[box]
Parul Gupta on Art
Polish artist Monika Grzymala makes installations that can be described as three-dimensional drawings. Her signature material is tape of all colours and kinds. Grzymala’s work is a critical statement about what a drawing can be and how it can leave the page to engage directly in our space and lives. Her drawings sometimes seem to jump straight out of the walls, or press up against other lines, then finally disappear, only to once again reappear in motion, with momentum. Each work is site-specific — created in response to the conditions and configuration of a given space.
Gupta is a Delhi-based artist
[/box]
Wei Fen Lee on Books
Shehan Karunatilaka’s Chinaman is about Sri Lankan cricket, a journalist’s quest for a story, the problematic concept of ‘truth’ and memory and the humour and banalities of human relationships. The ironies of story-writing are reflected in multiple narrations, all delivered in a style as graceful and irreverent as the bowling described within. It transcends the actual game to inspect the power structures and relationships surrounding it.
‘A book about Sri Lankan cricket, its many power structures and human relationships’
Lee is a Singapore-based writer and editor of Ceriph
[box]
Abhishek Bhatia on Music
German musician Apparat has successfully experimented with big, clean, transcendant sounds while avoiding the clichés of post-rock. Rather, he is post-electronica. He uses a varied mix of unusual instruments, such as the analogue synthesiser and a xylophone hooked up to his laptop with a million effects. He programmes sounds of actual instruments onto his computer. Programming allows him to be limitless and opens a whole new dimension for his music, which sounds as if it’s coming out of nowhere.
Bhatia is the vocalist of the Circus
[/box]
Anupama Chopra on Film
Y Tu Mamá También by Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón is a deeply moving, sad yet beautiful film. Two best friends go on a road trip with a strange woman. What follows is a sexual adventure and their coming of age, devoid of the clichés inherent in this genre. It is sexy but in a joyful, unembarrassed way. There is nudity but it is not voyeuristic. The film transcends its protagonists and becomes a portrait of Mexico. There is a voiceover narration, which, in asides, tells the audience stories of other characters.
Chopra is a film critic based in Mumbai
[box]
Ashfaque Qureshi on Food
Tadka restaurant in Kanpur serves the finest Indian food possible. Instead of generalising flavours to cater to popular taste, it prizes the authenticity of its recipes. The food tastes authentic Awadhi, instead of it being mixed with Punjabi preparations. Though it has cuisines and spices from all over India, the dishes retain their unique flavour. Some of my favourite dishes are their galauti kebabs and the raan. The restaurant is particularly famous for its biryani, the daals and its speciality, the tadka chicken.
Qureshi Is The Managing Director With Grande Cuisines Of India
[/box]
