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Kumartuli – the first visit
On the morning of my second day in India, I had the great fortune to make my first trip to Kumartuli, which is a neighborhood of image-makers that is located slightly north of the center of Kolkata. Leading the way was the delightful Partha Dey, a Kolkata native and visual artist who was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Iowa a few years ago.
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Beauty and Chaos
“Beauty and Chaos” – one way to describe that which is Durga Puja! We heard this phrase first from photographer Dev Nayak, when Stan and I met him while undergoing some serious “pandal-hopping” with Partha Dey in South Kolkata. Dev’s actually comment was, “Beauty and chaos, in India you can’t have one without the other!” It’s Monday evening, […]
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Just a few more pandals…..
This post is a gallery of Durga Puja pandal image highlights from our explorations of Kolkata pandals throughout the following three days of the holiday. We admired some pandals for the beauty and creativity of their designs, and others for the mindbogglingly extensive craftsmanship that was required for their creation! A South Kolkata pandal decorated entirely using braided […]
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Immersions – Tradition and the Environment
Traditionally, Durga Puja ends with the immersion of the pandal images into a stream or river. Once again, good has triumphed over evil, and Ma Durga and her children return to Mount Kailash and Durga’s consort, Lord Shiva. Thousands and thousands of images are submerged each year! There are serious environmental concerns in Kolkata regarding the dumping of so much debris (not […]
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A Dentist to Lions
Dilipda is preparing no less than five images for Jagadhatri Puja, which is celebrated throughout West Bengal and parts of Odissa about one week after Kali Puja (late October to early November) and exactly one month after Durga Puja. Jagadhatri is considered to be a calm incarnation of Durga. She is known as the “Holder of […]
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Elements
In December I was very busy with a project called Elements. Elements was an experimental art installation for children in Kolkata, the first of its kind in India, and for the kids it was a thrilling sensory experience. Created by Ruchira Das of ThinkArts, this multimedia project melded puppetry, motion-activated laser and sound, and clay. When […]
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Mishty Magic
Please forgive me the transgression of diverting us from all things clay sculptural, and indulge me in a bit o’discourse regarding one of my favorite parts of Bengali culture – Mishty. Mishty is the Bengali word for sweet and is also the word for a dizzying variety of sweet foods that are made with nuts and/or […]
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A Project With Ektara
My work on the Elements project really whetted my appetite for more exploration in creating temporary, collaborative sculpture in which the viewer’s participation becomes an integral part of the work. I began developing ideas for new projects while observing preparations at Kumartuli for Saraswati Puja. Then after returning from my trip to Molela and Nathdwara, I searched Kolkata for […]