The Friday List: From a podcast on masculinity to a workshop on interpreting mutations, your weekly calendar of virtual events
Every Friday, we'll bring you a curated list of online experiences — performances, talks, tours, screenings — to mark on your weekly calendar.
On this week's #FridayList: a discussion on Hindustani music, the miniseries Lisey's Story, a poetry reading by Alvin Pang and lots more. (Top right) Image via Facebook@AlvinPang, Poet and Editor (Bottom left) via Facebook@RoyalOperaHouse
Compiled by Aishwarya Sahasrabudhe
In many states, quasi-lockdowns and travel restrictions are being lifted slowly and steadily but the chaos of the second wave of COVID-19 is leaving behind immense tragedy and insurmountable losses. While facing this crisis has been a daily battle as much with oneself as with the outside world, what has helped through this period is taking out some time for productive and creative activities through the day. Amidst it all, online events and gatherings have led to a shift in our pattern of consuming content for leisure, making it a largely virtual experience. So, even as we struggle with stringent restrictions, the landscape of our engagements and weekly dosage of entertainment continues to be moderated digitally, through the screen.
Every Friday, we'll bring you a curated list of online experiences — performances, talks, tours, screenings — to mark on your weekly calendar. On this week's #FridayList: a stroll through the single screens of Kolkata, a discussion on Hindustani music and the second season of Amazon Prime Video's The Family Man.
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— Talks and panel discussions
In a series that explores the different cultural and social dimensions of significant cities and provinces in the country, AVID Learning aims to bring to the fore those legacies that have defined these spaces, making them important centres of art and culture. The second episode will travel through the Pink City in the panel discussion, Cultural Capitals: Future Legacies of India's Cities – Jaipur. With this conversation, the speakers including jeweler Tarang Arora, Jaipur Rugs' Yogesh Chaudhary and food writer Dushyant Singh will discuss the cultural circuit of Jaipur that has put it on the international map and look at the city through the lens of art, heritage, design and cuisine. The session is a must attend for all those who love to visit new places, especially now, when travel continues to be restricted.
To know more and register, click here.
When: 10 June (6 pm)
Noted musician and novelist Amit Chaudhuri recently published his work, Finding the Raga: An Improvisation on Indian Music in which the artist lays bare his passion and fascination for Hindustani music, a dynamic and evolving tradition. His narrative traces the development of North Indian music, its most distinctive characteristics like its treatment of language, time and silence, weaving a prose of great fascination for musicians and connoisseurs. The artist is set to talk about this vibrant work of non-fiction with Katherine Butler Schofield as part of a series of conversations brought about by the Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF). Through the discussion, Chaudhuri will shed light on his understanding of tone and melody and how it helped him to shape his worldview.
To know more and register, click here.
When: 4 June (8.30 pm)
Yet another session brought forth by the JLF is the book launch of Carnatic artist, activist and author TM Krishna's latest work, The Spirit of Enquiry: Notes of Dissent. In conversation with Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the musician will discuss this work which is a curated collection of his writings along with some of the motivations and thought processes that have shaped his essays. A staunch advocate of art as a medium that can bridge social divisions, the vocalist has been actively involved in spreading the message of equality across castes and class. Through this session, he will talk about some of these initiatives whilst shedding light on his creative journey as a writer and artist.
To know more and register, click here.
When: 4 June (7 pm)
Revisiting A Partition, a session brought forth by the Bangalore International Centre, explores a topic which has continued to be a point of discussion and debate through the decades. In this conversation, the speakers will dive into the partition of Bengal and whether there can ever be closure to the event not only for the generation that lived through it but for the later generations which continue bear its burden. Authors Bhaswati Mukherjee and Sudeep Chakravarti will be discussing the work, Bengal and Its Partition to shed light on some untold narratives around this chapter in Indian history, whether it was a tragedy waiting to happen or a man-made plot conceived by the colonial forces that played out in acts of violence and bloodshed.
To know more and register, click here.
When: 4 June (6.30 pm)
— Virtual poetry reading
This Saturday, as part of Prakriti Foundation's initiative, Poetry with Prakriti, Alvin Pang will present a reading of some of his works which will be followed by a discussion around his creative process. For the first three Saturdays of every month, the initiative explores the works of Indian poets who have been producing verses across myriad genres. Pang has been writing and editing for the past two decades and has to his name works like When the Barbarians Arrive, What Happened: Poems 1997-2017 and Uninterrupted Time. In this virtual session the poet will dive into some of his most interesting poems and discuss the underlying themes that make up his works.
To know more and register, click here.
When: 5 June (7 pm)
From a discussion on Amit Chaudhuri's interpretation of North Indian music to Angelina Jolie's Those Who Wish Me Dead and The Royal Ballet's Lyssa, a list of virtual engagements for this week. (Bottom right) Image via Facebook@RoyalOperaHouse
— Virtual film screening
The Royal Opera House will be streaming The Royal Ballet's Lyssa, a short film on dance featuring British recording artist Nadine Shah. Comprising an ensemble of 17 Royal Ballet dancers, accompanied by Shah's vocals and the orchestra of the opera house, the film is a dive into the inner workings of theatre and brings to light the role of the backstage artists and the staff that goes into creating a live performance. Named after Lyssa, the Greek goddess of anger and rage, the short film is an amalgamation of theatre craft, dance and emotive vocals which make for a digital experience that celebrates creative energies to effect positive change.
To know more and attend the virtual session, click here.
When: 4 June
— Workshop
To complement its ongoing exhibit, Contagion, Science Gallery Bengaluru has set up a number of lectures, workshops and film screenings to enable participants to understand the pandemic and make sense of its effects. Of these, the workshop Visualising and Interpreting Mutations to be conducted by post doctoral fellow Meenakshi Iyer and professor Saurabh Mahajan, will unpack the buzzword 'mutation', its meanings, how to detect a mutation and how it might cause a contagion to change. The workshop begins by exploring mutations using genetic sequencing and mapping them on the 3D structures of the spike protein. Through the session, the facilitators will also shed light on the effects of some known mutations on the current pandemic. For science aficionados, this workshop is a can't miss.
To know more and register, click here.
When: 6 June (10 am)
— Listen to a podcast
The ongoing podcast series, What's A Man hosted by author Deepa Narayan dives into the question of our present relationships with masculinity and what it means to be a man in India today. Through a series of interviews with guests including writer Amish Tripathi, drag queen and singer Sushant Digvikar and comedian Neville Shah among others, the host seeks to provide insights into issues around gender equality taking into account the changing roles of men in society. For the final episode of the ten-part series, releasing this week, Narayan will host comedian Abhish
Matthews to discuss how he navigated gender stereotypes in his family and how he continues to address power and masculinity, one challenge at a time.
To listen to the podcast, click here.
When: 9 June
— Virtual walkthrough
This weekend, Immersive Trails will take participants through a compelling walk down memory lane into the world of single screen cinema. The history of Bengali cinema is rich and nourishing and one of the major mediums that made the industry successful was the single screen theatres which attracted thousands of people to the universe of cinema. Long before multiplexes and OTT platforms, for three decades spanning the 1940s to 1970s, the moviegoing culture was fuelled by these beautiful ArtDeco single screen halls complete with the experience of waiting in queues for tickets, dressing up to go to the movies and enjoying this rare bit of luxury that could be afforded by middle class families. The walk Single Screens of Kolkata, conducted by Tathagata Neogi will explore this bygone age and the present state of the theatres that were once houseful.
To know more and register, click here.
When: 6 June (6 pm)
— Streaming this week
A thrilling new horror series coming up on Apple TV+ is Lisey's Story, based on Stephen King's 2006 novel by the same name. Featuring Julianne Moore, Clive Owen and Joan Allen among others, the miniseries revolves around a grieving widow who is forced to make her Pulitzer Prize-winning husband's unpublished works available by an obsessive fan. But as she starts digging into her late husband's writing, she discovers a world of fantasy that he crafted in his book. And when she realises that her sister, who is now in a coma, also resides in his imaginary world, she must face memories of her marriage and her past buried deep within her mind.
When: 4 June
Where: Apple TV+
Arriving on BookMyShow Stream is the 2021 film, Those Who Wish Me Dead, featuring Angelina Jolie in the lead. The film follows the story of a specialist firefighter (Jolie) or smoke-jumper deployed right into the heat of forest fires. Reeling from a tragedy caused by decision she made long ago, she takes refuge in anger, alcohol and recklessness until one day, she saves Connor, a young boy on the run in a remote forest. Little does she know that he is being hunted by two ruthless assassins, who will not stop at anything to accomplish their mission. What is sure to be an actionpacked, adventurous ride, the film is definitely a must watch on an uneventful weekend at home.
When: 4 June
Where: BookMyShow Stream
The second season of Amazon Prime Video's The Family Man is set to arrive this Friday with Manoj Bajpayee returning to his character of Srikant Tiwari, the titular middle-class householder and world-class spy. Much like the first season, the new episodes will see this intelligence officer fighting a dangerous adversary, named Raaji (Samantha Akkineni). As he tries to balance his relationship with his wife with his work in the utterly secretive cells of national intelligence, he must try to prevent an imminent terrorist attack that will put thousands in danger. Created by Raj & DK, the much awaited second season of this series is the perfect binge for the weekend.
When: 4 June
Where: Amazon Prime Video
Coming up on Disney+Hotstar is the new series, Loki which will see Tom Hiddleston return to his avatar of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's mercurial villain. The series follows the events after Avengers: Endgame in which the god of mischief has escaped using the Tesseract but in an alternate timeline is being chased by the Time Variance Authority (TVA). Loki is asked to choose between being destroyed for tampering with time and helping to fix the timeline by stopping a greater threat. Faced with two unpleasant options, he teams up with Mobius M Mobius (Owen Wilson), an analyst at the TVA on a series of adventures through time and space.
When: 9 June
Where: Disney+Hotstar
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