Bombay Gears Up For The Indo-German Urban Mela
9 April 2012
The presence of Germany in India has had quite an impact since the Goethe Institut launched Infinite Opportunities last year with the ‘drum off’ between percussion masters Christoph Haberer and Sivamani.
We have since witnessed stencilled rickshaws, b-boy competitions and even a intercontinental collaboration between India’s golden music man A R Rahman and the German Film Orchestra.
Mumbai is now about to play host to the centrepiece of this gigantic project with 15 pavilions descending upon Cross Maidan Garden for ten days between 13-24 April 2012. Each pavilion will be hosted by a German organisation or corporation and will feature interactive and dynamic content based on the projects overarching theme ‘City Spaces’, exploring how cities of the future can develop sustainably.
All sounding a bit dry? Fear not, the pavilion content actually sounds really interesting. There's plenty of experiments and games for the science geek inside of you and alongside this a cultural programme will be running, with plenty of workshops to get involved in, German language taster courses, film screenings and performances.
The Urban Mela in Mumbai is also going to become the home of the Indo-German hip-hop week that will come to a close with the epic Cypherholic – a b-boy summit and battle/competition (details here).
If that’s not enough to get your juices going and lure you out of Bandra then India Goes 3D should do the trick. A music festival with German and Indian acts that will feature (for the first time in India) a 3D show that will run simultaneously with the gigs. Get your specs on, and in Mumbai your headphones too as this will also be a silent disco.
If you can’t make it to Mumbai then fear not, the Urban Mela is doing the rounds with a five city tour around India. India Goes 3D will also be heading to Bangalore and New Delhi too so no excuse to miss out!
For a full programme with info on all performances and for everything you need to know about the Indo-German hip-hop week head over here.
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Image Credit (Ada): Katja Runge
Image Credit (Coma): Katharina Poblotzki