Kala Ghoda Art Festival- 2016.

Mumbai’s biggest cultural fair, the Kala Ghoda Festival is a vibrant celebration of art, dance, theatre, literature and food. Over the years, the Festival has grown to attract a range of activities and sees participations from across the globe. The Festival is generally nine days long, but the 2016 edition is extended by 3 more days to feature the Government of India’s ‘Make in India’ program.

The area got its name from the statue of King Edward VII, which was once placed on the old Esplanade Road but its long gone now. The area is sometimes also referred to as the Art District of Mumbai due to the presence of some key institutions in the area like Max Mueller Bhavan, Jehangir Arts Gallery, Bombay University, Prince of Wales Museum and Bombay Natural History Society. With an enviable listing of large number of museums and art galleries in the area, Kala Ghoda draws a parallel to art districts around the world.

As you battle the scorching sun while attempting to jostle your way through a sea of sweaty people, you’re bound to miss out on scores of potentially fascinating experiences- but the environmentally concerned makings are hard to miss. Run by 23 year old Kunal Krishnan, “ Kalatmak” is a brand that upcycles old bike and car tyres into planters, seatings and tables. “Studio Art” is a young art brand from Jaipur, it aims to upcycle in an eco-friendly manner, using materials like wood, metal, and more notably, a combination of paper, cloth and polyester in the process.

The Literature section of KGAF has evolved over the years to become a small festival in itself. Apart from including various forms of writing like poetry, fiction, non-fiction etc. the Literature Festival extends across disciplines to include writing for cinema, theatre,music, philosophy, and more. The KGAF is also involved with five languages for the Lit Festival- English, Hindi, Urdu, Marathi and Gujarati. Also this year’s food theme is organic. The Festival has showcased talks and demonstrations focusing on this theme of locally sourced and fresh organic produce. KGAF has, for the first time, played host to a market in Cross Maiden displaying brands that focus on fresh and local supplies. There even were Heritage Walks that took through various parts of South Mumbai like Esplanade, Victoria Terminus, the libraries and Fort. They brief you on the history of Mumbai and you also get to hear tales of what made Mumbai what it is today. There were also one hour open bus tours which gave a brief tour of the Southern Mumbai heritage.

Kala Ghoda and the Ministry of Culture( Government of Maharashtra) have collaborated to host a Make In India Festival that will be a part of the KGAF 2016. The Make In India festival will run from February 13th to 17th 2016. This will include extending the dance and music programs, NGO participation and a curated Food Festival. There will also be several street art installations focusing on Make In India.

-Amatullah Fatehi