Celebrating various shades of Mumbai

The Times of India KalaGhoda Arts Festival has seen lakhs of people converge at the various venues where a host of events are taking place. The festival, which is on till February 10, has people from across the city pouring to get their fill of art, music, dance, movies and food. Adding to the fun are the various workshops that people can participate in.
The art installations at Kala Ghoda have always been crowd pullers. This year too, the main Kala ghoda area, has been converted into a colourful tapestry of interesting, imaginative and out-of-the-box art works.
So while there is an installations called ‘Dhanda’ by Baaya Design, which is a sculptural skyline of Mumbai and meant to be a visual pun, there is also an ode to Bollywood with an installation called ‘Cinemachi’ by Sumeet Sanjay Patil, which has vibrant cut outs of popular past and present film stars. A huge installation that greets the eyes when you enter is the ‘Kapala's Totems’ by Sukant Panigrahy. This is among one of the seven totems placed through Kala Ghoda, and made entirely of waste material. Environmental issues are also people's minds. While ‘Cycle Chalao City Bachao’ sends out a message of the urgent need of going eco-friendly while travelling, another installations points out the the hazards of noise pollution.
And how can money not make it's presence felt in the financial capital of the country. A popular installation, which evokes smiles and giggles from the thronging crowd, is ‘Corrupt Us’ by Vikram Arora. Showcasing government officials saluting a hundred rupee note fluttering above them. Another installations has a car covered with coins. ‘Time To Change’ by 11-year-old Dev Mehta showcases a car, painted in vibrant hues as a symbol of the city that never sleeps — constantly moving, changing and racing ahead. And an installation of of Mumbai’s ever-dependable dabbawallas towers over the crowd.