Staying Curious
ART is a way of surviving darkness. It’s not about fulfilling a laundry list. This is where engagement with art makes the shift. To be meaningfully engaged in art is to be vulnerable and childlike. It encourages your curiosity rather than merely satiates your passion. To acknowledge its purpose, multifold to many, is what you hardwire and make your own.
You Never Arrive
WAH Ustad Wah! The World’s best-known tabalchi, Ustad Zakir Hussain moved on to enrich music heaven on December 15, 2024.
Music lovers the world over have imbibed his epic performances with his father, the legendary Alla Rakha, in the classical tradition. What has impacted generations is his ethereal performance with John McLaughlin, Jean-Luc Ponty, “Lotus Feet” at the International Jazz Day, Istanbul. This is what creating music magic is about.
I had the privilege of interacting with this pure soul a couple of times. Once over a cup of tea, at The Oberoi in 1991! I don’t recall the house brand (it wasn’t Taj) but what I remember was the ease with which he connected human to human. Again, 30 years later at JBT, NCPA, Mumbai for a second round of Jugalbandi with SOI. Zakir and his wife Antonia Minnecola’s expression at a talk about the politics of freedom and the powerful role of music composition. It was moderated by conductor Zane Dalal before the rendition of his composition Ameen, Amen, Shanti with the parallel Shotakovich’s Symphony No. 5.
I was watching the rehearsal in the center of the auditorium and he simply came up and sat in the empty row in front of me, post his composition. What I sensed was while he was one to experiment with diverse genres, in this instance meeting Western classical, he bridged cultural context to create a confluence, stamped with his beliefs. He and India’s other legend late Zubin Mehta (whom I had the privilege to hear at both his last concerts at the NCPA) live in our hearts. That is the only news that matters.
Simply Unforgettable
FINDING the “Balance” in the art of living is as much his legacy as his iconic performances. What I love about this extraordinary maestro is his persona. His rare candour to admit that there were perhaps 10 other tabla practitioners better than him, while disarmingly clarifying that it wasn’t his conclusion based on humility. Zakir went beyond the straitjacket of the Hindustani tradition to appreciate and advocate the entire panorama of percussion and other musical influences of later exponents. His ability to allow and admire nuances of other tabla artists sets him apart.
Raconter par Experience
USTAD ZAKIR is known to recount how his father let him go to the US with Mickey Hart as a kid and it was a paradise for smokers. Or, how he absorbed the exchange between musicians letting the steam off with local brew “narangi” or “mosambi” (during prohibition time in Bombay) at the homes of aunties in Dhobitalao or Bandra. While he stayed away from these temptations, the conversations he gleaned would be the foundation for his learning. Childlike curiosity that lasts a lifetime and lives on.
Trivia: A get-together post-summer school program by Xavier’s College, Mumbai got me to hear his brother Faisal Qureshi and then taste the biryani from their home.
The Balance of Life
IN a city blessed with a growing abundance of art, like most dimensions of our lives, we have become Carpe Diem managers. I missed soaking in the new genre of immersive art that has now come to Mumbai, “The Enchanted Nightscape” by artists Svabhu Kohli and MYLES (Aaron Myles Pereira) at the Conscious Collective, at Godrej, Vikhroli. The regret is more about wanting to absorb the imagery inspired by tropical flora and fauna along the Western Ghats of Maharashtra. This experience of the fragility of ecosystems has travelled to the Serendipity Arts Festival, Goa.
The big plus is to know that it was accessible to anyone who registered. A star attraction of the second edition, the lines at the venue to absorb this beautiful installation were huge. That is what is important and why I write. To make art and consequently the message of “The Balance of Life,” inclusive. Bridging the connection of the installation to the viewer is the crux for any artist, the vital link that completes the circle of creativity,
Making my wish list happen would need dedicated transport. On this count, like in Goa, you can be a three-eyed king or queen when you are mobile. Truly, it has been a year of valuing the pennies. Public transport and its vagaries of Harbour line train megablocks on Sundays. My schedule is enhanced if the 26-minute drive from town to Bandra West saves me the rigour of commute, I played down the ANT ritual of gallery hopping on 12/12 satiated with my “Box.” While the city is in a flurry of festivities and is dressed up with twinkling lights, the art world is quietly gearing up for Mumbai Gallery Weekend in January 2025.
First Acquisition, 12/12/24
WHAT did happen was a first for me. I took the plunge of indulging my deep desire for my first art acquisition. It had to be pioneering photographer, Dayanita Singh’s Studio Box. It felt so right and still does. Worth having to cut down to bare needs. At first, while the line to get a Box was overwhelming, I mulled over the artisans collection of Zakir Hussain’s book rendered by her to get an autograph (without realizing the significance of the purchase) but caved into my gut. I’m glad I didn’t settle to choose just one. This was Intuition manifesting in my daily life of miracles. I am now part of the family of co-curators of her fabled Box collections. Strapped, but elated!
The Crux of Culling Mindful Collectors
TO reach out to a larger audience of first-time collectors, Dayanita sets the sale criteria you need to fulfil. It is strictly to stand in person in line at the gallery to buy a box. She also appeals to your integral sense of respect to resist heading to your local carpenter and replicating the conceptual design of her prints in the box frame. It struck me that while you brim with ideas, it is best to let professionals guide you in protecting your intellectual rights. It is flattering to have copycats but it is vital to attempt to safeguard your work. Those who are in sync with the due of a creator understand the pain of diluting the effort of the creator. Perhaps another of her conditions to the purchase could be a pledge to refrain from replication. I congratulated the young purchasers on their premier acquisition, as they chuckled at my remark of it being my first finally at 60!
The MOMA featured Dayanita has chosen to funnel top-down to reach a wider audience. Her boxes view the collector as a co-creator with 30 prints that can be changed like we do the dates in the calendar box. To state the obvious, the more boxes (every box has the standard 30 prints) yields exponential permutation outcomes.
Santa Lucia Ora Pro Nobis
THE Consulate General of Sweden as part of Mumbai’s Christmas festivities had the Sankta Lucia tradition, to usher their tradition of light to dispel the metaphorical darkness of the long Scandinavian winter. The ritual for the saint had a procession of white-robed young choristers with red sashes. One sporting a wreath with candles on her head, led the melodious chanters of The Singing Tree, Mehli Mehta Foundation Children’s Choir.
The hymn that invokes Santa Lucia, the queen of light, is still sung in Goa. The church dedicated to the Italian martyr in the Old Goa city in 1544 is extinct, having fallen to ruin in 1873. I recall the ladainha or the litany conducted piously in the village chapel or the home oratoire punctuated with lilting chants of ora pro nobis. The tune was stuck in my head, as we savoured the pure air filled with heady varieties of jasmine. I continued to hum the hymn watching the huge flames that licked the huge copper “bahn” for bath water (that was handed to the person bathing through an opening in the wall). In the adjoining kitchen, the dried coconut frond fire kissed the earthenware that unleashed aromas to tease our olfactory. Simply bliss.
Paul Bhonsle
PAUL Bhonsle is the only living contemporary Christian art iconographer in India. His artwork fuses the visual vocabulary of the medieval Byzantine Orthodox Christian icon with a distinct Indian identity.
Paul has developed his idiom of the Christian icon that brings nuances of Indian miniature art. His exhibition with Milburn Cherian at Nine Fish Gallery in Byculla, a few years back, is etched in my memory. His work evokes a sense of reverence and it is not just the final flourish of 24-carat gold leaf gild that is striking. The frame completes the composition.
It is for you to see his meticulous detailing, the intricacy in his mystical composition, and the expression of his subjects. He does not draw before he paints to give himself the freedom to let the narrative flow. It is alchemy at its finest aesthetic rendered to geometric perfection.
Paul’s work has been acquired by the Museum Of Sacred Art in Belgium and is on permanent display there.
Cosmic anniversary
GREAT going in the Gallery Space. Jalpa Vithlani’s Cosmic Heart Gallery turns 12. The celebratory curation of fabulous photographer Gerardo Korn’s “Curling Ribbons” is on my radar. More about it soon.
Heart Strings Tugged:
“THE Only Girl in the Orchestra” is an inspirational watch. The life of Orin O’Brien, double bassist and The First Lady of the NY Philharmonic (father George O’Brien, actor) is the hallmark of a legend. The only spoiler you get is some of her quotes that encapsulate her evolved mindset. It’s the kind of legacy that is immortal.
“Everyone can’t be a general, someone has to be a soldier!!”
“Music has been an organizer in my life.”
There’s Christmas in the air everywhere I go, lights twinkling. I can feel the spirit of the season though it’s impossible to make it to the multiple customary carol singing. I just about made it to the Bandra Fort Amphitheatre to listen to Louis Banks. At 83, he is as sharp as ever and snaps a great band together. Jazz is releasing the beast of expression at its raw gut to reach a supernatural elation. That is what happened.
Happy Christmas xoxo!