Jinkerjacket's Closet

It's been a couple weeks since my last "real" post....obviously I've scraped away about two weeks with the filler Will Ferrell-related fun stuff..(even though it was completely fabulous)...anyways...things have finally slowed down enough for me to have time to talk about this awesome event I attended a couple weeks ago with S and the C-Man:

Friends of South Asia and The Royal Ontario Museum hosted Salon South Asia: Sip/See/Swoon, which celebrated local South Asian artists and musicians in a 17th/18th century-typical salon setting. Well, as you all know, the 17th and 18th centuries were my favourite, although 17th and 18th century England was of more interest to me than French...largely due to the provocative and sexually-overt nature of much of the literature from that period. Anyways, combine 18th century-inspired setting with Brownies and martinis and you know I'm all over it like a fat kid on a smartie *becs I had to steal the quote..it was just too good.* You can read The Star's take on the event here.

The artists presenting their work at the event were:

Anita Katakkar, who performed the tabla with underlying rhythmic loops on a keyboard. She was amazing and I swear I've heard her stuff around on the U of T radio station..keep a look-out for her she is AWESOME!

Puja Amin presented her Colours of India choreographed dance, which combined traditional and classical dance styles with modern Indian dance. Of course the Kathak sequences were my favourite...but I STILL think Bharatnatyam is better, I may be biased tho :o)

Sylvat Aziz showcased Mother of all Postcards, an installation of veiled figures, which examines cultural customs and practices where invasive personal manipulation extends to thought. The piece was really interesting and showed a group of veiled women who looked almost blindfolded..

Sudarshan Belsare presented a black and white video loop of Fire to Ice, which played throughout the entire event. Belsare is a professional dancer (specializing in Bharatnatyam of course!) and video installation artists - this piece combined traditional Bharatnatyam movements of dance with elements of epic drama (the event hosts defined it as "stylized elements of Greek tradegy"), to explore societal boundaries through The Mahabharata.

And finally, my most favourite piece, and mainly the only reason I went to this event, was Noni Kaur's installation piece titled Sniff...Lick..Swallow. Her piece explored female sexuality and sensuality, and how they're perceived within traditional and cultural attitudes...Kaur used spices, such as coconuts and turmeric, to abstract body parts of the female reproductive system...using a traditional method of floor decorating called rangoli. I absolutely loved this piece because rangoli is often used as a way to welcome visitors and guests during special occasions or holidays, and this seemed almost a welcoming/invitation to explore the female body. Using aromatic spices and coconuts, and inviting her audience to smell, touch, taste and experience the female body, Kaur presented female sexuality and sensuality as something that was beautiful, healthy, vibrant and that which has the ability to stimulate and incite all of our senses. The installation brings female sensuality to the fore and challenges cultural notions of women and their sexuality, establishing the body as something to be celebrated rather than concealed. Loved it! Here are a couple pictures to boot: