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

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FESTIVAL KICK-OFF PRESENTED BY ARTWALLAH AND MTV DESI

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

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8:00 – 11:00 PM

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p> Anand Subramanian – Retro Pop, Guitar Nourished Electronica

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

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p> Lovely – Lush British Indie Sound with a Rock Edge

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p> Calcutta – Electrically Charged Riffs and Guitars

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p> DeLon – Unity Driven Hip Hop that Makes It Crack

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p> The Dhamaal Collective – South Asian Instrumentation, Experimental Beats

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FRIDAY (7/8) GALLERY RECEPTION

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

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

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p> 6:00 – 8:00 PM

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

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p> FEATURED ARTISTS

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p> NAYoMI Munaweera-Atugoda

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p> Suhas Bhujbal, Siddharth Parasnis & Sandeep Sood

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p> Faiza Butt

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p> Brendan Fernandes

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p> Sehr Jalal

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p> David Dasarath Kalal

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p> Naureen Meyer

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p> SaÂ’dia Rehman

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p> Anuj Shrestha

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p> Alia Toor

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SATURDAY (7/9) DAYTIME PROGRAM

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p> 12:00 pm Doors Open

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

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

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p> “Ganges Dreaming” by Usha Chohan & Eric Hiss

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p> “I Dreamt of Bombay” by Gabriel Lichstein

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p> “Elephant Boy” by Renee Mohandras

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p> “In Whose Name?” by Nandini Sikand

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p> 1:00 – 1:30 pm VISUAL ARTS: Gallery Tour

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p> 1:30 – 2:45 pm MUSIC: Music Masala

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p> Mission: on Mars – Live Sitar Breakbeat

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p> Chee Malabar f/ Rainman – Political Voice, Hip Hop Soundscape

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

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p> 1:30 – 3:00 pm WORKSHOP: “The Truth Hurts, But It’s Funny – Using Yourself in Your Writing” Led by Vijai Nathan

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p> 1:45 – 2:15 THEATER: “Migritude” by Shailja Patel

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p> 2:30 – 3:00 pm VISUAL ARTS: Gallery Tour

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

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p> “fracture” by Pamila Matharu

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p> “Where Is There Room” , “Sum Total” & “Barefeet” by Sonali Gulati

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p> “Good Thing” by Keshni Kashyap

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p> “Coolie Gyal” by Renata Mohamed

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p> “Viva Liberty!” by Dishad Husain

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p> 3:00 – 3:45 pm LITERATURE: Cooking Up a Fire in Uma’s Kitchen Moderated by Neetu Badhan

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p> “Monsoon Day” by Mary Anne Mohanraj

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p> “School Lunches” by Pooja Makhijani

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p> “Mother’s Kitchen” by Mehnaz Sahibzada

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p> “Mother” by Dilruba Ahmed

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

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p> 4:15 – 5:15 pm MUSIC: The Rock Block

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p> Slant – From Russia to Bengal, Melodic Rock on the Fringe

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p> Lovely – Lush British Indie Sound with a Rock Edge

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p> 4:30 – 5:00 pm THEATER READING:

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p> “Arranged Separation” Written by Anupam Nigam

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p> 5:15 – 5:45 pm WORKSHOP: “The Masala Bhangra Workout” Led by Sarina Jain

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p> 5:45 – 7:00 pm MUSIC: Funk That Fusion

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p> Blu Soul – Sultry Funk and Soul with a Backbone of Indian Ragas

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p> Ananda Sen – Acoustic Soul

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p> Jason Joseph – A Funky Blend of Sonwriting and Soul

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SUNDAY (7/10) DAYTIME PROGRAM

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p> 12:00 pm Doors Open

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p> 12:00 – 1:30 pm MUSIC: Live DJ Set DJ Trident

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

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p> “Continuous Journey” by Ali Kazimi

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p> 1:00 – 1:30 pm VISUAL ARTS: Gallery Tour

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p> 1:30 – 3:00 pm MUSIC: Electro-Fusion

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p> Ananda Sen – Acoustic Soul

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p> Anand Subramanian– Retro Pop, Guitar Nourished Electronica

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p> Blu Soul – Sultry Funk and Soul with a Backbone of Indian Ragas

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p> 1:30 – 3:00 pm WORKSHOP: “So You Think You’re Andy Warhol?” Interactive Visual Arts Session

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

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p> “Waiting for the Fifth Arrow” by Preeti Vasudevan of Thresh

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p> “Emblem” by Shyamala Moorty of Post Natyam Collective

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p> “Dasi (Displaces)” by Sandra Chatterjee of Post Natyam Collective

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

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p> Abha Dawesar (Babyji) [she also blogs]

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p> Ravi Shankar (Tamil)

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p> 3:00 – 3:30 pm VISUAL ARTS: Gallery Tour

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p> 3:30 – 4:30 pm PANEL: “Working the Wallah of Art” Moderated by Shailja Patel

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

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p> 4:00 – 4:40 pm MUSIC: Taal Mahal

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

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p> Parmela Attariwala – Violin Chords, Resonating Notes

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

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p> Ravi Patel

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p> Paul Varghese

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p> Vijai Nathan

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p> Tarun Shetty

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p> 5:30 – 6:00 pm WORKSHOP: “The Masala Bhangra Workout” Led by Sarina Jain

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p> 6:00 – 7:00 pm MUSIC: The Beat Suite

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p> DeLon – Unity Driven Hip Hop That Makes It Crack

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p> Chee Malabar f/ Rainman – Political Voice, Hip Hop Soundscape

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

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

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Spotlighting performers across all art forms…

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p> Friday 8:00 – 11:00 PM

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p> Saturday & Sunday 7:30 – 10:30 PM

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p> DANCE

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p> “Past/Present” by Thresh

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p> FILM

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p> “Call Center ” by Amyn Kaderali

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p> “Dandaka Dharma” by Nina Paley

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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