By Madhusree Chatterjee,IANS,
New Delhi : Each winter Delhi is on a roll. The spotlight this time is on the second edition of the 23-day Delhi International Arts Festival that comprises art, music, dance, film and theatre.
Among the countries that have sent artists are Pakistan, Japan, Switzerland and Southeast Asian nations.
The art carnival, being presented by Incredible India in association with the ministry of culture and tourism and the ministry of information and broadcasting, opened with a dance recital at the Meghdoot Theatre Monday. Thirty-five of India’s best-known dancers came together to make a collective offering on “Vande Mataram”, the national song.
The festival will offer a rich spread of both national and international shows that will include music, art, literature, dance and theatre spread across nearly 70 venues in Delhi and the National Capital Region.
The programmes include a festival of contemporary Japanese films, performances by Swiss new age musicians who will collaborate with their Indian counterparts, jazz music from Switzerland, ghazal renditions by vocalists from Pakistan, and folk dancers from Southeast Asia.
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Diamond burst at Christie’s
Diamonds steered the price tags at the Christie’s annual sale of jewellery in Hong Kong Tuesday that picked up HK$259,823,250 (US$33,517,199).
“Diamonds brought exceptional prices at the Hong Kong auction of Dec 2 despite the ever-challenging financial environment,” said Vickie Sek, director of the jewellery and jadeite department of Christie’s Asia.
Christie’s said that 63 percent sold by lot and 79 percent sold by value. The top lot of the sale was an extraordinary pair of unmounted circular-cut D colour flawless Type II diamonds of 16.11 carats and 16.08 carats that sold for HK$43,780,000 (US $5,647,620).
Kashmir sapphires and Burma rubies clocked high prices with two lots selling for over US$1.2 million each. The Asian market showed its resilience and appetite for jadeite, fine diamonds and jewels.
This auction, Sek said, demonstrated that when the right selection was offered for sale at the correct price, buyers were still very active.
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Canvas of diversity
Jaipur-based Vinay Sharma creates solid shapes – a combination of sculptures and paintings – with an array of eclectic material.
He draws a lot from childhood memories of Rajasthan and fuses them with his thought processes which are contemporary. His materials range from pen, ink, oil and acrylic paint along with old documents such as land registration papers, accounts, stamp papers, calligraphy as well as Urdu poems.
Presented by Nitanjali Art Gallery, Sharma’s show “Om Bhur Bhuwah Svah” at the Galerie Romain Rolland at the Alliance Francaise in New Delhi, closed Wednesday. The show featured 25 paintings.
“As a child I watched my grandfather make colours from fresh turmeric and extraction of flowers. This elementary alchemy has interested me since, stimulating me to explore combinations of emotions and materials,” Sharma said.