It’s time for ARTWALLAH!

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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

16 thoughts on “It’s time for ARTWALLAH!

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

  2. 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.

  3. Were you involved in organizing this?

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

    See you there!

  4. 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.

  5. 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?

  6. 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.

  7. 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!

  8. 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?)

  9. 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.

  10. 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