Arts & Culture News - Page 27

Vaibhav Purandare on book Hitler and India, myths around the Fuhrer, and the lasting romance for dictatorship in a democracy

Vaibhav Purandare discusses the research for his book, the discoveries that were surprising or fortuitous, as well as the shifting (but ultimately, cruel) attitudes of the Nazis towards India.

Westland announces acquisition of The New BJP by journalist Nalin Mehta

The book will be published in October 2021.

Book excerpt: In Life and Death of Sambhaji, a peek into the court of the Maratha ruler and whether he lived up to Shivaji's legacy

Author Medha Deshmukh Bhaskaran's latest novel tells the story of the illustrious Sambhaji, from dealing with the Maratha-Mughal conflict at a young age to becoming Chhatrapati soon after, and more.

The Cult of We Review: Brown and Farrell's definitive documentation of how WeWork thrived and eventually crashed

The larger question the book addresses is: What made a startup which was once valued at close to $96 billion in September 2018 (and was on the precipice of going public) implode so quickly that its valuation was stripped down to $2.9 billion by May 2021?

Book review: In Women Who Wear Only Themselves, an honest exploration of spiritual life through the sacred journeys of four travellers

The women you will encounter in this book are not four different iterations of the same template. They seek a dissolution of ego, not an extinction of personality.

AfsanaBadosh ep 3: Listen to Mannu Bhandari's 'Alagaav' | Presented by Firstpost and Jashn-E-Qalam

AfsanaBadosh, presented by Firstpost and Jashn-E-Qalam, celebrates the spirit of storytelling through narrations of the greatest Hindi and Urdu stories. This is Episode 3 — Mannu Bhandari's 'Alagaav', as performed by Shashwita Sharma.

AfsanaBadosh ep 4: Listen to Manto's 'Mera Naam Radha Hai' | Presented by Firstpost and Jashn-E-Qalam

AfsanaBadosh, presented by Firstpost and Jashn-E-Qalam, celebrates the spirit of storytelling through narrations of the greatest Hindi and Urdu stories. This is Episode 4 — Saadat Hasan Manto's 'Mera Naam Radha Hai', as performed by KC Shankar.

AfsanaBadosh ep 6: Listen to Salam Bin Razzaq's 'Kamdhenu' | Presented by Firstpost and Jashn-E-Qalam

AfsanaBadosh, presented by Firstpost and Jashn-E-Qalam, celebrates the spirit of storytelling through narrations of the greatest Hindi and Urdu stories. This is Episode 6 — Salam Bin Razzaq's 'Kamdhenu', as performed by KC Shankar.

AfsanaBadosh ep 5: Listen to Krishan Chander's 'Jamun Ka Ped' | Presented by Firstpost and Jashn-E-Qalam

AfsanaBadosh, presented by Firstpost and Jashn-E-Qalam, celebrates the spirit of storytelling through narrations of the greatest Hindi and Urdu stories. This is Episode 5 — Krishan Chander's 'Jamun Ka Ped', performed by Shashwita Sharma.

Of experimental embroidery and quiet sophistication: Kunal Rawal lays bare his vision for men's couture

'I want to mix threadwork with print, washes with embroideries, denim with embroideries. I like playing with things that don’t belong and making them belong,' says Kunal Rawal.

Ashtanayika of Indian classical dance: On the khandita, a woman who stands up to her unfaithful lover

This series is an exploration of the ashtanayika of classical dance — the eight types of heroines which depict a woman's many thoughts and emotional states. In the last essay, part 8, a look at the khandita.

LGBTQ community finds homophobia has a free run on Instagram, and pleas for help don't really work

A live video aimed to provide a safe space for the LGBTQIA+ community to express freely soon turned into a homophobic nightmare but Instagram did little to secure their space

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: The price of pursuing endeavours that nourish us — and diminish us

I'll Be Gone in the Dark is a psychological portrait of an artist. Its emotional hook lies not so much in the investigation involving the Golden State Killer as Michelle McNamara’s journey from true-crime blogger to full-time author.

Explained: Why is the National Gallery of Australia returning 14 artworks to India?

These include six bronze or stone sculptures, a painted scroll, a brass processional stand, and six photographs. The entire collection is worth around $2.2 million (approximately Rs 16.34 crore).

Watch: May's Firstpost Book Club | In conversation with Premanka Goswami, Riddhi Goswami, and Pinaki De

The Firstpost Book Club read Satyajit Ray’s The Final Adventures of Professor Shonku in May.

In Anindita Ghose's debut novel, lunar metaphors, myriad literary references and a depiction of women's inner lives

The premise of The Illuminated betrays a familiarity — as it seemingly revolves around the lives of a mother-daughter duo, Shashi and Tara Mallick, and the all-important men in their lives — only to catch the reader off-guard with its nuanced, sensitive, and often complex mappings of its protagonists' minds.

In Sukki Menon's success as a burlesque performer, lessons about the value the art form can add to women's lives

The word burlesque literally means "to poke fun at," Menon explains, making the dance both a performance as well as a parody.

Ashtanayika of classical dance: On the abhisarika, a woman who embarks on adventures to meet her beloved

This series is an exploration of the ashtanayika of classical dance — the eight types of heroines which depict a woman's many thoughts and emotional states. In part 7, a look at the abhisarika.

From scrap art to Bengal's Pattachitra painting, a new exhibition brings together traditional and contemporary styles

The show is an attempt to break the barriers that people tend to see and feel when they hear the word “art”.

Examining music charts: Why IMI should be more transparent about workings of its International Top 20

A lot of the current discrepancies would be easily clarified if the IM told us exactly how many streams at least the top ten tracks have during any week, the weightage given to paid to free plays, and why certain catalogue titles are allowed to chart while some aren’t.

Of The Lotus & The Thunderbolt: Metal act Midhaven on the concept, composition of their new album

This notion of time being infinite and circular, of everything repeating itself, is the core concept around which the metallers have built their latest album Of The Lotus & The Thunderbolt, using music to explore their curiosity.

Bene Appétit: In a new cookbook, Esther David documents Indian Jewish community's largely unknown cuisine

'I realised that this fast-diminishing, microscopic community needed to preserve its food heritage,' David says.

Page Turner: In Shivani Sibal’s novel Equations, a portrait of 1980s Delhi and its aspirational inhabitants

Equations is a story of aspiration and social change, of individual ambition and family bonds, told through the lives of two families, the Sikands, a wealthy business clan, and the Kumars, who are the family of their domestic help.

Joi Baba Felunath: How a child's misgivings about gods open Satyajit Ray's detective thriller on fake godmen

Satyajit Ray’s second Feluda film Joi Baba Felunath is a detective story that makes fine use of Varanasi as a setting – while also critiquing showy displays of religiosity.

Ashtanayika of classical dance: On the kalahantarita, who battles rage and guilt upon calling her beloved unfaithful

This series is an exploration of the ashtanayika of classical dance — the eight types of heroines which depict a woman's many thoughts and emotional states. In part 6, a look at the kalahantarita.

Ahead of the curve: Revisiting Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj's 1902 decision to reserve jobs for backward castes

On 26 July 1902, Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj of Kolhapur issued a historic proclamation. 50 percent of the posts in the state's services would be reserved for the backward classes. It was the beginning of what came to be called 'reservation' or 'affirmative action'.

Ashtanayika of classical dance: On the swadhinapatika, a woman who is swept off her feet by her beloved

This series is an exploration of the ashtanayika of classical dance — the eight types of heroines which depict a woman's many thoughts and emotional states. In part 5, a look at the swadhinapatika.

How Tuti-nama, an animal fable commissioned by Akbar, sheds light on the art, clothing, culture and people of its time

The paintings of the Tuti-nama depict scenes from the 52 stories told on successive nights by a pet parrot to beguile Khujasta, the wife of his owner, through the night so that she would be too enthralled to leave home to meet her lover and succumb to an adulterous affair.

Colossal and the hometown demons: Why we visit, return to and find sanctuary in the places we come from

Colossal uses the sensory escapism of a creature movie as an expression – and a literal extension – of personal demons.

A bleeding industry: Pandemic brings devastation, and a few opportunities, to the pop-up food experience

Pop-up experiences, entirely dependent on in-person events, now face uncertain times ahead.