Celebrate the best of the Northeast at this fest in the Capital
An upcoming festival, ArtEast, celebrates the rich culture of the Northeast and brings a slice of the seven states to the Capital.
Get ready to experience the rustic, unexplored part of India, in the heart of Delhi, when an art festival — ArtEast is organised that aims to celebrate the rich culture of India’s seven Northeastern states.
“Many traditional art forms from the northeast is getting lost. We earlier thought of curating an art exhibition but then decided to bring everything that’s related to art, livelihood and displacement in the festival,” says Kishalay Bhattacharjee, curator of the festival.
The festival is dedicated to Majuli island in Assam, known as the world’s largest river island that is shrinking. Assam is also one the largest exporters of CTC tea. Every morning the hot cuppa of tea that you have is made from a grainy quality called CTC, an abbreviation of crush, tear and curl, the method in which it is made. “The daane daar chai is normally drunk with milk,” says Dhrubajit Chaliha, a tea planter, who’ll conduct a tea-tasting session.
Talking about the festival, Bhattacharjee adds, “Activities as part of the festival include mask-making and pottery, which are both representative of the island’s art culture. We have also shot a film on this island, which will be screened at the festival.”
Along with two outdoor installations, there will be a display of an exhibition of paintings and puppets, Tectonic Live by Jimmy Chishi. There will also be a traditional mask theatre by the mask makers of Majuli titled Mukhabhaona.
And how can a celebration of the rich culture of north east be complete without music? So there will be a concert titled Songs She Carries by Moushumi Bhowmik with Tajdar Junaid. Bhowmik, known for her documentation of songs from the Northeast, will be performing some of her famous numbers. “While collaborating with Moushumi, I will perform an instrumental piece, which is a combination between the Blues and Jhumur from Assam,” says Junaid.
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