Monthly Archives: March 2014
- Jitish Kallat’s installation of Autosaurus Tripous and artist making local call, at exhibition, Sweatopia at Chemould Prescott Road, 2007. Photo Courtesy: Chemould Prescott Road and Anil Rane
Kekoo and Khorshed Gandhy hosted M.F. Hussain’s first informal, solo show on the window of their shop – Chemould Frames – in 1951, where his paintings hung from specially-designed frames. Years later, Chemould became a full-fledged space for showcasing modern art when it shifted to Jehangir Art Gallery in 1963. It relocated yet again and in its current form, the enterprise has completed 50 years.
Shireen says the new gallery bears fidelity to the ideals of its predecessor by remaining rooted in contemporary movements as well as engaging in social action. “I keep pace with current waves of art. Space has now become instrumental to the practice. The gallery can have huge audio-video installations and sculptures,” she says. It was possible, thus, for Jitish Kallat, for instance, to exhibit his life-sized installation ‘Autosaurus Tripous’ (a skeletal structure resembling an autorickshaw) in 2007.
Given Kekoo and Khorshed’s preoccupation with political and social concerns, Gallery Chemould soon became an important location for Progressive Artists – as Francis Newton Souza, Sayed Haider Raza and others had begun to call themselves – who had started charting new territory in contemporary art.
Poets Nissim Ezekiel and Adil Jussawala and filmmakers Mani Kaul and Shyam Benegal were regulars at the gallery, as were artists Tyeb Mehta and Bhupen Khakhar. “They were all major influences in my formative years, and I met them there,” says artist Atul Dodiya.
According to art critic Ranjit Hoskote, Chemould was a major seedbed for very diverse artistic practices across India. “Kekoo and Khorshed supported artists they believed in, regardless of what was critically acclaimed or commercially viable at the time,” he says.
The new avatar has enabled artists to think expansively. Artist Gieve Patel who calls Chemould his second home says that the current gallery lends itself to new trends in the international art scene. “The shows are now much grander. When one exhibits, one can think in terms of a large space,” he says.
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/mumbai/moulding-modern-art-for-decades/article5743903.ece
Tata headquarters: First heritage building to get gold rating
Bombay House, the headquarters of the Tata group in Mumbai, has become India’s first heritage building to get “gold” rating by Indian Green Building Council.
Built in 1923, Bombay House has been given the rating for implementing measures for energy savings of over 20 per cent, use of renewable energy, occupant well being and comfort, use of car pools and public transport, and contribution to the maintenance of neighbouring areas.
“Bombay House has become India’s first heritage building to get the Green Existing Building GOLD rating by the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC),” the company said in a statement.
Some of the sustainability practices being followed by the House and recognised by the IGBC includes the introduction of a green policy for all future building retrofits and renovation.
The Making of a Field Marshall
It was on New Year’s Day of 1973 that the nation got to know that the architect of India ’s greatest military victory in centuries had been elevated to the rank of field marshal. This came as a surprise to most of us. Only a couple of months earlier, the then defence minister had told the press at Chennai that India would not have a field marshal or a five-star general….. Click to continue reading
Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata’s 175th birth anniversary
Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata’s 175th birth anniversary : Click
Courtesy : K F Keravala
Leadership Through Education: Vakhshoori Scholarship Recipients for school year 2013-2014
Vakhshoori Scholarship Recipients for school year 2013-2014
- Mr. Mehrbod Khanizadeh: $10,000
- Doctor in Religions, specializing in Zoroastrianism, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, England
- Mr. Arash Zandian: $7,000
- PhD of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Irvine
- Mr. Dinsha Mistree: $5,000
- PhD in Political Science, Princeton University, NJ
- Mr. Bahman Zohour: $4,000
- PhD in Chemical Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles
- Ms. Yasaman Dmehri: $3,000
- Medical student, University of California, Riverside
- Ms. Simin Kiany: $3,000
- PhD in Immunology/Cancer Biology, University of Texas at Houston / MD Anderson Cancer Center
- Ms. Elham Yazdani: $3,000
- Ph.D. in Business Administration, the David Eccles School of Business, Utah University
- Ms. Nousheen Bastani: $2,000
- PhD in Sustainable Agriculture, University of British Columbia, Canada
- Ms. Zenobia Ravji: $1,000
- MS in Journalism, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Promoting vitality within the Zoroastrian community and awareness in the wider world
All my actions I dedicate to Truth.
May the Wisdom of the Good Mind guide me.Leadership Through Education: Details at: http://www.vakhshoori.org/scholarship
Dar-ni-pori Bake-a-thon
Date(s) – 03/08/2014
10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Zoroastrian Association of Houston
Need a writer in Mumbai for a blind student doing CA
Hi guys.
This is to inform you that My cousin (Rushabh Kapasi) is a visually disabled student & he is appearing for his CA Final Exam from 26/05/2014 to 09/06/2014. We need a writer for writing his examination as he cannot write the paper by himself.
Exams are on every alternate day. Exam timing is from 2.00 to 6.30pm in thane.
We need the writer to be fixed latest by 10th March 2014 .
The eligibility criteria for being a writer for CA final examination as per the Institute’s guidelines are :
1. He /she should not be registered for CA/CS/ICWA course.
2. He/she should not be a graduate.
Preferably we want a TYBcom/SYBCom student from Thane side.
Or else any student who has a good or basic accounting knowledge & his/her writing speed should be proper with good control on English language.
We are ready to pay charges for writing if required.
Those who are ready to be a writer & are interested for writing please contact –
Haresh Kapasi 9820272762 ( father)
Your help in this regard would be highly appreciated 🙂 plz pass on ths mssg in ur grp too ths is hs final year CA exam thnk you
Flex, Feroze!
“Flex, Feroze!” A Parsi tradition is back in the spotlight [The Hindu Businessline 28/2/2014]
“Flex, Feroze!”
Alittle-known fact about the Parsi community is that they are also great connoisseurs of the body. One winter’s evening every year, hundreds of them throng a dusty mid-town baug in Mumbai to celebrate the community’s most able, muscular bodies at the Annual Zoroastrian Powerlifting and Bodybuilding Championship. In 2010, I stumbled upon this curious scene, only to find a vibrant, unselfconscious and very alive celebration of the Parsi life-force.
While the Championship is a fun-filled spectacle, it is underpinned by the dark irony of the community’s supposed decline. “Bodybuilding within the Parsi community is dying a natural death. And it is not considered to be a competitive sport in India. The community is small, making it that much more difficult to find young boys enthusiastic about the sport,” says Mickey Mehta, a Parsi fitness guru. The organisers have had to cancel the event in the last three years because there were too few entries. But in February this year, Parsi brawn trumped all odds and flexed its muscles again at the Dadar Parsee Colony Gymkhana.
Courtesy : Dara Acidwalla
UN Commission on the status of Women
FEZANA presents a panel event at the UN Commission on the status of Women –
March 10, 2014 at New York