INDEPENDENT MOVEMENT OF ART WORLD!By Joanne Pinto Pereira

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INDEPENDENT MOVEMENT OF ART WORLD!By Joanne Pinto Pereira

CULTURE consumption is at an all-time high. What is encouraging is that key drivers have their heart in the right place. There is the nurturing of mindful consumption, stirring the questions that matter, and an admirable attitude. It’s not easy to be out there and take the plunge. You have to wear your tux and be prepared to encounter a rainy day, reinvent yourself and bravely repeat.
All this is great news for audiences that never had it better. While ticketed sales have been encouraging, making events accessible has seen a surfeit of breathless activity. The culture space needs a shared calendar. The digital leap has made it a breeze for access, but why should you have to make hard choices in brilliant programming across Max City?
From the lens of those who tirelessly make it happen, it needs to be patronised in a manner that supports the objective and future programming. The creative industries are at a multidisciplinary ascent, and that is the liberation we need, a celebration of where the mind is held high! Before I head to a gallery-studded pre-independence art night, Thursday, ANT, here’s an insight into the bigger picture.

Culture Con’25 Catalyst
THIS is an event that spotlights the best of creator experiences, trends, and tools that empower the professional possibilities in the world of culture. It educates and mentors young minds, equipping them with first-hand experience from those who have trodden and tested the path in the space.

The Language of New Age
BESIDES the holistic sharing of the dynamics of space and its emerging dimensions, what was striking was the new age vocabulary at the masterclasses. The shift is evident. Rashmi Dhanwani and her team’s effort met with a befitting sold-out houseful.

Bridging the resources
THE natural wrap to the packed two-day Culture Con 2025 sessions was the panel moderated by Rashmi titled “CSR, Philanthropy & the Arts: From Cheque to Change,” Asad Lalljee, Bidisha Dey and Ritika Gandhi shared their respective unique models that nurture heritage and culture. The Royal Enfield project that matches the brand with adventure imagery has initiated and sustained the Art projects on an ongoing basis. The trickle-down of patronage is welcome.
It indicates the mammoth spiral of activity in the space with artisans and crafts receiving support. The overlap of collaborations provides a banquet of shared knowledge and resources. My takeaway is that while corporations wield the laborious framework of CSR, it has percolated to a culture movement.
Partnered with the Australian High Commission, Mumbai, it is a joy to see a generation out there, open and with honest intent, seeking to unleash positive impact through culture. Wishing the creators and the universe of culture a shot of liberal, fruitful, collaborative consumption ahead. And Culture Con 2025 and all creators a shot in the arm as they pave the way for inclusive creative futures. Where the mind is held high, indeed.

Trumpeting to triumph
THE creative industries have the power to stir you through the vital sensory of audio. Sounds that get you to appreciate the genius of a mind that narrates his reality through his musical compositions, spotlighting the wind section. I encountered the planet of subliminal music thanks to violist Francis Mendes, who has shared his gifted accomplishment over the decade and more. As one of the initial orchestra musicians of the Symphony of India Orchestra, it has elevated the corridor to Mumbai imbibing the finest genre of Western classical music.
SOI has begun its autumn season with the compelling 75-minute 5th Symphony of Gustav Mahler (born 1860) on the heels of a quickly wrapped Wagner recital by the 100-member musicians. The intense five-part movements, created in 1901, mesmerise you, climaxing to the finale. It has you riveted; gasp and goose bumps in alternate motion. This musical expression symbolises much-needed triumph over darkness, contrary to the notion of the sombre notation in Mahler’s works. The maestro, Andrew Litton, had the pulse of Mahler in the trombones to effect an innovation of the time. He carried the entire section of wind instruments in an energetic build-up. As if that was not enough, Rondo kept the breathless pace to end on a high that got the entire audience up on their feet. More music to Litton’s baton!
Mahler (or stained glass painter) is also symbolic of our evolving global cycle. His words reflect his reality and of a world in flux, “I am thrice homeless, as a native of Bohemia in Austria, as an Austrian among Germans, and as a Jew throughout the world.” May his music foster acceptance and coexistence in humanity.

Bravo SOI
THE recent coup is indicative of the great trajectory of SOI with the appointment of internationally renowned maestro Martyn Brabbins as its chief conductor from January 2026.

More about music
WHILE the music industry in India is marching in a robust direction since the first edition of the India International Music Week 2025, the conversations have begun in earnest. India holds a significant audience, and the exchange with the globe is a win for the world of music.

Asiatic Lineup
THE lush grazing table of conversations has to be the daily back-to-back programming of The Asiatic Society of Mumbai. The Mumbai Research Centre’s “Foy’s Gaze” which had well known Bombay stalwarts Gautam Patel, Jehangir Sorabjee and Vikas Dilawari, in conversation with journalist Fiona Fernandez who gave us insights in to the innate spirit of Foy — “How He Saw and How We See Him”– Foy Nissen has been integral to our understanding of Bombay’s history and rich heritage.
Next up was the 16th Bombay booked discussion between author Rinki Roy Bhattacharya and living encyclopedia of Indian cinema Sanjit Narwekar on her book “Suhana Safar: The Journey of Movie Moghul Bimal Roy’s Madhumati.”
Rinki is a former vice-chair of CFSI and founder of the Bimal Roy Memorial. She has also authored seminal works like “Bimal Roy: A Man of Silence and Behind Closed Doors” while contributing as a film critic for major Indian publications.
The next day had Mallika Ravikumar’s talk on her book “565: The Dramatic Story of Unifying India,” timely with August 15 around the corner.

Week Swirl
WHILE for the love of immersion into a slice of what would be red circled and eagerly awaited, I had to push forward a gaze and a conversation at Maskara of street photography from the 1970s by Bimal Maskara: “The Joy of Seeing” to its final day on ANT. Bimal’s lens takes us to Bombay and Calcutta of yore. It is an eye that captures time and emotion with image captions that read like the newspapers of that era.

Art Landscape
AS a build-up to Art Night Thursday, I sip on the local Method Bandra “There is Life Between The Cracks” by Jaidev Tripathy.
Plotting the ANT route from Tao, to 47A to Art Musings to the newly opened Muziris that nests in XXL, to Anupa Mehta Contemporary to Nature Morte to Chemould Collab previews, was an organic process. More about these gems coming up. What is on the wish list is Subcontinent, Fort, exhibiting the courageous art-led recovery of Florence academia artist Hemali Vadalia: “Where The Light Falls Gently.” Her portraits in the Italian tradition depict the memory of the two years before resuming the brush again.
Fulcrum keeps lining up meaningful curations to engage audiences, with a conversation on the 16th on their new exhibition. “An Index of Disobedience,” featuring works of Bharatdesh GD curated by Amshu Chukki, is a study in image, memory and resistance.

Artipendence
ON this ANT note, I call it a day, way past midnight, ushering in the 79th day to commemorate India’s Independence and the nation’s founding fathers. Wish you a state where the mind is without fear…..into that heaven of freedom let my country awake.