With the first anniversary of the horrific terror attacks on Mumbai last year drawing near, the creative brigade of the country wishes to drive home a point— that life might have moved on but the memories haven’t yet frayed.
Veteran Delhi artist Anjolie Ela Menon salutes the heroism displayed by the NSG commandos. “I’ve gifted them a canvas that depicts an NSG soldier in the foreground with helicopters in the background. At the bottom of the canvas I have scribbled a note which reads, ‘Honouring the brave hearts of 26/11.’ Ideally, I would love to install a bronze statue of a commando near the Gateway,” says Menon, known for her vibrant canvases that eulogise the downtrodden.
Award winning photographer Ritam Banerjee recalls, “On November 26, I was roaming the city streets. I saw the dome light up. I heard the endless rounds of gun shots and saw the living corpses in the hospitals.” Banerjee was on a 60-hour shift clicking photographs for Getty Images, many of which were published in The New York Times and The Washington Post. A year later, he spotlights the resurrected beauty of Mumbai in his exhibition titled The City That Talks to Me at Gallery Art and Soul in Mumbai, from November 19 to December 2. The show comprises photographs, ranging from a BEST bus to the Asiatic Society of Mumbai; it captures the city’s throbbing pulse. Banerjee will be awarded the Karambeer Puraskar, a National Award for Social Justice and Citizen Action this year.
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