Kala Ghoda Festival 2008 in Pictures

Q: How many colors are there in the Black Horse?
A: More than you can imagine!

Photographs taken at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, the annual art festival in Mumbai housing “Gallery and pavement shows, exhibitions, literary events, film screenings, music concerts, dance performances, theatre shows, workshops, heritage walks, a food fiesta, and a buzzing street festival bring in audiences and participants from all over the city” (cf Kala Ghoda Association)

[Click on the pictures to enlarge]

‘Kala Ghoda’ literally translated from Hindi to English means ‘Black Horse’, which was a reference to a black stone statue of King Edward VII mounted on a horse. The statue has long since been removed but the name remains. There were however, a few animals around!

Animals I saw:

included this inanimate Black horse

A Black kitty Cat, who was a top model in a former life, patiently & expressively posing for me!

Elephants, in every color, dangling prettily with mirrors & chimes

Some of the Shows:

included a very fun puppet show. Here’re the two protagonists of the show, resting behind the scenes in between performances

Lots of other shows throughout the 9 days of the festival, including music concerts & dances.

Pottery & Fabric Handicrafts:

Modern Art & Sculpture:

A bumble bee that buzzed loudly!

Pinocchio? (note the height, alongside the street light)

A set of oversized shoes (don’t miss the ladder going up from behind the heel or the gigantic slipper behind)

I can relate to this, shoes are basic necessities, just like food

Books & other “regular” stuff:

Artists doing their thing:

Zuber Rehman - who had flutes to sell, but was more happy that I appreciated his talent & wanted to take his picture

This young lady had a posse of cameras on her but calmly kept on pottering

I loved this! A man getting his face sculpted in clay. The likeness was very good, kudos to the artist.

A Sculpture Series on Addiction:

Chained by smoking

Addicted to the internet (the little boy was made up of keyboards & other computer parts)

Hung by gambling

Wasted by alcohol

Consumed by consumerism. Ironically a lady near me seriously was trying to “buy” the bags off the exhibit!

Street Art & Art, by the street:

A Ferris Wheel - made up of Mumbai’s Dhabawala’s Bicycles. Each cycle was complete with several dhabas.

More dhabawala inspired art, this time painted on the dhabas themselves (loved these, fabulous)

Interactive art! These young ladies were engrossed with “solving” the “puzzle”

Basically, something for everyone, no matter what the age: