AMI Arts Festival is a Kolkata Centre for Creativity initiative supported by Emami CSR to
support artists and creatives in the country, with a focus on Bengal.
Upcoming events include an East Bengal Football Club archival exhibition, book signings by
Madhurima Vidhyarthi and Manav Kaul, and music performances by Indian Ocean and
grammy nominated Shujaat Khan.
AMI Arts Festival 2024 will showcasing leading creative personalities Manav Kaul, Pinaki De,
Sabyasachi Chakraborty, Sandip Ray, Shujaat Khan, Danish Husain, Madhurima Vidyarthi and
bands like Indian Ocean, Chandrabindoo, Murshidabadi Project in the coming week.
Kolkata, 15 December 2024: Kolkata Centre for Creativity (KCC) kicked off the 5th edition of AMI
Arts Festival with a month-long celebration that featured visual arts, traditional crafts, music,
photography, engaging talks, panel discussions, music, dance and theatre performances at various
iconic venues in the city.
As the annual festival comes to a close, audiences can look forward to an exciting final week of
musical performances and talks by well-known artists, writers, filmmakers and musicians. This
schedule includes a musical performance by Grammy nominated sitar player Shujaat Khan, a book
signing and a powerful solo performance by theatre director and actor Manav Kaul, a talk on
Satyajit Ray’s iconic character Feluda by his son Sandip Ray and actor Sabyasachi Chakraborty,
and a musical dastaan by Sufi band Murshidabadi Project. In addition to music performances, an
archival exhibition on East Bengal Football Club will be on display that will showcase memorabilia,
archival objects and documents celebrating the sport and the moments that helped make the club
what it is today; and a talk and book signing titled Good Girl, Bad Girl: The Never-ending Debate
will take place where Author Madhurima Vidyarthi will be in conversation with Priyadarshinee
Guha in regards to her latest novel, The School for Bad Girls,which is a fictionalized telling of the
women’s emancipation and education movement in nineteenth century Calcutta.
Upcoming highlights from the programme include:
IMAGINARIUM 4.0 | Kolkata Centre for Creativity, 11 AM - 7 PM, on view till 22 December
East Bengal FC: The Courage of Spirit, an exhibition on the history of East Bengal Football
Club | Kolkata Centre for Creativity, 11 AM - 7 PM, 13 - 22 December
Traasadi, a solo performance and book signing by Manav Kaul | GD Birla Sabhaghar, 6:30PM,
15 December
Author Madhurima Vidyarthi in conversation with Priyadarshinee Guha launching Vidyarthi’s
latest novel The School for Bad Girls| Kolkata Centre for Creativity, 4:30 PM, 15 December
Feluda as a Bengal Icon, a talk about Satyajit Ray’s iconic film character | Kolkata Centre for
Creativity, 2:30 PM, 19 December
A sitar performance by Shujaat Khan | Kolkata Centre for Creativity, 6:30PM, 20 December
A musical dastaan by sufi band Murshidabadi Project | Kolkata Centre for Creativity, 5PM, 22
December
A Indo-fusion performance by Indian Ocean and Fakira | Kolkata Centre for Creativity, 7PM,
22 December
AMI (আিম), in bengali translates to “I”
, is an ode to the personal connections viewers have with art
and culture across boundaries and borders. As a not-for-profit organization, KCC is well aware of
the challenges that artists and visitors face in the industry, and annually rewards and recognises
the best artworks, photographs and performances of the year, along with their makers and
facilitators, providing a major boost to the country’s art and culture industry. Over the years, KCC
has given voice to diverse themes ranging from contemporary and pressing social issues,
mythology, religion, gender, caste and politics through its events it has showcased. Having grown
in size over the years, AMI Arts Festival, started off as a small local art fair and is now East India’s
biggest art and culture festivals.
Some of the highlights from the festival included The Lost Treasures of Bengal, an exhibition of of
300 rare and forgotten Indian musical instruments once owned by the legendary Pandit Radhika
Mohan Maitra; Queering the Six Yards, an LGBTQ themed exhibition of the saree that became a
symbol of resistance for the marginalized; UTSAV III, an nation wide open call for performances in
dance, music and theatre at Victoria Memorial Hall that included a performance of Dance on
Wheels by the India’s leading wheelchair dance troupe Nav Utthan Group; From Fields to Folk: A
Journey through Rural Heritage a group exhibition at the Indian Museum by various rural and
urban museums, and various workshops on conservation, leather batik, shola art, art therapy and
chemical painting.
Schedule and individual tickets for AMI Arts Festival events are available here.
Chairperson of Kolkata Centre for Creativity Richa Agarwal says,
“This year we are celebrating the
fifth edition of AMI Arts Festival on a much larger scale than last year. We are fortunate that the
festival has received so much love over the past few years and we are happy that our city –
Kolkata, has supported us. Our vision for AMI Arts Festival is to create an inclusive space where
artists and audiences from diverse backgrounds can connect, collaborate and be inspired. We hope
the fifth edition of the festival will bring joy to both its performers and audiences to elevate
Kolkata’s art and culture scene further and continue to be a platform for the Indian creative
community.
”
For more information on the organisation, please visit kolkatacentreforcreativity.org or follow
them on social media @kccinkolkata
Address: Kolkata Centre for Creativity, 777, Anandapur EM Bypass, Kolkata – 700 107, West Bengal,
India
Hours: 11AM - 7PM
Kolkata Centre For Creativity
Kolkata Centre for Creativity (KCC) is a multidisciplinary interactive art center based in Kolkata. As a
unit of the Anamika Kala Sangam Trust, a not-for-profit public trust, it promotes research
experimentation while championing inclusivity accessibility at the intersection of arts and society.
KCC advocates a multidisciplinary approach in the pursuit of creative cultural practices. Through
well curated programs, it aims to cultivate an empathetic, optimistic, and informed community.
With a trans-local spirit, KCC encourages the cross-pollination of ideas and creativity across
borders.
Address: Kolkata Centre for Creativity, 777, Anandapur EM Bypass, Kolkata - 700107, West Bengal,
India | Hours: 11AM - 7PM
Instagram: @kccinkolkata | Website: kolkatacentreforcreativity.org
AMI Arts Festival
AMI Arts Festival is an annual celebration of creativity and diversity that aims to showcase the rich
cultural heritage of India, especially West Bengal. The festival promotes emerging talent in various
fields of arts, including music, dance, theatre, painting, sculpture, and photography. Through AMI
Arts Festival, the Kolkata Centre for Creativity has created a space for social inclusion, inviting
people from diverse walks of life to see themselves being represented in exhibitions and
performances. It is also a space where innovation and experimentation are encouraged to push
the boundaries of creativity. Through various workshops, they create learning opportunities for
skill development for the creative fraternity.
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