VISUAL DELIGHT
Day one of the Hindustan Times Kala Ghoda Arts Festival was all about installations and selfies
Rampart Row was a bright mélange of colours on day one of the Hindustan Times Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (HTKGAF). Installations at the visual arts section were a selfie buffs’ dream come true. A huge crowd had gathered at the entrance of the venue, around Hindustan Times’ Front Page News installation, where a camera captured a visitor’s image and displayed it on a large screen. Visitors, who click their photos on this large screen, and tag #HTKGAF2018 and #HTMumbai on Instagram, stand a chance to be featured in HT Café.
With HTKGAF going green this year, sustainability and protecting the environment has been the central idea behind many of the installations. The five elements of nature — earth, water, fire, air and Sky — and the tree of life, found a symbolic depiction in many of the artistic narratives. Tree60 Degrees, Five Elements, Skywards, I Need Some Air and Prakrti are some of the must see installations that celebrate the theme of green development and striking a balance in nature.
Representation of the Kala Ghoda (black horse) has become almost de rigueur over the years. And, at the current edition too artists have impressed with their renditions of the horse. Two versions of the horse grabbed maximum eyeballs. Disconnect 2 Connect, which exhorts people to disconnect from technology and strike a balance with the real world was one of them. The other representation, Kala-gh-od-a, has five painted panels, which when viewed from a proper angle, brings the full glory of HTKGAF to life.
Interactive installations got many of the visitors enthused. Several people walked through the Urban Tree installation and tried to find the perfect spot for a selfie. A different installation that spun like a colourful merry-go-round, topped by pristine white pin wheels, was very popular among children.
As evening fell, Rampart Row came alive with bright lights that gave a different perspective to the installations.