The 6th Monsoon Festival

 Alliance française de Delhi cordially invites you to

The 6th Monsoon Festival

Celebrating the multi-hued awakenings of the Indian Monsoon

Red Earth in association with Alliance Française de Delhi, Time out and Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group, invites you to celebrate the 6th edition of The Monsoon Festival. A well established cultural festival in Delhi, aims to celebrate the magic of the Indian monsoon with the old and the new, reviving forgotten traditional cultural practices and pioneering contemporary creative expressions.

The monsoon is not just a season, but a complex cultural being, bringing alive the fertility of the Indian mind – in art expressions ranging from visual art to poetry, music to drama; lived culture including festivals, food and other celebratory elements; and the richness of human emotional response.

From abstract musings to a celebration of the lush languishing landscapes of the monsoon, the flora that grows greener by the day, the fauna that cannot contain itself; to its effect on the human race (farmers, lovers, and others…); the divine mythologies of the rain and environment; and the new experience of the monsoon in urban centres with its often anti-theatrical narrative of monsoon as a nuisance – the season connects us to the magic of the cosmos, and brings together everything – from a raindrop to the vast ocean in this mad unalloyed dance of joy.

The Monsoon Festival is an inter-disciplinary, cross-art, multi-sensory celebration of the varied awakenings and experiences of the Indian monsoon, the king of Indian seasons.

PROGRAM

Festivals Hariyali Teej / Design Mela

Tuesday August 2, 2011
Teej Design Mela: 10.30 am – 6.30 pm
Teej Celebrations: 7 to 10 pm

Dress Code

Indian Green / Indian Queen

Entry Details

Entry to Teej Design Mela is free and open to all.
Entry to Teej celebrations by invitation only.
Invitations are available against a donation of Rs. 1000.
Donations are exempt from tax under Section 80 G.
Contact Himanshu Verma / Himanshu@redearthindia.com / 011-41671100

 Visual Art: The Monsoon Chapter 6

August 17-21, 2011
11.00 am to 8.00 pm
Opening on Tuesday 16th August 2011, 7.00 pm -10.00 pm

Dress Code

Rainbow Colours

Entry Details

Entry to the exhibition is free and open to all.
Entry to the opening is by invitation only.
Invitations are available against a donation of Rs. 1000.
Donations are exempt from tax under Section 80 G.
Contact Himanshu Verma / Himanshu@redearthindia.com / 011-41671100

About

The main art exhibition of the festival, this year presents the emerging talents of Debarchan Rout and Gagan Vij, in painting and sculpture respectively. Gagan Vij presents a series of new sculptures celebrating the union of Kama and Rati in this season of love. Debarchan Rout’s explorations encompass the endless universe of the monsoon – from flora and fauna to the human experience, from folk sayings and stories to mythologies and divine expressions, from a celebration of the elements to the urban context of the season.

Both artists share a long and intimate relationship with Red Earth, and express a common concern – bringing Indian art closer to the Indian aesthetic experience in this age where artists, in a bid to be trendy are more keen to make work that is globally acceptable, and as a result often far removed from our artistic traditions and way of being. We hope this exhibition will herald the start of a new quest.

Theatre: Sawan Short & Sweet

Wednesday 17 & Thursday 18 August, 2011
7. 00 pm to 9.30 pm

Entry Details

Entry by invitation only.
Invitations are available against a donation of Rs. 1000.
Donations are exempt from tax under Section 80 G.
Contact Himanshu Verma / Himanshu@redearthindia.com / 011-41671100

About

An inter-disciplinary variety show featuring diverse performance styles in acts inspired by the madness of monsoon. This variety show, a veritable monsoon tamasha of sorts will dazzle you with some of Delhi’s best talent. From theatre to stand-up comedy to linguistic musings on words associated with the monsoon, Kathak to Hindustani classical music, to poetic renditions, an offering of many creative tricks to pay homage to our favourite season.

Performers

Tadpole Repertory – Theatre
Sanjay Rajoura – Standup comedy
Leena Malakar Vij – Kathak dance
Jeet Thayil – Monsoon poems with music
Shriparna Nandi and Vidhya Gopal – Malhaar / Kajri
& others...

FOR DETAILS SEE FESTIVAL WEBSITE: www.themonsoonfestival.com

 Contact Himanshu Verma / Himanshu@redearthindia.com / 011-41671100