1 - 3 December, 2023

Dedicated to the celebration of art, culture and discourse, Art is Life is an annual highlight on MAP’s cultural calendar. This year we invite artists, storytellers and visitors to reimagine, reinterpret and reinvent historical narratives.

The festival brings together opportunities for visitors to engage more deeply with traditional practices, as well as explore contemporary artistic reinterpretations that present new perspectives on MAP’s collections. Through a diverse range of mediums, from painting to film, we explore both stories and styles that endure, and those that are transformed in the retelling or reimagined altogether.

MAP is delighted to collaborate with filmmakers Amit Dutta, Naveed Mulki and Sumantra Ghosal to use the medium of film to construct new narratives and imagined encounters as they respond to artworks and objects from the MAP collection.

This year, Art is Life is a part of the city-wide Unboxing BLR Habba — a celebration of Bengaluru’s rich and vibrant cultural heritage. MAP, in association with the Indian Music Experience, is thrilled to bring a musical performance by Alva Kuuto, a Tulu band that explores language and identity through stories and memories to reimagine folk melodies and narratives via contemporary sensibilities and arrangements.

Exhibition 4.00 pm

What The Camera Didn't See

Opening of the exhibition 'What The Camera Didn't See', displaying the artworks of Alexander Gorlizki and the Pink City Studio.

MAP Bengaluru, Infosys Foundation Gallery, Ground Floor

Workshop 11.00 am

Imagine That!

A collage workshop to reimagine the stories that pictures can tell.

MAP Bengaluru, HDFC Ltd Learning Centre, Lower Ground Floor

Workshop 2.30 pm

An Introduction to Miniature Painting

A miniature painting demonstration and workshop with miniature artist Riyaz Uddin.

MAP Bengaluru, HDFC Ltd Learning Centre, Lower Ground Floor

Walkthrough 4.00 pm

What The Camera Didn’t See

An artist-led walkthrough of MAP’s latest exhibition.

MAP Bengaluru, Infosys Foundation Gallery, Ground Floor

Film Screening 4.00 pm

Of Worlds Within

A screening of two films by Amit Dutta.

MAP Bengaluru, Mazumdar Shaw Auditorium, First Floor

Film Screening 4.30 pm

Canvas, Playground, Screen

Launch of MAP’s new film series, 'Unsupervised', followed by a conversation between the filmmaker Naveed Mulki, and Dinesh Khemani from the MAP Team.

MAP Bengaluru, Mazumdar Shaw Auditorium, First Floor

Performance 7.00 pm

Echoes of Tulunadu

Stories and songs in Tulu by contemporary band Alva Kuuto.

MAP Bengaluru, Mazumdar Shaw Auditorium, First Floor

Workshop 11.00 am

An Introduction to Miniature Painting

A miniature painting demonstration and workshop with miniature artist Riyaz Uddin.

MAP Bengaluru, HDFC Ltd Learning Centre, Lower Ground Floor

Workshop 2.00 pm

Imagine That!

A collage workshop to reimagine the stories that pictures can tell.

MAP Bengaluru, HDFC Ltd Learning Centre, Lower Ground Floor

Walkthrough 4.00 pm

What The Camera Didn’t See (ISL)

To celebrate International Disability Day, artist Alexander Gorlizki will lead a special Indian Sign Language interpreted walkthrough of his exhibition, 'What The Camera Didn’t See'.

MAP Bengaluru, Infosys Gallery, Ground Floor

Film Screening 4.30 pm

Of Worlds Within

A screening of two films by Amit Dutta.

MAP Bengaluru, Mazumdar Shaw Auditorium, First Floor

Film Screening 5.00 pm

The Language of Art

Film screenings from the ARTiculate series, followed by a conversation between the filmmaker Sumantra Ghosal, and Cultural Practitioner and the former Executive Director of India Foundation for the Arts, Arundhati Ghosh.

MAP Bengaluru, Mazumdar Shaw Auditorium, First Floor

Art is Life: Old Threads, New Stories is part of the Unboxing BLR Habba