View source for Neeta Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre, Mumbai

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[[Category:India |N ]]
[[Category:Culture & Learning |N ]]

=YEAR-WISE DEVELOPMENTS=  
==As in 2023== 
[https://epaper.timesgroup.com/article-share?article=13_05_2023_016_022_cap_TOI  Mohua Das, May 13, 2023: ''The Times of India'']

[[File: Situated in the Bandra-Kurla Complex, the NMACC is designed to be a hybrid performing arts platform that includes an art gallery space (below), and community centre with the Grand Theatre (above) as its focal point.jpg|Situated in the Bandra-Kurla Complex, the NMACC is designed to be a hybrid performing arts platform that includes an art gallery space (below), and community centre with the Grand Theatre (above) as its focal point <br/> From: [https://epaper.timesgroup.com/article-share?article=13_05_2023_016_022_cap_TOI  Mohua Das, May 13, 2023: ''The Times of India'']|frame|500px]]

Amid the grey, glassand-steel skyscrapers of Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC), there is now a jolt of colour. The Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC), an arts and culture hub that opened last month, is a kaleidoscope of buildings with three overarching gold leaves and a lotus motif running through it. There are wall carvings, a mammoth 56-foot Pichwai painting, and a fountain in a lotus-inspired pattern that shoots water 45 feet high and pulses to music.  Just as its building has injected colour into the sterile landscape, many hope Mumbai’s newest cultural playground will spark a new sense and standard of patronage for the arts.  

''' A Different Model '''

 Creating large performance and cultural spaces in India has mostly involved government largesse and private philanthropy. The multi-venue, multipurpose National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) on the edge of Mumbai was established in 1969 by JRD Tata and Jamshed Bhabha on reclaimed land granted by the state on a nominal annual lease of Re 1. The India International Centre (IIC) in Delhi was conceived in 1958 and set up with funds raised from Rockefeller Foundation and 37 Indian universities. But NMACC is a different model. In 2006, Reliance Industries Limited won the bid for the 18. 5-acre plot in BKC to build a modern convention centre, a section of which is now home to the complex. 

 Making your way through it, you encounter rural artisans working diligently on their craft. A weaver from Yeola threading motifs into a Paithani sari on his loom, a talapatra chitra artist from Odisha decorating a palm leaf engraving, and a master craftsman from Nowgam in Kashmir hand-knotting silk threads into a carpet. They’re not just aesthetic additions; this multidisciplinary space seeks to provide a fillip to “cinema and music, dance and drama, literature and folklore, arts and crafts, and science and spirituality,” says an NMACC representative. 
 
''' World-Class Design '''

 The Centre has been designed by Steve Clem and Nick Wolfcale of TVS Design, one of the world’s leading convention centre designers. It’s a hybrid performing arts platform, art gallery space and community centre with the Grand Theatre as its focal point. Modelled on Dolby Theatre, the iconic home of the Oscars in Los Angeles, this 2,000-seater auditorium has a sparkling canopy of giant crystal-studded petals on its ceiling and a sweeping 130x60-sq. m stage with an orchestra pit that can hold at least 100 musicians. 

 “The aim was to design a space that sets a benchmark for Broadway and West End shows, or even larger productions. Therefore, we ensured that the backstage facilities were as impressive as thefront of the house,” said an NMACC official pointing at the stage being cleared for The Sound of Music that marked a Broadway debut in India this month. There are big and small dressing rooms at the stage level, a loading dock on the theatre, and wardrobe, makeup and laundry facilities. For the audience, there are seats with removable handles for wheelchair users; parents with uncooperative kids get a soundproof “cry room” with glass windows. 

 If the Grand Theatre lends itself to large-scale productions, the 250-seater courtyardlike Studio Theatre, and The Cube with its black box setup for up to 125 people, provide a more intimate setting. They have moveable and sprung floor stages, telescopic seating and special absorbent woodpanels. “They’re intended to cater to a wide range of arts, from experimental and classical theatre, music and dance to spoken word and stand-up comedy,” said the NMACC official. 
There’s also the fourstorey Art House with soaring ceilings and plentiful natural light to display exhibits and installations.  

''' Eclectic Mix Of Acts '''

 A cursory glance at NMACC’s schedule presents a wide mix of acts on the daily roster – from Thumri, Tagore and Punjabi Sufi to Marathi poetry, Abhanga and b-boying groups. Avinash Tiwari, cofounder of Voctronica, an acapella-beatboxing group that recently performed their first solo and ticketed show at the Studio Theatre, says: “This place has the resources to engage with artistes across various regional art forms. Consciously spotlighting these could build a larger ecosystem of all artforms and bring a lot of joy to artistesand audiences alike. ”

 For now, the opening of NMACC has been met with enthusiasm from the arts community. Theatre artiste Raell Padamsee sees it as a “much-needed addition to the country’s cultural fabric” and hopes it would serve as a model for the creation of similar cultural hubs across India. 

 Delhi-based architect and artist Gautam Bhatia also sees the centre as a “gigantic gesture” by the Ambanis for a developing country because “much of the available funds tend to be directed towards religious temples, NGOs, or initiatives to alleviate hunger, while the arts often find themselves at the bottom of the priority list. ” 

''' Real Test Lies Ahead '''

 Arundhati Ghosh, executive director, India Foundation for the Arts, says it’s not enough for a cultural centre to be impressive in size and scale. It should be able to “think big, embrace new voices, artistic freedom, and to cultivate a sense of equanimity and ownership among both artistes and audience”. The question to ask is, can it “truly reimagine its vision, purpose and role in the arts and culture ecology or is it simply re-establishing the same old structures of power and control?” 

 Ghosh cites the Chander Haat, a collective space in Sarsuna in Kolkata that brings artistes and scholars together with homemakers, farmers, craftspeople and cooks to build dialogues as a useful model. Conflictorium, a museum space in Ahmedabad which attempts to understand conflict through engagements, such as exhibitions on Kashmir, is another. There’s also Studio Tamasha, a malleable space for theatre, music and dance in Mumbai where one can experience performances and later engage in conversations. 

 “The real test for NMACC will be its ability to think creatively and ambitiously about how they can stretch the arts for all rather than become annual extravaganzas that fail to have a lasting impact on the wider public,” adds Bhatia. As a cautionary tale he cites Bhopal’s Bharat Bhavan, a multiarts centre founded in the 1980s, “that over time became a space for high society and not the average Indian”.