O.K, so the KGAF is just over, and it was quite enjoyable as usual, albeit somewhat different this time around. But before we get into this year's fest, I realise I haven't blogged about previous year's ones, which really is inexcusable. So let me begin with KGAF 2008. 2009 & 2010 will follow shortly.
2008 was my first KGAF. Inspite of being a long time resident of Mumbai, I had never bothered to visit the festival before. In addition to my first-time-at-the-festival-excitement, this were a couple of other aspects that made this a great experience. One, I had bought a digital camera in December '07, less than a month ago, which I was eager to use. And two, the week of my visit to the fest was one of the Mumbai's coldest weeks in years, which meant a very pleasant and not at all hot day. Great for walking around.
And so I left for the festival on a Sunday afternoon, sometime after lunch, reaching Churchgate by train at around 4.00. I walked it out out to Kala Ghoda street, & it was a lovely sight that greeted me. I decided to take a walk round the footpath beside the Jehangir art gallery and PoW museum and check out the art installations there first. They had a whole bunch of social messages on addiction.
There were a lot of paintings for sale. This is a great place for picking up cheap stuff.
This guy was making art out of wire.
Here's an interesting charcoal work.
Photos taken by the blind.
Eco-friendly bags.
I then made my way over to the stalls, being greeted by this character. Something about being a bloodsucker in the city.
A little ahead was this tribute to the amount of walking we Mumbaikars do.
An artist's perspective of our busy lives - a bee made out of industrial materials. It even produced a buzzing sound.
This guy was just showing off.
As you can see, it was getting dark. The Copper Chimney restaurant (in background above) on Kala Ghoda street must get additional business this time of year.
The stalls were selling mostly artsy stuff - rural handicrafts, paintings, sculptures, knickknacks. This one stall sold a lot of bronze stuff.
Cool lamps and household decorations.
I took another picture of mosquito man on my way out of the stall area.
Promoting eco-friendly travel - Reva electric cars with new paint jobs.
I'm not sure what these were supposed to be.
A multi-coloured horse with Mumbai motifs replaced the black horse.
And a second horse made out of junk.
The balloons looked cool.
So did this modified bike.
This was the largest artwork at the fest - a ferris wheel that carried cycles with dabbas - a tribute to Mumbai's dabbawallas.
Some of the old buildings in town look pretty neat when they're lit up.
Caught some pottery action.
And the last one - Flora Fountain on my way back to the station.
I also attended the Kala Ghoda Festival of India, a smaller version of the KGAF, in October that year. Not as good as the February version.
KGAFs 2009 and 2010 coming up shortly.
4 comments:
man KGAF was awesome ......nice pics......good coverage.........there are many interesting and innvoative things....the blood sucker...and multicolored Ghoda instead of the black one.....
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Thanks Hitesh, I'll be blogging about KGAFs 2009 and 2010 soon.
This was great Daniel. Wish I could be in Mumbai during KGAF. I have attended one when I was much younger, in school. But I think I would enjoy it a lot more now....
Oh there are a lot of activities for children but the artsy stuff like the exhibits is more for adults. It's funny when you see families at the fair that just walk around with their children glancing and pointing at the exhibits without even reading the explanations or bothering to explain them to the their kids.
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