“During our growing-up years, the highlight of Republic Day celebrations at school was dressing up in Indian wear for the day and the laddoos (Indian sweet) that were distributed at the end of the function! Funun’s Rang came close enough to that!” said Purva Grover, founder-editor, The Indian Trumpet, “It indeed felt like we were back in school, waiting for the treat as we all wore the Indian colours as pride.”
The Indian Trumpet, your favourite magazine for Indian expats, was the Media Partner of the event. The art exhibition titled ‘RANG: Colors of India’ was organised by Funun Arts partnered with Novotel, World Trade Center, Dubai on 28th January to celebrate the 73rd Republic Day of India. The event was supported by the Consulate General of India, Dubai and Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. In this art exhibition along with Indian artists, artists from different nations paid tribute to India through their colourful paintings.
For us, the most touching moment was when everyone stood up for the UAE National Anthem, followed by the Indian National Anthem.
– The Indian Trumpet’s Debut Edition
The exhibition was inaugurated by Tadu Mamu (Consul Press Information Culture & Labour), Nisha Ganpathi (Group Product Manager, Dabur International), Irka Bochenko (actress, known as Moonraker), Mr. Ahmed Al Awadhi, Nada Al Barazi ( A legendary artist), Purva Grover ( Author, speaker and journalist), Peter Gressman ( Art forum UAE), Pari Sagar ( Be Attractive), Saju Nair ( IITELIVISANARIO 2), Neha Vinod (Asian Herald). There were many more dignitary guests present besides them.
The exhibition was full of different segments which showcased every aspect of India. The program started with Sare Jahan Se Accha slogan by Shiba Khan, followed by lamp lighting and distribution of laddoos. Purva Grover won over the hearts of everyone with her nostalgic poetic prose, “It Takes A Lot To Be An Indian” composed in Hinglish. Then there was the cultural dress walk by the artists! Adding beauty to the event was the cultural music performance by the Art and Music Movement Society. Three artists Anubha Kaw, Ankisha Jhawar, Sabah Anees won the Best Cultural Dress Award. Shiba Khan, artist, designer and founder of Funun Arts Group said: “India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grandmother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only. Art forms of India are incredible and the beauty of it can be experienced in the whole world. India is known for its colours, vibrancy and rich culture and heritage. Today, we are happy to present the artists not only from India but from many different nationalities. This makes us feel proud to see these artists depicting colours of India.
Tadu Mamu ( Consul Press Information Culture & Labour) said, ”My heartiest greetings to all of you, here, in India and abroad, on the eve of the 73rd Republic Day! It is an occasion to celebrate what is common to us all, our Indian-ness. It was on this day in 1950 that this sacred essence of us all assumed a formal shape. That day, India was established as the largest democratic republic and ‘we the people’ put into effect a Constitution that is an inspired document of our collective vision. Given that Republic Day this year falls in the 75th year of India’s Independence, we have linked it with January 23 to mark the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and culminating on January 30, which is observed as Martyrs’ Day. Congratulations to Shiba Khan and Farah Khan for such a beautiful event.”
Irka Bochenko (actress, known as Moonraker) was very glad to be a part of this celebration. She said “I can experience India through these masterpieces. The colours really make me feel so positive and happy. Love the whole event full of culture and richness.”
40 artists displayed 40 artworks showcasing different forms of Indian art and their perspective about India. Tatiana Gurova( Russia) , Tatiana Yatlo( Ukraine), Hengameh Tajiki( Iran), Dr. Wesam Mamdouh (Egypt), Diana Shaykhutdinova( Russia) were the Non-Indian artists who showcased their artwork depicting India. Other Participating artists were: Adelina Maria Baldivin/ Anita Jain/ Anjini Prakash Laitu/ Ankisha Jhawar/ Anubha Kaw/ Anasuya Patra/ Christine Dessa/ Dr. Devishree/ Dr. Soumya Shree/ Farah Khan/ Gomathi Shiva/ Indrani Ilmi/ Kavitha Vinod/ Kavya Vinod/ Khan Ayaan Abdulla/ Medha Nerurkar/ Mohammed Huzaifa KhaN/ Moni Shyam/ Pari Sagar/ Poonam Chaturvedi/ Radhika Kamat/ Rani VishwambharaM/ Riya Shah/ Sabah Anees/ Sabrin Asker Ali/ Saida Banu/ Saima Hasan/ Sameena Firdose/ Sheetal Durve/ Shiba Khan/ Smitashree Balaji/ Susmitha Dhruva/ Vandana Arora/ Varsha Khatri/ Vidisha Pandey.
Nisha Ganpathi (Group Product Manager, Dabur International) said, ”The diversity and vibrancy of our democracy is appreciated worldwide. It is this spirit of unity and of being one nation, which is celebrated every year as Republic Day”. Nada Al Brazi, artist said, “India is known as the land of culture and tradition. Indian culture is rich and unique in its own ways. All this we can experience in today’s event.” Farah Khan, Co-founder of Funun Arts group said, “Culture plays an important role in the development of any nation. It represents a set of shared attitudes, values, goals and practices. Culture and creativity manifest themselves in almost all economic, social and other activities. A country as diverse as India is symbolised by the plurality of its culture. India has one of the world’s largest collections of songs, music, dance, theatre, folk traditions, performing arts, rites and rituals, paintings and writings that are known, as the ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’ (ICH) of humanity.” Ferry Trinidad, Digital Cluster Manager of Novotel, WTC said, “We are always glad to welcome all artists and today’s event is very colourful and extravagance. We can really feel how colourful India is through these artworks.”
Shiba Khan said that Funun Art was thankful to all their media partners/artists/ family/ friends/ and everyone who are always there to support art and culture. “We are thankful to Nature’s Cart and Dabur International for their support.”
Rang art event can be best quoted as: “A nation’s culture resides in the heart and in the soul of its people.” Mahatma Gandhi. The exhibition will continue till 8th. February.
For us, the most touching moment was when everyone stood up for the UAE National Anthem, followed by the Indian National Anthem. It gave us gooseskin as everyone sang, together – especially the three little members of the Funun family – Maryam, Azaan and Wali, dressed in the hues of the Tri-colour. The artworks on display displayed a wonderful variety from the works inspired by Lord Ganesha to those of Indian women; one couldn’t have asked for a better depiction of India on canvas.
“It felt like we were back in school, waiting for the treat as we all wore the Indian colours as pride. I am always happy to be surrounded by art, especially with Funun, for Funun over the years has emerged as a community with a focus on providing opportunities to the fraternity. At each of their events, I see the community getting larger, yet closer. As an author, I’m keen to save stories, for I feel that in the end, we are all stories and hence we need more tales to be told. It was an inimitable experience, to sum up, all of ours growing up years in poetic prose in Hinglish and read it out at the event. I called it, It Takes A Lot To Be An Indian, #NRIWALAREPUBLICDAY, and loved how everyone in the audience got nostalgic and the anecdotes of the piece resonated with them,” said our founder-editor, Purva Grover, who is also an author-journalist, based out of Dubai, and narrated her words at the event.
Keep blowing the Trumpet! This & many more stories await in the pages!
