A must-visit annual festival that preserves and refurbishes art and heritage of the city, Kala Ghoda is the largest multicultural festival in India.
As a festival that recognizes, features, addresses, inspires and celebrates art in its subtlest forms including fine arts, photography, sculptures, urban design and architecture, literature, cinema and performative and visual arts, Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (KGAF) was initiated by the Kala Ghoda Association, a not-for-profit enterprise in 1999 with the objective of offering a space where art can manifest in all its interpretations.
Since then, the festival has become a part of the cultural heritage of the city. Initially, it began as a weekend event which eventually has transformed into a week long festival of fun frolic.
KGAF 2017 has begun on 4th February and will be on till 12th February. The theme for this year is “riding the wave” and indeed it delivers this feel as it takes you on to a wonderful journey where you are greeted by the waves of creative energy. The festival takes place in the Kala Ghoda area in Mumbai.
A kaliedoscope of events are lined up as part of the festivities covering those for children, workshops, heritage walks, stalls, food stalls and unique art installations that will amaze you.
Some remarkable art installations you should not miss are ‘Dance of the Past and Future’, ‘Human Tree’, ‘The Flying Horse’, ‘Pixelated Light’, ‘Time Pause’, ‘A Room Defying Gravity’, ‘The Wishing Tree’, ‘Open-air Autorickshaw’, ‘Mumbai Metro 3’ and ‘The Cube of Hope’. You may also check out some astonishing stalls selling unique products ranging from home décor items, handicraft and organic products, handloom and organic clothing and accessories, amazing stationaries and utility products. Some of these stalls that you should not miss out on are Aumra, Level Two, Poppadum Art, Takshini, Pinklay and Rare Thought amongst many others.
This year, the eponymous Kala Ghoda, symbolic of the festival has been brought back to life in the form of a marvellous 25 foot tall Black Horse statue installed at the parking lot in the beginning of K Dubash Marg. It has restored the glory of the festival with its magnificence.
Moreover, a two-day all day long seminar on the ‘State of Housing in India’ is organised under the Urban Design and Architecture section of the festival on 3rd and 4th February.
This is followed by more events that include lectures and discussions on urban designing and architecture by renowned and distinguished exponents in the world of architecture and design.
With a host of amazing events covering the myriad forms of art, stalls that astonish you with delightful products that you would have never come across, installations that leave you spell-bound and food stalls, the festival is a brilliant collage of the brightest hues of life. KGAF is in the truest essence a festival that glorifies art celebrates aesthetics and induces Mumbai to bask in its heritage!