Are you looking to give your home a makeover this year? Head on over to Art Café in Andheri. The place is currently holding a sale of some unique home items with upto 50 per cent discount. On display will be an eclectic range of contemporary artifacts and home accessories like artistic wall clocks, wall and table photo frames, mirrors, murals, home accents, table and pedestal lamps, table accessories and decorative wall pieces. Their Buddha tea-lite holder, handcrafted mural painting with light and the violin shaped ashtray are our favourites.
Madhu Mirchandani, owner Art Cafe, says that all the products are one-of-a-kind and haven’t been replicated so as to maintain its exclusivity. The sale is on till January 25 which also marks the closure of the cafe.

Contemporary art can either be viewed as a complicated subject with its own jargon and paradigms or as a work of beauty. Artist Hemali Bhuta has created a modernistic sculpture for an exhibition space titled The Column in Transit and the Wall Piece.
Bhuta’s architectural intervention directly confronts the viewer, charging the entire space with its solid presence, its raw edge, its size and placement. To the casual onlooker, it may look more like a leftover crumbling wall than a new sculptural installation.
The work takes its cues from the history of the art room. Jutting out from the place at the back of the gallery where there is a vestigial structural column, the installation is made of local silica sand. She says, “I wanted to create a structure coming all the way to the entrance, thus dividing the space into two. I believe this structure acts as a framework or a divide in order to experience the empty space created on its either sides. It is so important to enjoy that nothingness or emptiness. I wanted the viewer to walk in and think that this is an incomplete piece, so it ends up becoming something that couldn’t be mistaken as just a rotting wall and it also becomes instrumental in the process of contemplation of emptiness.” The artist considers the building components to be catalysts, that expose their pasts, through projections and other structural indicators.
According to her, humans make their homes around themselves, obsessing about every square inch of space. Bhuta alludes to themes of vulnerability, fragility, and temporality. The casual observer may not even recognise the installation as an artwork, or notice that the artist is responding to the architectural space and dividing it, sculpturally and structurally, into differing zones.

Elegant and royal, emeralds have long been associated with prosperity. Expect to see much of this striking hue of the semi-precious gemstone as Pantone has called it the colour for 2013. Designer Shruti Sancheti, who used a lot of this shade in her recent resort-wear collection, says the colour really flatters the Indian skin tone. “Emerald green is a glamourous colour and, depending on how it’s worn, can be passed off for the day or evenings-out. It lends itself really well to both Indian and Western silhouettes and looks elegant on gowns as well as embroidered anarkalis,” she says, adding that the garments can be accessorised with muted gold jewellery.
Depending on your comfort level you can go all green or incorporate elements in that hue to complete your look, says stylist Khushnaz Turner. “A full emerald green sari can look stunning as does a dress. But those who don’t want to risk it, can opt for emerald jewellery or even a clutch to add a pop of colour. It’s all about how you want to play with the shade,” she says, adding, “Jewelled tones always come to the fashion forefront post-Christmas. While burgundy was popular in autumn/winter 2012, it’s now emerald shades that rule.”
Green looks fabulous in net, georgette and chiffon saris teamed with gold or antique work blouses, says designer Gautam Gupta. “Even brocade or kinkhab lehengas in this colour, paired with a red, wine or fuchsia stole, look very nice. Further, the character of the colour makes it acceptable both as formal and casual wear. India has a history with this colour, as lots of Nizam jewellery was made in this shade making it a royal winner,” he says. Since it’s a classic, don’t try to do too much with it. Just add one colour, either in the neutral shades or gold, brown or fuchsia, he advises.

Penn Masala is currently on a five-city India tour where they’ll be singing new covers and giving a sneak peek into their upcoming album. Penn Masala will be performing in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Pune. The band members include Akshat Vaidya, Sam Levenson, Ram Narayan, Varshil Patel, Akiff Premjee, Rohan Murthy, Dilip Rajan, Dhruv Maheshwari, Ashwin Muthiah, Anil Chitrapu, Prashant Ramesh and Chetan Khanna. We chat up with Sam Levenson and Ram Narayan...
How do you define your style?
Our credo is the marriage of Indo-Western fusion and a cappella. Our first big break was when we did the soundtrack of American Desi and impressed Kal Penn and Bollywood. Since then we’ve performed on stage with the likes of AR Rahman, Sunidhi Chauhan, and performed for US President Barack Obama, Mukesh Ambani, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, Lakshmi Narayan Mittal and others. We’ve got our sights on Bollywood next.
Who do you cite as your musical influences?
Our inspirations include the greats like AR Rahman yes, but also lately include Coke Studio artistes, Pakistani artists, Amit Trivedi and many other independent musicians. We’re also proud to finally start including regional music with lots of influence from Bengali rock, and other languages such as Malayalam and Sanskrit.

Any Indian artistes you’d like to work with?
We’d love to collaborate with Rahman!
You performed for Barack Obama as well... what was it like?
We performed at the White House both for a Diwali celebration and a bill-singing which concerned the Asian-American and Pacific Islander community. It was indeed very special.
Why the name Penn Masala?
Four close friends founded the group in 1996 at the University of Pennsylvania. Led by Naveen Wadhera, these guys were passionate about finding a way to combine the important musical influences — both the South Asian music they had grown up on and the popular Western music that they listened to regularly. A cappella was already a popular form of music/performance on college campuses and they saw in that some real opportunity. The group debuted at the South Asia Society’s Diwali Cultural Show at Penn the following fall and sang Gore Gore Mukhde Pe Kaala Kaala Chashma. Within two years, the group had recorded two songs and performed at large events including the Bhangra Blowout in Washington DC. The name Penn Masala was not the first name for the group but it was the one that stuck. Like any group early on, Masala cycled through a number of temporary band names before settling on Penn Masala.

The first classical concert of the new year at NCPA is the Chamber Music Concert with the Sitkovetsky-Caussé-Demarquette Trio. Violinist and conductor Dmitry Sitkovetsky, will come together with violinist Gérard Caussé and celloist Henri Demarquette to present to Mumbai audiences some musical treats. The first day they will play Beethoven’s Serenade Op. 8 and special transciptions of Bach (arrranged by Sitkovetsky), while day two of the concert will see them perform Mozart’s Duo No. 1 for Violin and Viola and Ravel’s Duo for Violin and Cello and finish with Mendelssohn’s Octet Op. 20 with members of The Symphony Orchestra of India (SOI).
“I loved my first trip to India in 2011 and met some wonderful people then. This time I come with two great colleagues — Gérard and Henri — to play my own transcriptions of Bach and lots of other beautiful pieces of music,” says Dmitry. The transcriptions of Bach’s Goldberg Variations for string trio and also Bach’s 15 Sinfonias for string trio are going to be performed for the first time in India. “I am looking forward to be with those wonderful musicians and friends — I know Gerard for more than 30 years, and he was the original violist of my first Bach Goldberg Variations recording in 1984. Henri is the youngest member of the trio, but I’ve played and conducted him on number of occasions in the last few years,” he adds.
Gérard too is excited about his first performance in India and more so to share stage space again with his musical counterparts. “I am looking forward to performing all the pieces especially the Bach Goldberg which I premiered with Dmitry and Mischa Maisky. But I am also particularly excited to play the Mendelssohn Octet with members of the SOI,” he says. For Henri, this is his third time performing in India since the Arties Festival in 2008 and his performance with Olivier Charlier and Jean-Philippe Collard after that. He is looking forward to performing the Bach Goldberg Variations which have never been heard in India before. varsha.naik@dnaindia.net

The thigh-high trend is for the bold and daring. International designers have taken the trend to the next level by showcasing double (not just one but two) thigh-high slits on spring/summer 2013 runways. While this trend is still to hit the domestic shores, it’s time to learn the nuances accompanied with single thigh-high slit. Step out as glamour announces the beginning of a season of unmatched sensuality
Is this trend for you? Answers Jaya Misra in an affirmative, “The thigh-high slit stunt is not unachievable for average Indian girls. All it takes is a decent height and a pair of toned legs. The average height of Indian women is five feet to 5’5”, but that’s no deterrent to experimenting with stylish cuts. High slits look good on long and toned legs. Tall ladies can easily carry off such outfits beautifully, but short women too can try making an elegant style statement by wearing high heels.”
Some say the trend emerged in April last year but gained momentum only in October, while the rest say it was need-based. Rick Roy, designer says, “I’m guessing it must have been utility-based at some point since long outfits restrict movement and then, of course, it evolved as a style statement.”
Rick further adds, “This trend works best on fitted silhouettes as opposed to flares because if a cut rises high with an upper body dressed in a loose fit, the garment will end up looking like a sack. It is best worn subtly as it’s a very strong statement, and the rest of the look should go with it.”
Think Malaika Arora Khan, Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra to make an irresistible statement. Thigh-high slits can’t work with Indian ensembles, simply because of the way they are designed. Rick says, “Gowns are the perfect outfits for thigh-high slits but you can also wear it in open wrap around pants as it can be very sexy.”
As this trend is ultra-glam, it is important to wear it for a formal occasion or a red carpet event. As the trend is feminine, it is important to keep the jewellery and make-up to a minimum.
Jaya sums up, “Today, women are much more aware of their bodies and hence this style really works for them. If one has the confidence to flaunt it, one could definitely explore this fashion statement.”

Abu Jani – Sandeep Khosla’s silver jubilee
Couture kings Abu and Sandeep celebrated their 25th year in the fashion industry in August by launching a coffee-table book, India Fantastique. The two-part book traces their growth and features both their fashion and interiors work. The Sotheby’s London book launch saw none other than Dame Judi Dench and Amitabh Bachchan do the honours, while the Mumbai launch was hosted by Nita Ambani in her home with the biggest names in Indian society in attendance.

Manav Gangwani and Manish Malhotra dress Naomi Campbell and friends
Naomi Campbell threw a lavish 50th birthday bash in Jodhpur for her boyfriend Vladimir Doronin this November. The supermodel went desi in an elaborate pink and purple lehenga-choli created by designer Manav Gangwani. Her friends models Kate Moss, Karolina Kurkova and actress Demi Moore also followed suit by opting for ethnic wear by Manish Malhotra. The much-publicised four day extravaganza made Manav and Manish worldwide names.

Armchair Shopping:
This year, many shopping websites cropped up and the trend of armchair shopping is on an upswing. Thanks to busy lifestyles, everyone wants the world at the click of the mouse. So be it shopping, travel or even booking a table for two, e-commerce sites have witnessed a major upswing. Well, this year we also saw luxury brands presence on sites.

International designers
When the Italian fashion designer Roberto Cavalli was interviewed by the Indian press, he said that his fascination for Indian culture and women inspired him to open his first store in the country. Pat on our backs, we do love all the attention poured on by international designers. From Bollywood divas to society swans the store launch was graced by an illustrious list. Just hope this trend continus round the year.

Reminiscing about the good ol’ days? Now you can spend Christmas Day playing with Lego as you build a special tree and decorations with your family at High Street Phoenix. As part of the the monthly property ‘Talent Tuesday,’ go down memory lane with Hamleys and help build a 20 feet x 20 feet Christmas tree using 1.74 lac Lego bricks. In this day-long plan, revisit your childhood and enjoy a creative getaway full of colour and glee away from the urban rush. Participate in a tree-making workshop for all ages with trained professionals from 12 noon to 8 pm today and celebrate the festive season in a new spirit.

With an aim to cure and heal people via art, The Journey Begins is an art show that exhibits visually soothing artworks by young artists and sisters, Pooja and Aparna Bangia, who come from a multi-faceted educational background of graphic design, fine arts, textile design and costume in India and the United Kingdom.
The exhibits are about beauty, art, creativity and expression of The Absolute — which triggers and awakens a frequency within the audience. The unique metamorphosis is the synergy of the two artists as they actually paint together on each canvas. The entire collection of these paintings has been featured in the book The Fakir — Thoughts & Prayers by Ruzbeh N. Bharucha. Their journeys converged eight years ago to embark on a continuously evolving process of co-creation. “Our art is our journey into mysticism and symbols…as we travelled through different moments of prayer, revelation and insight. Each painting — always developed by four hands — is a journey of the spirit through a process of self and inner awareness,” say the young artists, adding, “Forms take consistency through symbolic processes expressing the union of our inner and outer worlds, moments of discovery, expressions of energy, sometimes sublime and calm, at others explosive and intense.”
The concept was the brainchild of gallery owner Jalpa Vithalani. “Cosmic Heart Gallery has birthed in the form of a dream wherein I was given the name of the gallery, shown the space, the logo embedded on the floor and gently led on to a larger vision of art inspired by the and to create a platform for pure talent,” says Jalpa as she talks about creating this one-of-its-kind space.
“We offer an exquisite collection of art which will touch your soul. Each piece of art is charged with Reconnective Healing Frequencies which opens us to higher levels of energy, light and information; the gift lies in generating that ‘frequency’ in your sacred space and translating the beauty of the work in a metaphysical way into your psyche,” she adds.

Artist Neha Majithia, a master’s graduate from Parsons The New School for design is all set to showcase her first solo exhibition in Mumbai today. Titled Beauty Matters, the artist says this was her urge to “find my identity aka skin, colour, culture, etc. The answer to the question: Who am I?” Talking about the title, she says, “It’s a metaphor, signifying the orientation of my art work, revolving around the practices and implications of beauty. Finding new meanings of beauty, sexuality, religion, culture and influence in today’s world.”
Her work reflects how the influence of imagery of hand-painted Bollywood film posters, comic books, Hindu mythological iconography as well as 20th century European portraiture and fairytales and contemporary visual culture play a vital role in the creation of her art works. With reference to her previous works, she feels that it lacked the recognition of one’s identity. “Breaking away from the shell opened up new questions of identity and comparisons between various cultures; creating a fertile ground for cross-cultural art practices, that was not so in the past,” she adds. This exhibit is also her way of critiquing look consciousness that’s prevalent among the people of major cities in India, and the increasing western influence that suggests slimming and beauty go hand in hand.
However, Neha says her art is for art’s sake. “I don’t quite believe that every art piece or collection of work needs to have a meaning or underlying connotations or commentary about the society. It is very difficult and impractical to talk about a country like India and its direction towards traditionalism as it doesn’t only consist of metropolitan cities,” says the artist who is visibly excited to be showing in Mumbai after her last show at Kitchen Gallery, New York. As for her future exhibits she says, “Let’s see what direction the work takes me. The immigrant thinks and the artist paints.”
sanaya.chavda@dnaindia.net