Art Festival
How Durga Puja became one of the world’s largest unofficial public arts festivals
Pintu, a member of artist Anirban Das’s team, took a paintbrush and drew a slow, careful, deliberate line. It stood out in black on white – in fact, the entire lane, situated in a prominent part of North Kolkata, stood out in black and white, painted from the mouth all the way down to the marquee, known as a pandal, at the far end. The whole lane – all the house facades along it, even the lamp posts – had been painted to give it the appearance of a page from a comic book. Inscriptions painted on old, yellowed certificates hung from nearby balconies. Das and his team had turned the lane into a massive art installation, inspired by Bengali poet Sukumar Ray’s Abol Tabol, a book of nonsense verse similar to Carroll’s Jabberwocky. The occasion? Eastern India’s biggest festival, Durga Puja.
Das had worked on the pandal for months. Planning started back in April 2023, but he had been booked to do the pandal far, far before that – the previous November, in fact; right after the previous year’s puja had ended. This is the norm for artists in Kolkata who work on Durga Puja pandals – the massive, temporary structures that house idols of Ma Durga, the warrior-mother goddess, for the duration of the festival.
The national commissioning scheme called Brilliant is open to anyone in the UK, regardless of artistic background.
The deadline for submissions is Sunday, March 23, 2025.
The chosen ideas will be transformed into light works at Lumiere Durham 2025, the UK’s light art biennial.
Read More: https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/24966206.lumiere-durham-2025-call-light-installation-ideas/
Chongqing – The Chongqing International Light Art Festival opened on Monday and gathered artist teams from 18 countries, including China, France, Guatemala, Italy, Spain, Indonesia, and Germany.
Twenty-six stunning works offered a dazzling display of light art that bridged traditional and modern aesthetics from around the world.The featured works were selected from the International 3D Mapping Competition, which invited submissions globally. Launched in July 2024, the competition received entries from 154 artist teams across 30 countries. Experts evaluated the works based on aesthetic appeal, relevance to the medium, creativity, innovation, execution, and artistic fusion. From this, 26 exceptional works from 18 countries advanced to the finals and were displayed at the festival.
Read more: https://www.ichongqing.info/2024/12/31/chongqing-intl-light-art-festival-unveils-global-creativity/
If you are looking to kick off your Christmas shopping, this one is for you! The fair is a weekend showcase of high-quality fine art pieces running from Friday 15 to Sunday 17 November 2024.
At the fair, you’ll find local artists and makers displaying their stunning art and craft gifts. The art works range from ceramics, jewellery, homewares, prints, candles, soaps, small-batch spirits, local craft beers and more.
Read More:https://www.richmond.gov.uk/news/news_november_2024/lac_sparkle_festive_fair_returns
