Focal Point

Farhad Nargol-O’Neill – Artist Extraordinaire

Syerah Virani — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 13:58:25 -0500

"The practice and growth of my Art has been informed by many and varied influences, not only by the visual but also by the unseen, the interior, the inexpressible, or the musical. I include my Catholic spirituality, mnemonics, a mixed Irish/Zoroastrian parentage, knowledge of justice and community, music, and observations regarding the relationship between object and place. I believe that all of these things find their truest representation, in a sort of reverse Platonic fashion, in the physicality of created Art. Art, therefore, is for myself the means by which all those things that exist in human nature and the natural world find their truest expression".

"I received my greatest schooling during my upbringing at home, where music, the visual arts, science, history, politics, language, and a love of learning were ever present. Early influences included classical Irish illumination and calligraphy, cultural and religious symbols and iconography, dance, and musical, religious, and architectural structures. Five years of excellent art history education at the secondary level complimented this early education.

My university studies focused primarily on music - graduating with a BA (Ordinary) in Fine Arts (Music). My training in sculpture consisted of some studio courses, and a basic knowledge of the workings of the tools and machines in the sculpture studio. The rest was left to me – working with found objects for the most part, and being exposed to art and the critical thinking that was then (and still is) in fashion in many fine arts colleges.

Life after graduation saw extensive travel - visiting all the major European galleries and being singularly impressed by the work of Rodin, Bourdelle, Claudel, the modernist artists, and the freedoms they gained. Teaching the piano and selling my work gave me the means by which I could set up a sculptural practice. In 1995 I moved to Ireland and my first studio was opened in that autumn in Belfast, Ireland. Since that time, I have survived as a working artist, solely dependant upon my art.

During my ten years in Ireland, I exhibited widely, had works purchased for public/private collections, and received commissions for public murals and sculptures in many countries. I survived as an artist and co-founded the SPACE gallery in Belfast during a rough but wonderful and historic period. I traveled to Europe, India, Arabia, and Africa – working on public commissions or attending art residencies. I was commended by the Queen of Jordan for my sculptures. I published my own illustrated Inferno (Dante), and I was the house blues pianist for an Irish language theatre company on the Falls Road.

In 2004 saw a return to Canada, where I resumed my artistic practice. I continue to exhibit and work on commissioned pieces both here and abroad for example numerous shows and public commissions in Cyprus and Belfast and Tunisia. Between 2004 and 2011 I have shown with the Sculptors Society of Canada and also at the Arts & Letters Club of Toronto - where I was also the Art Committee Chair in 2008-2009. I also curated exhibitions in Toronto and am active in working with and helping an emerging generation of artists.

2011 has seen my work be accepted into course curriculum's at the University of Toronto and on to the altars of a Toronto Church. I also recently won the 2011 RAVE award from the City of Vaughan for Public Art. 2012 will see a large solo exhibition in Rome.

You can see Farhad’s work at this year's Masala! Mehndi! Masti! Festival at the Habourfront Centre on Friday, August 19, 2011. He will be featured at M!M!M!'s Artists' Walkway from 7pm to 11pm at the Marilyn Brewer Community Space. Click HERE for more information.

Click HERE for more information on Farhad's artwork.

Foresters/Unity Life DIWALI Poster Design Contest

Syerah Virani — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:41:26 -0500

Foresters/Unity Life asks you to show your true colours for a chance to win an iPad 2!

Diwali, the “Festival of Lights” is a great time to celebrate and have fun with family and friends. Foresters^TM/Unity Life is asking you to show your favourite things about Diwali in a Poster Design Contest. Use paint, crayons, charcoal, pencils, design software or any other medium as long as it’s original art. Brought to you by Foresters/Unity Life as part of their commitment to the community, this contest celebrates the creativity of the young and old alike. There are 3 age categories with one iPad 2 prize awarded in each category.

An awards ceremony will take place on stage at the 2011 Diwali Fiesta on October 9, 2011 at the Pearson Convention Centre, where winners’ artwork will be on display.

All submissions must be received on or by September 23, 2011 through the contest’s media partner site, MyBindi.com. Click HERE to enter the contest NOW.

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Foresters^TM is more than a life insurance provider. They don’t have shareholders. Instead, they invest in you, your family and the community where you live. Foresters champions the well-being of families through quality life insurance, unique member benefits¹ and inspiring community activities.

Their complimentary benefits of membershipinclude: fun Family Events, Competitive Scholarships and grants to support member-directed volunteer activities. These member benefits help families like yours live for today, plan for tomorrow and make a difference along the way. Foresters products are available in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada.

Foresters shares its financial strength with more than 835,000 members across North America and the United Kingdom. For more information on Foresters and on how you can become a member, please visit foresters.com.

Starting 2011 with news from 1986

Amanjeet K Chauhan — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 17:50:27 -0500

2011 new year's day found me digging through a trunk of childhood notebooks and photos. I found what I was looking for, but also things I'd completely forgotten about. Like three out of four issues of The Longboat Express, Volume 4 published in 1986-1987 by the students of Tom Longboat Jr PS who lived in a Scarborough neighbourhood that would later become known as Malvern.

The pages that I carefully pulled out of that trunk had been designed with an Apple IIe computer, printed on a Canon NP-270F, cut, pasted, photocopied and stapled together with a coloured sheet as the cover. Inside the front cover, I found a typewritten list of familiar student authors that included Amanjeet, Bobby, Harumi, Hassan, Hiren, Issam, Jamil, Kuljit, Nimisha, Paresh, and Samer.

Notice how these names sound South Asian? I remember our public school as multicultural even then. The list of Science Fair participants, published in March 1987, V4, No.3, confirms my recollection. Every issue contained poems, stories, news, and reviews. We thanked our teachers and celebrated our accomplishments. We also stood together in assembly-line formation, stapling sheets together, creating bundles to be delivered to each classroom.

Our neighbourhoods were full of working-class families who had immigrated in the 1970s and 1980s. We kept up our cultures at home and assimilated with our fellow students in schools. Those parents that could be around during the day would volunteer on the PTA, comparing stories of adjustments and homelands, keeping an eye on their children and learning how the system worked.

Granted, at that time we didn't really talk about Diwali or Eid in school, but that didn't mean we couldn't acknowledge our cultures. I wore my payals to school for singing Jingle Bells in the Christmas assembly. Assimilation was required because we couldn't take multiculturalism for granted. Not yet.

It wasn't an easy era to grow up in, but I am grateful for it. Without experiencing it, I wouldn't be able to appreciate that which many newcomers to Canada take for granted, yet still find the words and attitude to complain about to those of us who made it our home many years before.

It's a different world now. Then again, it always is.

A very desi Christmas?

Amanjeet K Chauhan — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 23:41:58 -0500

24 December 2007, 6.30pm, Princeton, New Jersey

I ask this with a laugh because every desi family I know of has a different routine for Christmas. My mom loved decorating the house when we were kids; she laments that she stopped once we got older. My childhood best friend has loved putting up a tree with presents since we were kids; she married into a family that really does Christmas and it suits her perfectly. Other friends only acknowledge Christmas as the day plan out their Boxing Day shopping schedule.

As different as our celebrations may be around this time of year, we do share a common love of holiday lights. As our days become shorter and our nights grow darker, the multicoloured strings of light seem to magically appear wrapped around our windows and porches, glowing even as the cold winter winds blow. I love it, which brings me to the photo above.

We called it the Chandelier. Strings of light threaded through the bare branches of a tree in the front yard of my uncle's place in Princeton, NJ. We're proud to call it a work of art, because people from far and wide (also known as neighbours), came by to admire and remark on the creativeness of it all. As per the definition of art, it also had its share of critics but we won't discuss those. (Also, because it makes my uncle laugh and we're still not quite sure what his original intention was when he put up these lights.)

This photo reminds me of one of the loveliest Christmas holidays I've enjoyed with my extended family. Simple moments, much laughter, aloo tikki burgers for lunch, chocolate and Broadway in Manhattan, and having this as our Christmas tree are a reminder of how decor and entertaining need not be complicated.

Joy can be found in the simplest things. Wishing you all a safe and happy holiday season, and a very Merry Christmas, if it's yours to celebrate.

Best wishes to one and all

Amanjeet K Chauhan — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 21:37:41 -0500

2 February 2009, 11.40am, entrance to the Golden Temple Complex, Amritsar

October and November are busy months on the South Asian calendar. Religion and culture become mixed as Diwali, Eid, and Gurpurab celebrations occur globally, allowing family and friends to share in each other's happiness and offer best wishes. On these occasions, the desire for religious pilgrimmages can intensify, and those who are spiritually inclined may embark on such a trip, knowing that crowds and lineups at these places of worship may make the notion of a solitary visit for reflection and contemplation a lost dream.

The photo above was not taken during a trip for a specific pilgrimmage. Rather, I was visiting India for two weeks, and in Amritsar for a three-day visit with my dad's side. My adventurous plans had effectively been kaiboshed by the terrorist attacks in November 2008. Terrorism aside, a visit to the Golden Temple can never be taken off my Indian agenda. Given that there was nothing special marked on the calendar, I had been naively hoping for a quietly spiritual visit.

There are many entrances into the marble complex of the Golden Temple, but only one walkway across the sarovar into the temple itself. While patiently waiting in line on the walkway, I became aware of whispers and sideways glances, interrupting the soothing hum of the hymns. A certain politician's name was being whispered and then we saw him stride past the waiting lineup, with a few clearly non-Indian visitors cautiously following in his wake.

Immediately I became irritated that these people were able to cut in front of all the rest who were baking in the increasingly stronger midday sun for their turn to enter the temple. Foreign-born NRI that I am, I also began to voice my displeasure in loudly whispered Punjabi and English, while my uncle tried to shush me. But seriously, why did my prayers have to be put on hold while some politicians breezed through on a photo-op in a sacred and spiritual place?

(One could argue that where my prayers are said is not as important as the fact that they are said, but I digress. I was pissed at that moment, and not just because I was sweating and tanning more than I cared to. A funny coincidence of life though, I now have reason to believe those visitors were Canadian dignitaries after a conversation I had with a certain Federal Minister as he commented on my photo exhibition during the 2009 SWFF at the ROM.)

After the political delegates had departed, I had my chance to enter the temple, along with the rest who had been waiting with me. Because of the delay, I reached the inner step just as the noon-time Ardas began, requiring me to stay inside until it was over - a blessed event because I was actually able to sit and savour being inside the temple. (Yes, I know, it all worked out to my advantage, but I couldn't have known that 15 minutes earlier, right?)

Still, is it fair for visitors at a holy shrine to have to wait for political photo ops before being able to say their prayers and pay their respects? Can you imagine the chaos that would have ensued if President Obama (and the Secret Service) had proceeded with a visit to the Golden Temple, as reported in the media? I think I prefer press releases for conveying best wishes. I leave it with you.

Wishing you all a Happy Gurpurab on the anniversary of Guru Nanak's birth.

Of Maharajas and Maharanis

Amanjeet K Chauhan — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 00:50:49 -0500

16 November 2010, Entrance to the Maharaja Exhibit, AGO, Toronto

For those who have memories of India and for those who haven't had the chance to visit India, a walk through the Maharaja exhibit at the AGO offers more than a glimpse into the Indian subcontinent's history and its royalty. A visit to these galleries truly is a beautiful experience, delivering more than just the exotic, even as the viewer is dazzled by the light reflected off the jewels and metals.

The journey begins soothingly, with muted tones, soft music and simple walls encouraging us to leave the modern world and travel back to the 1700s. Moving through each gallery, the eras change as do the artifacts representing them. We begin with elephant accessories, then look with longing at embroidered lenghas and jewelry so heavy, it's a good thing a Maharani had a bevy servants to do everything for her as she reclined on her velvet pillows into the 1800s.

Then came the 1850s with the fights for independence that changed everything. Walk too quickly and we'll miss the elegant letter from 1853, handwritten in Urdu by the Rani of Jhansi, imploring the English East India Company to recognize her husband's adopted son as the next heir of Jhansi. (It didn't.) She went on to lead her troops on horseback into battle in the 1857 rebellion.

Moving on, we enter the era of the British Raj, and the trinkets and treasures begin to visibly change. Glancing at the doors of a silver carriage, it feels as though a princess should be peeking out to wave from the window. Then, as we circle the carriage, the gleam of chrome beckons from the next gallery...

"Have you seen the car yet?"

His Highness Yuvraj Saheb, the Mandhatasinhji of Rajkot asked me the question with a boyish grin during the Maharaja Gala. The one-of-a-kind saffron-coloured 1934 Rolls Royce Phantom II is a family heirloom, custom built for his grandfather His Majesty Thakore Sahib Dharmendrasinhji Lakhajiraj of Rajkot. It shares space with the Patiala necklace by Cartier, photographs by Man Ray, and exquisitely delicate cut-work saris that could fly away in the breeze.

History is often thought to be dull, art can be incomprehensible, and fashion is another matter entirely. That the AGO has brought together over 200 of these items spanning 250 years to share India's royal story, and managed to keep one captivated throughout the entire visit is an impressive feat. Of course, that our culture is rich in art, spirit and tradition must make the AGO's task a bit easier; lucky are we that we can now proudly share all that with our neighbours.

Details

Maharaja: The Splendour of India’s Royal Court, at the Art Gallery of Ontario from Nov 20 to April 3

Admission: 25 and under free, family packages available

Origins: the Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Next stop: The Asian Art Museum, San Francisco

Lest we forget

Amanjeet K Chauhan — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 14:06:12 -0500

6 November 2010, 6:32pm, my bookshelf, Toronto, Ontario

"In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row..."
-excerpt from In Flanders Fields, written in 1915 by Major John McCrae,
a Canadian military doctor stationed in Europe during WWI

How many poppies do you buy and lose, then buy again as the days lead up to 11 November? On the 11th day of the 11th month at the 11th hour, we remember those that have fallen for our freedoms. The time and day marks the anniversary of the WWI Armistice, and yet we know, all too well, the many wars that have been fought since then in the pursuit of that very freedom.

When we learned history in school as children, the Remembrance Day lessons began simply - we would draw poppies and crosses on large posters beside the neatly printed lines of this poem. As the years progressed, I learned that I loved history, writing eloquent essays in high school about the cause and effect of art, literature, imperialism, revolutions and war in modern Western civilization.

In all those years, it never occurred to me that, by learning all this history and attending high school Remembrance Day assemblies, we were also honouring the many anonymous soldiers who came from the colonies of the conflicted Western powers, like the Indian subcontinent, but were buried across Europe.

Until 1996, when I watched the film adaptation of The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje, with Naveen Andrews as Kip, an Indian Sikh enlisted with the British Army during WWII. Then I read The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh, which includes storylines of Indian soldiers - Arjun, Hardy and Dinu - torn between their loyalties to the Indian Nation or the British Crown. I began to realize how little I had known about history and my worldview expanded.

More recently, I read The Tiger Claw by Shauna Singh Baldwin. I'm haunted by the story of Noor Inayat Khan, an Indian Muslim woman, who lived in England, moved to France and was shot by the Germans near the end of WWII for being a British spy. The novel's heroine, setting and themes show how the motivations of soldiers and the casualties of war are many, varied and deeply personal.

Literature has played it's part in opening my eyes to the larger picture of just who it is I honour when I pick up a poppy every November. And in the last few years, there's now a name and identity for one of these previously unknown soldiers. As Canadians of Indian ancestry, we can be proud of the knowledge that we now have a presence in the history of the freedom we cherish with the discovery of a Victory medal from WWI belonging to Private Buckham Singh.

Private Singh came to British Columbia in 1907 at the age of 14. He enlisted with the Canadian Expeditionary Force in the spring of 1915, serving with the 20th Canadian Infantry Battalion, making him one of nine Canadian Sikh soldiers who fought in WWI. After being wounded on Flanders field, he was treated at a hospital run by Major John McCrae. Private Singh spent his last days at a military hospital in Kitchener, Ontario, dying at the age of 25 in 1919. Since 2008, a memorial service has been held every November at his gravesite.

History is full of connections, sacrifices and unknown tales. As the stories continue coming to light, we learn more about who we are, what we are connected to and why those connections are meaningful. Our world becomes smaller with every story, yet the conflicts continue and our soldiers march on.

Lest we forget.

Eat and enjoy

Amanjeet K Chauhan — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 17:14:28 -0500

15 October 2010, 12:48pm, Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, Toronto

Syerah was all about the shrimp curry. I preferred the rice pilau and veg pakoras. Standing in front of the Indian buffet, Chef Stephen Lee and his staff at the Sony Centre were more than happy to chat with us about the upcoming Merchant of Bollywood themes in the Sony Centre's new Food Experience. Pairing culinary offerings to the Sony Centre's international programming, the idea is to encourage a more relaxed dinner-and-a-show experience.

No more worries about running late after work, rushing through your meal, swerving in and out of expensive parking spots, all to make it to your seat cranky and breathless when the curtain rises. The Sony Centre is now offering everyone the chance to dine in style and keep the dash to your seat short. My mouth is already watering over this hybrid menu (mmm, curried panzerotti).

Mumbai Coconut Tofu Panini ($8)
Tandoori Shrimp Pizza ($10)
Madras Curried Vegetable Panzerotti ($10)
Bengal Butter Chicken ($14)
New Delhi Curried Spinach and Chickpeas ($14)
Bollywood Combo Plate ($15)

[the Food Experience at the Sony Centre, starts at 4pm Monday through Friday, bar service and menu including assorted dips, wings and platters also available]

Trick or treat, please?

Amanjeet K Chauhan — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 14:28:08 -0500

31 October 2009, 6.07pm, stairwell in a house somewhere in Markham

Visiting from the distant land of Michigan, helpless against the greater forces that required it to miss the festivities at home, this little alien still had such high hopes for trick-or-treating because she was in Canada and they do Halloween, right? Of course, we said, we'll take you out as soon as it's dark.

Alas, most of the houses in the residential Markham neighbourhood we were visiting remained unlit and forbidding with no signs of life. Our alien guest had barely filled a third of her pillowcase with candy after we'd done the rounds.

Dejected, the little voice behind the mask would look around, sigh and lament, "If we were in my subdivision, there would be, like, so many haunted houses."

Or, "If this was my subdivision, the street would be, like, filled with soooo many kids, and most of them would be my friends."

Or, "If we were trick or treating in my subdivision, I'd need, like, two whole pillowcases to hold all the candy. People are really generous there."

And we, her older cousins and chaperones for the evening in our Gypsy scarves and Dumbledore hats, could only mumble in response, "We're so sorry, sweetie."

There was, however, one house giving out candy that made our little alien smile as she tripped down the path towards us with her loot, whispering gleefully, "That house was playing Indian music." (Ha, take that, subdivision of Michigan!)

It was the only bright spot of that trick-or-treating experience. Shivering in the wind, peering down shadowy streets, deciding which direction would be safe, we could only look at each other and wonder, "Who killed Halloween here?"

Taking centre stage

Amanjeet K Chauhan — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 14:30:19 -0500

15 October 2010, 12:19pm, 1 Front Street East, Toronto, Ontario

Question: If you're the Director of Programming at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, with a mandate from CEO Dan Brambilla to bring in programming suitable to a theatre for the people, and the people fall into one of 232 cultures in Toronto, where do you start looking for lavish large-scale culturally diverse shows to suit their tastes and anyone else that loves the arts?

Answer: The Internet, duh.

That's where Mark Hammond, Director of Programming at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, first found a show that piqued his interest. A trip to Berlin to watch a live performance, where he noted there were 5000 German patrons enthusiastically applauding throughout the glamourous spectacle, confirmed his instinct that The Merchants of Bollywood needed to come to Toronto.

Yay for us, that along with the shows currently at Mirvish, and memories of the ones by Livent, we can now add a production that showcases our culture in our city on the Sony Centre's stage. With everything Indian hot at the moment, and Bollywood the number one export from the land drenched in colour, it's little wonder that The Merchants of Bollywood is the story of Bollywood itself.

Traveling the stages of Europe and Australia since 2005, the show and its cast of 40 have met with rave reviews everywhere. Inspired by the Merchant family, prominent in the Indian film industry from the 1920s onward, the show features choreography to the music we know and love from Hindi films, complete with the clap of taalis, cham-cham of payals, and dhoom of the dhol.

Ah, the sound of the dhol is powerful anywhere and everywhere, but my heart feels its beat much differently when it's taken out of the usual dance floor context and booms out across a theatre stage. So excited to see this show.

PS - what's the storyline?

Shantilal Merchant is the last in the line of gurus, upholding the ancient traditions of the Kathak dance, the dance of the Gods. He was choreographer during the golden era of the Indian film industry but left when the industry grew commercial and lawless, influenced by western trends and dirty money. Years later, his granddaughter Ayesha left Rajasthan against his wishes to become the reigning queen of choreography of Bollywood films today. They call her “The Princess of Romance”.

Ayesha’s teenage rebellion against her classical training, in favor of modern western dance styles, becomes the seed of their feud. The damage seems irreparable. Ayesha resolves to visit Shantilal to make peace. Her journey takes her to the heart of India – the deserts of Rajasthan and into the arms of her childhood sweetheart Uday.

Her grandfather is dying. There is no one left to continue the family tradition, performing the dance of the Gods. Ayesha decides to marry Uday, and stay in Rajasthan to run the dance school and maintain the family traditions. But she will run the school her way, in a balance of old and new.