography, baking hacks, and her plans for the future.

Living Art: What Rabindranath Tagore's artwork at Christie's says about Nobel laureate's prowess as a painter

"Tagore’s Untitled (Couple) is not a painting of western or colonial subjects. In fact, it is the complete antithesis of that European academic realism that the British were still encouraging in the first half of the 20th century."

CNN investigates how 'fairness-mania' is fueling a dangerous drug dependence in India

A new series by CNN’s titled As Equals aims to reveal the scale of the use of harmful skin whitening products worldwide; raise awareness of colourism which often underpins their use; and hold to account corporations and government agencies who manufacture, sell, or inadequately regulate these products.

A Tale of Two Countries: How Meghan Markle continues to elicit polarised reactions from US and UK

Ever since relocating to the US with Prince Harry, Meghan Markle has injected herself into the American political debate in a way that would have been inconceivable in the UK, where members of the royal family scrupulously avoid politics.

Iram Manzil, palace overlooking Hussain Sagar in Hyderabad, has been a silent surveyor of the city

Erram Manzil is unique because it blends major architectural styles of the time, and there are few other buildings like it that reflect the creative originality of the Deccan.

Wilbur Smith, renowned novelist of adventure fictions, dies aged 88

Smith became a household name with his 49 swashbuckling adventure stories, which took readers from tropical islands to the jungles of Africa and even Ancient Egypt and World War II

Book review: Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh is an account more of SRK's (female) fans than the star himself

Shrayana Bhattacharya pieces together a story of what made Indian women love SRK, and what that love can tell us about the women themselves.

Actually... I Met Them book review: In new memoir, Gulzar doesn't hold back his awe and fondness for those who've shaped him

Gulzar looks back at his encounters with the likes of Bimal Roy, Sharmila Tagore, Kishore Kumar, Satyajit Ray, Sanjeev Kumar, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Basu Bhattacharya, Ritwik Ghatak, and Suchitra Sen with a lack of artifice that feels refreshing at a time when people speak in measured tones, concealing how they truly feel.

From ceramic cows to Kaavad-inspired art, these designers are keeping Indian traditions alive at the Indian Ocean Craft Triennial

The focus of the exhibition being held in Australia's Perth is to examine the role of craft in everyday life and look at intergenerational and intercultural craft traditions

Kalinga Literary Festival: 8th edition to be held in Bhubaneswar from 10-12 Dec

Around 300 celebrities from the worlds of literature, cinema, media and politics are set to participate in the event whose theme this year is 'India at 75: Commemorating the Republic of Letters'

South African writer Damon Galgut wins Booker Prize for 'The Promise'

He is the third South African novelist to win the Booker Prize, after Nadine Gordimer in 1974 and JM Coetzee, who won twice, in 1983 and 1999

James Ivory doesn't offer the big autobiographical splash, but reveals relationship with Ismail Merchant in dribs and drabs

In his memoir Solid Ivory, Oscar-winning filmmaker James wonders why his romantic relationship with producing partner, Ismail Merchant, a Muslim from Mumbai, "is not commemorated somewhere on a golden plaque."

Shubnum Khan talks her new memoir, traveling solo, and writing ‘strange and wonderful stories’

Meeting jinns, getting stuck in a flat after a volcano, accidentally becoming a bride in Shanghai: Shubnum Khan pens an introspective travelogue-cum-memoir in How I Accidentally Became A Global Stock Photo

NCERT releases training material to sensitise teachers, administrators about transgender, gender-nonconforming children

The training material explains concepts such as gender identity, gender incongruence, gender dysphoria, gender affirmation among various others. It also provides definitions of terms that people use to identify themselves; some of these are gender fluid, agender, transfeminine, and transmasculine.

Sabyasachi Mukherjee withdrawing his mangalsutra campaign is a bigger win for the designer than the trolls

This is quintessential Sabyasachi, a designer who is not only acutely intelligent but fastidiously careful about what he wants to convey.

Sabyasachi withdraws Mangalsutra advertisement after backlash: 'Campaign aimed to talk about inclusivity and empowerment'

Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra had issued a 24-hour ultimatum to Sabyasachi Mukherjee to withdraw the advertisement which has an “objectionable and obscene” portrayal of mangalsutra or else face statutory action.

Former Miss Kerala 2019, runner-up die in car accident near Kochi

Ansi Kabeer and Anjana Shajan were killed after their car allegedly swerved in a bid to avoid hitting a motorcyclist

All About Music: Here are some intriguing statistics about India's music industry, 2021 edition

The current monetary value of India’s music industry, according to Vikram Mehra, the managing director of Saregama and the current chairman of trade body the Indian Music Industry, stands at Rs 1,300 to Rs 1,500 crore.

Dabur forced to drop its same-sex Karwa Chauth campaign shows deep-rooted sexism in Indian TV advertising

The message embedded in Indian TV ads is simple — a woman can be either a dutiful mother/wife, in her early 20s trying to look the prettiest, or a hypersexualised nymphomaniac. Any deviations from these tropes are deeply inconvenient, and therefore threatening, needing immediate withdrawal or ban.

Turn grief into art: Young artiste from Jaipur exhibits pandemic-themed Inktober on social media

Poorti Purohit, a 24-year-old artist, executed a pandemic-themed Inktober with crowdsourced prompts from Instagram. "It created a community for a lot of people to express and remind each other that we are not alone in this."

Inside Sridhar Poddar's Evoke of London — a homage to modern Indian, African handicrafts

Evoke opened in London's swishy Marylebone area just six months ago. And it already has actress Sonam Kapoor flaunting their charpoys in her Notting Hill home.

Lost and found: Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of a Lady, missing for years, to feature in Rome show

Mystery still swirls around Klimt’s painting, which went missing for nearly 23 years after its theft from an Italian museum, only to turn up at the start of coronavirus pandemic

Sudhaa Chandran being made to take off prosthetic leg during airport security checks is no new, isolated incident

I have had a prosthetic leg for the past 11 years of my 29 year-long life, and unfortunately, I’ve been on the receiving end of discriminatory security practices at airports for a long, long time.

Totem Pole and the will to survive: How Paul Pritchard recovered from a deadly accident to get back in the mountains

“I do realise there is a paradox here — why keep going back to somewhere that has hurt you so much? But the injuries and hardships that one endures on the mountain can teach you so much": Paul Pritchard details the account of his life-threatening fall and subsequent rise in the book The Mountain Path.

Jugal Hansraj on his children's novel The Coward and the Sword, and the world he wants his son to grow up in

"Just seeing the news every day, and seeing what goes on in the world around us, I kind of developed fatigue for all the strife one is constantly faced with. I thought about flipping the idea, and creating some positivity," says Jugal Hansraj about making his debut as a children's book writer.

Oslo opens enormous, custom-built Munch art museum; 26,000 housed artworks include The Scream and Madonna

Gone is the old, rundown, and poorly secured Munch Museum in the Norwegian capital's outskirts — from where a version of The Scream and another masterpiece, Madonna, were stolen by armed robbers in 2004.

Ranjit Rae, former Indian ambassador to Nepal, discusses bilateral ties between the two countries with a shared culture

In his recently published book Kathmandu Dilemma: Resetting India-Nepal Ties, Ranjit Rae draws from his own experiences to examine decades of India-Nepal ties — the high and low points, as well as what India can do better moving forward.

Book review: Alka Pande's Pha(bu)llus is a keen and insightful examination around cultural history of phallic imagery

Having a sense of humour might come in handy if you plan to lay your hands on this book. It will introduce you to practices and rituals that might seem outlandish to you but happen to be significant in other cultures. Judging them will ruin your enjoyment of the book.