Dynamic, Contemporary,
and Uniquely South Asian: ArtWallah 2002
The Third Annual
Festival of the South Asian Diaspora
Los Angeles, CA (October
2, 2002) – As sunlight filtered through
the delicate, multi-colored kites fashioned
by volunteers and organizers, attendees of ArtWallah
2002 (April 26-28) were welcomed into the Village
at Ed Gould Plaza’s festive courtyard.
An outdoor bazaar, including South Asian cuisine,
books, music, fashion, arts and crafts, hosted
the intermingling of talented artists and the
estimated 1,300 in attendance. The Village complex,
also including a gallery and two theater spaces,
became the weekend home for over 60 artists
whose work spanned the genres of dance, film,
literature, music, spoken word, theater, and
visual art.
ArtWallah is a celebration
of the art and culture of people whose origins
lie in the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan,
India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka but who
have dispersed across the globe. The festival
is a place that brings the South Asian diaspora
back together into a new artistic community.
The work encountered in ArtWallah, though rooted
in South Asia, reflects the establishment of
the home and the self in new lands. Both personal
and universal in theme, the works showcased
resonated with a broad audience.
Not only did ArtWallah
sell-out the three-night evening show at more
than double the capacity of previous years,
but the courtyard, theaters, and gallery overflowed
with people wanting to see daytime events. The
laughter from Rasika Mathur’s stand-up
comedy and the outdoor concert series including
performances by fusion hip-hop group Karmacy,
tabla-beatbox duo Gurpreet and Jugular, and
R& B vocalist Sumeet Bharati echoed from
the courtyard to the streets, wooing prospective
attendees through the entrance gates. The Davidson/Valentini
theater was packed with overflowing crowds attending
poetry and a storytelling hours featuring poet
Lina Patel Michon and pusblished author Bhargavi
Mandava. The larger Renberg theater hosted Shishir
Kurup’s one-man show “Assimilation,”
Nisha Puhuja’s anticipated “Bollywood
Bound,” and a screening of short but highly
innovative films. The Advocate Gallery displayed
an eclectic exhibition including the rich colors
and textured fabrics of Paul Pahal’s tapestry-like
work to the intricate details of Paula Roy-Burman’s
unlikely juxtaposition of Hindu gods and cartoon
characters.
The evening show, repeated
on all three nights, was a three-hour showcase
of performing arts, music, and film. Karmacy
rapper Sammy Chand and Shilpa Brennan Agarwal,
writer and co-festival administrator, guided
the audience through the evening’s performances
with entertaining and informal dialogue. The
gypsy/qawali music of Rajamani and Ensemble
jumpstarted the evening with a fusion of Indian,
Middle-Eastern and African beats followed by
the smoldering political poetry of Pireeni Sundaralingam
on exile in Sri Lanka and hate crimes in the
UK. The evening show also included a screening
of a traditionally hand-painted animation by
Rupa Shah and an experimental film by Andaleeb
Firdosy on the “sewing together”
of family history. Dancer Bagashree Vaze mixed
Kathak with Western hip-hop while dance ensemble
Inner[Di]visions explored themes of biculturalism
with Indian, American, and Polynesian dance
traditions. The show featured the stand-up comedy
of Paul Varghese and a one-woman theater piece
on virginity by actor Meera Simhan. Co-festival
administrator Ranjit Mathoda describes the experience,
“As an organizer, I thought I knew what
to expect. But each successive performance left
me stunned.”
The ArtWallah official
after-party at the Tempest in Hollywood was
a true extension of the festival. Impromptu
performances by the artists and other talented
party-goers, nudged onto a make-shift stage
by the energetic crowd, marked the event. The
club buzzed with ideas for new artistic collaborations
inspired by the weekend of festivities that
are sure to be showcased at next year’s
festival.
The official ArtWallah
soundtrack CD, “Awaz of ArtWallah”
is now available online at CDStreet.com. A compilation
of several participating ArtWallah artists,
the CD includes selections ranging from the
South Asian hip-hop of Karmacy, a tabla/beat
box combo by Gurpreet Chana and Jugular, to
a spoken word piece by Pireeni Sundarlingam.
The ArtWallah festival
continues to grow each year through the support
and passion of artists, volunteers, generous
donors, and the community. The spirit carries
throughout the year, inspiring emerging artists
and fostering dialogue and collaboration amongst
participating artists. Co-festival administrator,
Shilpa Brennan Agarwal believes ArtWallah speaks
to us all. “In working with the Los Angeles
Gay and Lesbian Center and being picked up by
media outlets such as KPFK radio station, it
is clear that the festival has become important
to celebrate not just for South Asians but also
for all artistic, immigrant, and progressive
communities.”
Co-founders of the
festival, the South Asian Artists’ Collective
and the Indo-American Cultural Center welcome
individuals to get involved and experience the
making ArtWallah 2003.
For additional information
--
Press contact:
Natasha Alim
natash300@yahoo.com
310-428-6414
The South Asian Artists’
Collective
www.southasianartists.org
Contact: Ranjit Mathoda
mathoda@hotmail.com
(310) 528-2154
The Indo-American
Cultural Center
www.iacc-la.org
Contact: Sarita Vasa
sarita@iacc-la.org
(310) 745-2986
