It's time for ARTWALLAH!

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June 29, 2005

The 2005 Artwallah Festival is just one week away. If you are near Los Angeles between July 7th and 10th and have a pulse and a reasonably warm body then you will be labeled hopelessly un-cool if you don’t make an appearance. Why should you come? Let me break this down for you by taking you on a multimedia tour of the largest South Asian Arts festival in the U.S. I have spent a couple hours hunting down the web-links to the works of the artists in this post that will be at the festival. Click on the links to experience something new. I provide samples of the goods only. For the full rush you can buy a ticket from me. That’s right. I’m your pusher. If you have a cousin who lives in California and you’ve always thought they should get out more, send them this post. If your roommate from college subsequently moved into their parent’s basement and still hasn’t left, send them this post.

First up, The Blend. Its on a grass field on the grounds of an art museum overlooking Hollywood. When the sun touches the horizon, the music starts.

THURSDAY (7/7) THE BLEND

FESTIVAL KICK-OFF PRESENTED BY ARTWALLAH AND MTV DESI

An outdoor concert under the stars showcasing a array of South Asian musical talent

8:00 11:00 PM

Anand Subramanian Retro Pop, Guitar Nourished Electronica

Jason Joseph & Shaheen Sheik Soulful and Sultry, Funk and Pop-Rock

Lovely Lush British Indie Sound with a Rock Edge

Calcutta Electrically Charged Riffs and Guitars

DeLon Unity Driven Hip Hop that Makes It Crack

The Dhamaal Collective South Asian Instrumentation, Experimental Beats

FRIDAY (7/8) GALLERY RECEPTION

Mingle with artists during this wine & cheese reception accompanied by a live DJ set.

Special guest performances by DJ Yashraj and violin maestro Parmela Attariwala.

6:00 8:00 PM

Works include oil and acrylic paintings, mixed media, installations, ink and felt-tip drawings, video art, digital manipulations as well as work on fabric.

FEATURED ARTISTS

NAYoMI Munaweera-Atugoda

Suhas Bhujbal, Siddharth Parasnis & Sandeep Sood

Faiza Butt

Sehr Jalal

Naureen Meyer

SATURDAY (7/9) DAYTIME PROGRAM

12:00 pm Doors Open

12:00 1:30 pm MUSIC: Live DJ Set Maneesh the Twister and MercuryBonez

12:15 1:25 pm FILM: Mother + Land South Asia as Both Symbol and Reality

Ganges Dreaming by Usha Chohan & Eric Hiss

I Dreamt of Bombay by Gabriel Lichstein

Elephant Boy by Renee Mohandras

In Whose Name? by Nandini Sikand

1:00 1:30 pm VISUAL ARTS: Gallery Tour

1:30 2:45 pm MUSIC: Music Masala

Mission: on Mars Live Sitar Breakbeat

Chee Malabar f/ Rainman Political Voice, Hip Hop Soundscape

Zunain Khan & Pedro Cortes Fluidity and Grace, Raga Meets Flamenco

1:30 3:00 pm WORKSHOP: The Truth Hurts, But Its Funny Using Yourself in Your Writing Led by Vijai Nathan

1:45 2:15 THEATER: Migritude by Shailja Patel

2:30 3:00 pm VISUAL ARTS: Gallery Tour

2:30 4:00 pm FILM: Self + Expression Complicating South Asian Identity

fracture by Pamila Matharu

Where Is There Room , Sum Total & Barefeet by Sonali Gulati

Good Thing by Keshni Kashyap

Coolie Gyal by Renata Mohamed

Viva Liberty! by Dishad Husain

3:00 3:45 pm LITERATURE: Cooking Up a Fire in Umas Kitchen Moderated by Neetu Badhan

Monsoon Day by Mary Anne Mohanraj

School Lunches by Pooja Makhijani

Mothers Kitchen by Mehnaz Sahibzada

Mother by Dilruba Ahmed

3:30 4:30 pm PANEL: Shh! Discussing Silenced Subjects Through Art Artists Challenging the Status Quo Moderated by Tina Bhaga

4:15 5:15 pm MUSIC: The Rock Block

Slant From Russia to Bengal, Melodic Rock on the Fringe

Lovely Lush British Indie Sound with a Rock Edge

4:30 5:00 pm THEATER READING:

Arranged Separation Written by Anupam Nigam

5:15 5:45 pm WORKSHOP: The Masala Bhangra Workout Led by Sarina Jain

5:45 7:00 pm MUSIC: Funk That Fusion

Blu Soul - Sultry Funk and Soul with a Backbone of Indian Ragas

Ananda Sen Acoustic Soul

Jason Joseph A Funky Blend of Sonwriting and Soul

SUNDAY (7/10) DAYTIME PROGRAM

12:00 pm Doors Open

12:00 1:30 pm MUSIC: Live DJ Set DJ Trident

12:30-2:30 pm FILM: Seeking the Sikh Documentary Screening with Q&A Punjabi Cab by Liam Danzell

Continuous Journey by Ali Kazimi

1:00 1:30 pm VISUAL ARTS: Gallery Tour

1:30 3:00 pm MUSIC: Electro-Fusion

Ananda Sen Acoustic Soul

Anand Subramanian Retro Pop, Guitar Nourished Electronica

Blu Soul - Sultry Funk and Soul with a Backbone of Indian Ragas

1:30 3:00 pm WORKSHOP: So You Think Youre Andy Warhol? Interactive Visual Arts Session

3:00 3:45 pm DANCE: An Afternoon of South Asian Flow

Waiting for the Fifth Arrow by Preeti Vasudevan of Thresh

Emblem by Shyamala Moorty of Post Natyam Collective

Dasi (Displaces) by Sandra Chatterjee of Post Natyam Collective

3:00 3:45 pm LITERATURE: Sunday with Authors Real Authors, Real Time moderated by Neetu Badhan

Abha Dawesar (Babyji) [she also blogs]

Ravi Shankar (Tamil)

3:00 3:30 pm VISUAL ARTS: Gallery Tour

3:30 4:30 pm PANEL: Working the Wallah of Art Moderated by Shailja Patel

Featuring actors Ravi Kapoor and Sheetal Sheth, DJ/producer Karsh Kale, muscian/entrepreneur Sammy Chand, and manager Samata Narra

4:00 4:40 pm MUSIC: Taal Mahal

Anjali Rangaswamy From Pop to Hindustani Classical, A Composition of Piano, Guitar, and Voice

Parmela Attariwala Violin Chords, Resonating Notes

4:30 5:30 pm THEATER: Three Men and a Funny Lady Comedy Showcase with Q&A

Ravi Patel

Paul Varghese

Vijai Nathan

Tarun Shetty

5:30 6:00 pm WORKSHOP: The Masala Bhangra Workout Led by Sarina Jain

6:00 7:00 pm MUSIC: The Beat Suite

DeLon Unity Driven Hip Hop That Makes It Crack

Chee Malabar f/ Rainman Political Voice, Hip Hop Soundscape

The Aesthetics Crew Funky, Organic Hip Hop in Ye Olde Traditional Form

THE EVENING SHOW (7/8, 7/9, 7/10)

Spotlighting performers across all art forms…

Friday 8:00 - 11:00 PM

Saturday & Sunday 7:30 - 10:30 PM

DANCE

“Past/Present” by Thresh

FILM

“Call Center ” by Amyn Kaderali

Dandaka Dharma by Nina Paley

LITERATURE Brown Sugar by Mehnaz Sahibzada Burn by Ro Gunetilleke Tamil by Ravi Shankar excerpt from Babyji by Abha Dawesar

MUSIC Mission: on Mars Live Sitar Breakbeat Zunain Khan & Pedro Cortés Fluidity and Grace, Raga Meets Flamenco

ROTATING MUSIC ACTS FRI: DeLon Unity Driven Hip Hop That Makes It Crack SAT: The Aesthetics Crew Funky Organic Hip Hop In Ye Olde Traditional Form SUN: Calcutta Electrically Charged Riffs and Guitars

THEATER These Are My Veins by Meena Serendib Comedy by emcees Ravi Patel (Friday) and Paul Varghese (Saturday/Sunday)

Summary:

dance program

literature program

film program

music program

panels and workshops listing

theater program

visual arts program

Arts and Entertainment

POSTED BY abhi @ 12:41 PM

16 comments

1 · Rani on June 29, 2005 1:01 PM · Direct link

I wish we had something like this in NYC... sigh.

2 · anita on June 29, 2005 1:18 PM · Direct link

Thanks, Abhi,
finally something I can attend!
Were you involved in organizing this?

3 · Manish Vij on June 29, 2005 1:19 PM · Direct link

I wish we had something like this in NYC...

We do, it's called 'NYC' :)

4 · rage on June 29, 2005 1:21 PM · Direct link

Not very familiar with Artwallah, but is it a political space like Desh Pardesh used to be, or is it purely presentation of artists who happen to be South Asian?

In NYC, we used to have Diasporadics, but not sure of what's up with it nowadays. Here's a decent article that talks about the three festivals, in SAMAR magazine.

5 · Abhi on June 29, 2005 1:22 PM · Direct link

Were you involved in organizing this?

Yep, I am the ticketing coordinator and was on the film committee.

See you there!

6 · don on June 29, 2005 1:26 PM · Direct link

ha! good place to score with desi chicks! ofcourse art and all that good stuff!

7 · Rani on June 29, 2005 1:31 PM · Direct link

Manish, true, true, but I guess I was saying that it would be nice to have something organized like this for an entire weekend and have artists/activists from around the country participate.

Rage, I have been in touch with the folks who organized Diasporadics in years past, and I know they are trying to rekindle the festival. Hope something comes out of it.

8 · technophobicgeek on June 29, 2005 1:39 PM · Direct link

I wish we had something like this down here in Houston :((

9 · rage on June 29, 2005 1:39 PM · Direct link

Thanks for the update on Diasporadics, Rani - hope something comes together for NYC and the East coast. Anyone know if there's anything still happening in Toronto?

10 · timepass on June 29, 2005 4:32 PM · Direct link

Good looking out. I'm a big supporter of Artwallah and all it stands for. I was lucky to be one of the featured DJs/performers for the 2003 festival and it was an absolute blast. I strongly encourage everyone to attend this!

Related note, the Artwallah folks are also pushing their latest version of the Shabash guide, which I posted about a while ago, but can't locate the thread now. Anyway, there are national book launches going on now, including a DC launch at Gazuza on Thursday July 17. I will be DJing. Get more information on my miniblog or write me directly.

11 · Nina P on June 29, 2005 4:37 PM · Direct link

If there'd been a big South Asian arts festival here in NY, I might have been able to find the local desi musicians I've sought so desperately, instead of having to go back to San Francisco to get new music for my film. Unfortunately I can't attend ArtWallah this year, but big thanks Abhi & co. for organizing it!

12 · Nina P on June 29, 2005 4:40 PM · Direct link

San Francisco and DC, I should've said, though the DC connection is by email only. (Hi Kaushik!)

13 · Nina P on July 12, 2005 9:48 AM · Direct link

So, how'd it go?

14 · Guava on July 12, 2005 1:35 PM · Direct link

I went to the AW evening program. It was really good and I liked Dandaka Dharma, so I'm going to check out the other chapters online soon! (By the way, what were those one eyed flying bat-like creatures on screen for a second or two?)

15 · Abhi on July 12, 2005 1:45 PM · Direct link

Re-cap coming soon. I promise. I am just catching up on sleep and trying to fight the cold I succumbed to after four days of running around. Nina, your movie was a hit during the evening show. Lots of laughs.

16 · bhavna on May 28, 2006 9:51 PM · Direct link

Hey Guys,

If you are a relatively warm body and cool then you should definitely volunteer for artwallah. Its the coolest thing this summer ;)
People who volunteer for six hours total on the preceding T-F (9-6pm) or four hours the day of (June 24th) get a free pass for the whole day as well as entrance into the afterparty!
Just email me at : artwallah.volunteers@gmail.com

Ciao!

Bhavna

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