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Spice up your dates
Sexy calendars are passé. Creative minds today are opting for science fiction, spiritualism and art work, finds Sarbani Sen.
If you have overdosed on sexy calendars then take a break. Creative minds have been burning the mid night oil for months now to come up with diverse themes for 2008.
These include calendars that feature work of artists, document science fiction and even talk about spiritualism.
New canvas
Since the 1980s RPG Enterprises has used its calendars to highlight art. "Be it contemporary works by M F Husain or young artists like Sanatan Dinda, art has been our subject from the outset. Earlier, we had calendars on traditional art forms as well," says Biswarup Mukherjee of RPG.
Delhi's Artoholix Art Gallery has produced a calendar with Sudip Roy's paintings. Though it's titled Charulata, the artist claims that works are not inspired by Rabindranath Tagore.
Roy says, "People who can't afford expensive paintings often collect calendars which feature artists." Prakash Kejariwal, owner of Chi ratkoot Art Gallery states, "Many would like to promote art via calendars. But calendars can be expensive. Art galleries, unlike corporate houses, do not have sufficient finances."
Picture perfect
Advertising agency O & M has artist Krishnendu Chaki's portraits of personalities like Dwarkanath Tagore and Mir Osman Ali Khan, the last Nizam of Hyderabad.
Moving away from art, advertising agency Ebong has worked for almost six months to design a calendar that highlights the contribution of science fiction to our lives.
The calendar for their client P S Earthmovers is devoted to science fiction. A Logic Named Joe, for example, describes Murray Leinster's invention of the personal computer.
"Our objective is to make children aware of sci-fi," says P K Dam, owner of PS Earthmovers.
Sacred space
The infrastructure finance company SREI intends to spread spirituality through its calendar. "We thought of highlighting the six chakras which control emotions," says Subhash Mohanty, V P corporate communication. Takes all types to make the year.. doesn't it?
