The Mylapore Festival

The Sundaram Finance Mylapore Festival opens on January 5th. The four-day festival of the arts and heritage will be held in the Sri Kapali Temple precincts as usual.

The illustrations above were one side of the invitation. On the other side was the information given below. The most intriguing invitation Madras Musings has received in a long time has been for An exhibition on children's literature is organised by the Arts Management Students of Madras Craft ­Foundation. The exhibtion will trace the path of children's literature in India from the past to the present day. It will also explain how Indian traditional art forms have been used in books as illustrations.The exhibition is on till January 31, 2012 at DakshinaChitra (for details: 2747 2603/2747 2783).

A new production titled Vanna Mayil will be premiered during the Festival. Vanna Mayil has dance and creative choreography by Guru Revathi Ramachandran and centres on the less known communities who have enriched the life of the Mylapore region. Using dance, narration, visuals and music, the production will feature neighbourhood artistes and will be staged on all four evenings of the Festival at the main stage in Sannidhi Square. The annual Kolam Contest will be held on North Mada Street during weekend. For registration call Sharadha at 94457 64499 (10 a.m. to 1 p.m. only).

This year, Andhra Pradesh-based traditional puppeteers led by Guru Ramanna will perform stories from the Ramayana on two evenings. This has been made possible by DakshinaChitra. Another well-known puppeteer, Guru Selvaraj, will present Bhakta Prahlada on two other evenings in Sannidhi Square. At the same venue, the Anusham Dance Group led by Narendra and Anusha will present Shakthi, a dance ballet on Saturday evening (January 7th).

Another new dance drama that will be staged at the Fest is Margazhi Neerada Magizhnthelor Empavai by students of Vanee Kalalaya, Chennai, with Guru Vanee Gayathri Bala in the lead. This one-hour-long show will be staged on Sunday, January 8 evening, at Sannidhi Square.

This year, the hugely popular Art Street will be in the street along the tank of Sri Kapali Temple, with entry from South Mada Street. Students from Stella Maris and NIFT will set up stalls to showcase their creative works and sell products. Closeby, members of Self Help Groups funded by the Government of Tamil Nadu will sell products they produce or source.

New at the Food Street will be the Kerala specials with cooks from Palghat present. Celebrated artisans who create handicrafts in wood, stone and metal have been invited through the Tamil Nadu Handicrafts Corporation to present demos during weekend. This will take place alongside the theradi.

A series of workshops and contests for children has been lined up too. The hugely popular contests in pallankuzhi and dayakattam are also scheduled. There are also four Walks – all on Sunday, January 8.

The Festival will be curated by Vincent D’Souza; the Fest Director R. Revathi is the Fest Coordinator.

For further information, www.mylaporefestival.com or e-mail at mylaporefestival@yahoo.com

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Till January 31: A retrospective of P. Perumal’s paintings and drawings. Perumal is an impromptu painter who emerged from the Madras College of Arts and Crafts in the 1960s, having trained under KCS Paniker, Roy Chowdury, Dhanapal and others (at DakshinaChitra).

Till February 2: The Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, Chennai, Habitat Forum Berlin, School of Architecture and Planning, Anna University, and City Connect, Chennai, are organising an architecture contest titled Human Space – Cultural Space.

This is an idea competition for an MRTS Station in Chennai and is open for participation between November 29, 2011 and February 2, 2012. Open to students or recent graduates from schools of architecture in Tamil Nadu, the University of Technology, Berlin, and its Indian partners. Application forms to: hscs 2012@gmail.com. For more information log on to website: http://cms.goethe.de/ins/in/che/kue/en8508383v.htm

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Nizhal Marghazhi tree walks

These are family walks, and Nizhal would like every adult to bring at least one child below 15!

Each walk will last about an hour.

Note: Guindy Children’s Park and Semmozhi Poonga charge an entrance fee, and participants must buy their own tickets. The walks are otherwise free.

For further details and for registration, please contact 90030 11372 or 98400 16872 between 10 am and 5 pm.

Semmozhi Poonga – RK Salai

January 7, Saturday 10.30 am

Children’s Park – Guindy

January 8, Sunday 4 pm