Events of the week

Canvassing flora 

What: Two centuries ago, the British botanists began a visual study of Indian flora. Indian artists were commissioned to make botanical paintings which were sent back to Britain where it survives in collections at some of the Royal botanical gardens. Over the centuries, Indian flora has been cross-pollinated through trade from regions across the world. These overtimes got indigenised and became Indian. Siddhartha Das Studio has recently commissioned skilled miniature artists to create a series of botanical paintings of Indian flowering plants to celebrate this legacy. These works are on display at the exhibition titled ‘Botanical Paintings of Indian Flowering Plants’.

When: August 24 – September 6

Where: Website of India International Centre

Laughing at stupidity

What: Punit Pania’s new stand-up show is a culmination of five years performing stand-up, seven years as a corporate slave and over three decades as a legal Indian citizen. “Our country has always been a land of extremes from Haridwar to Goa and from filthy riches to dirt poverty. But extremism in action is the one thing we should not tolerate. And if Big Brother is really watching, we should at least put on a good show,” he says. Based on this, his online show, ‘No Country for Moderation’ covers everything from science to religion to politics including the omnipresent special ingredient, human stupidity. Many feel it is already too late. But if we can’t go down fighting, we should at least go down laughing.

When: August 17 – 23

Where: Website of India Habitat Centre

Tracing time

What: Time is an amorphous concept, often handled and understood only through the impositions of measurement and experience. On this subject of time, here’s a collaborative exhibition by Vadehra Art Gallery and Nature Morte, titled ‘The Future Is Not Fixed’. Curated by Arjun Sawhney, the show prophecies the uncertainty of the future while localising the anxiety of the present. When tomorrow is today, where will we be? As Arjun Sawhney writes, ‘While the future can hold anything, it does not exist till it becomes present. The month-long show features an eclectic mix of artists. Consequently, combining volumes of time into categories of the past, present and future seem even more like a creative endeavour, involving a subjectivity otherwise uncommon in the study of scientific principles.

When: August 21 (4 pm – 5 pm)

Where: Nature Morte and Vadehra Art Gallery’s websites