When does the Art Horse ride?

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Now in its 15th year, the annual Kala Ghoda Arts Festival is back this February and brings with it something for everyone - whether you are into art, music, theatre, dance, literature, cinema, heritage or food. The festival, that is on till February 10, was initially conceived to draw attention to and preserve the heritage art district of South Mumbai but has now taken a life of its own, drawing crowds in the thousands from across the country and literally bringing contemporary art to the streets, making it accessible to everybody.

Brinda Miller, festival director, is in awe of how the festival has grown by leaps and bounds. “As the festival gets bigger, so do expectations. It’s a massive task organising the week’s festivities,” she says. Only when you look at the schedule, spread across several venues and spanning pages and pages of excel sheets, do you truly understand the scale of the festival and are overcome with a keen desire to clone yourself several times over.
If you choose to attend a performance by PadmaShree winning pop star Usha Utup in one corner of the festival, you’d most likely be missing an engaging conversation with authors Avan Jesia, Piyush Jha and Altaf Tyrewala on their recent books about the city. Or if you pop down to witness a dramatic dance performance by the Bristol based company Champloo, you are probably giving up on watching some creative masterpieces at the festival’s short film festival. Decisions, decisions!
With the streets bursting at the seams with stalls, visual arts and people, the festival has increasingly become a photographer’s delight. Arjun Chakravarthy, an automation analyst who moonlights as a photographer, is especially looking forward to interacting with some of the NGO-sponsored artisans from villages. Artist and writer Jenny Bhatt has a unique performance lined up for the festival. “I use humourous pop art to interact with my audience at my stand up show,” she says. Catch her act, along with other equally interesting ones, at the festival.