Tate Modern
16 September 2006
Visit Tate Modern on Saturday 16 September for UBS Openings: Saturday Live Mumbai and experience the remarkable cultural scene of Mumbai. With discussions, films, performances, poetry and music on offer you will see some of the most pioneering creative works coming out of this lively and eclectic Indian metropolis at the moment. UBS Openings: Saturday Live is a new bi-monthly event programme at Tate Modern presenting cutting-edge contemporary performance and film, made possible with the support of global financial services firm, UBS.
When you arrive at Tate Modern there will be lots to choose from. You can find out how arts and culture have played a central role in the regeneration of the city Mumbai by joining the symposium Mapping Mumbai in the Starr Auditorium through out the day.
In the galleries and around the building you will see a performance called Encounter(s) by artists Tejal Shah and Varsha Nair, who swathed in embroidered white fabric will be linked together and will position themselves in different parts of the building during the day.
You will also see the beautiful Monali Meher on Level 5 in Idea and Object. Meher wears a half sari with half of her body covered with gold leaf. She will wonder in the gallery with a stick with a magnifying glass, reading a pre-written text and interacting with art works. Her performance Between the Familiar/ Unfamiliar, the Home and Heart, Beats a Golden Kiss will investigate love, language and inter-cultural exchange.
In the evening you can enjoy Cinema of Prayoga, a film series presenting experimental films by influential artists. Many of these have never been seen in the UK before and will reveal a rich and unseen history of Mumbai. There will be a book launch of Cinema of Prayoga: Indian Experimental Film and Video 1913-2006 to compliment the series.
Later the Café on Level 2 will be transformed. There will be live performances at 20.30 by D’Archetypes, London-based poets Shane Solanki and Nikesh Shukla. Using poetry and rap to discuss identity and its role in multicultural societies, the D’Archetypes combine engaging lyrical content with elements of comedy cabaret. Their words are underpinned by an eclectic soundtrack from ska, gypsy, reggae and hip hop.
At 21.30 Sujata and Taek Halaby will erupt from the crowd to perform Disco Dancer, a dance adapted from an Indian film made in 1982 by the same name. They will be closely followed at 22.00 by music from Mumbai-based musician Mukul, who fuses poetic lyricism with smoky beats to create a refined and fresh portrait of Mumbai.