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From thoughtfully curated stores to spaces hosting music performances, a clutch of structures in Kolkata are seeing a facelift

How restored spaces in Kolkata are enabling the city’s art and culture scene

From thoughtfully curated stores to spaces hosting music performances, a clutch of structures in Kolkata are seeing a facelift, attracting more people towards the arts.

Walking through the quiet lanes in the Shyambazar neighbourhood of Kolkata or taking a bus ride in Dum Dum means that one inadvertently notices dusty old houses with beautiful architecture. People milling about are too preoccupied in their daily lives to look at these structures, a cluster of which constitute the architectural heritage of the city and are gradually fading away. 

Creating an interest 

According to Iftekhar Ahsan, founder of Calcutta Walks–an organisation conducting guided neighbourhood walks–and Calcutta Bungalow, the pride in old Calcutta and its culture seems to have been lost. He featured the 1920s vernacular townhouse–now Calcutta Bungalow–as part of his heritage walks for four years. Once he realised that it would be taken down, Ahsan began plans for restoring it to a bed-and-breakfast space. For Swarup Dutta, the designer for the project, it was important to retain the audiences who visited the old city by not just transporting them to an older time and space but also to create infrastructure for art and culture to thrive like before. While Ahsan’s efforts to showcase the city’s culture do generate a sense of pride–simultaneously attracting more patrons of the arts–the city needs to do more.

The Red Bari in Kolkata. Image: Instagram.com/theredbarikolkata

The Red Bari in Kolkata. Image: Instagram.com/theredbarikolkata

The Calcutta Bungalow in Kolkata. Image: Swarup Dutta

The Calcutta Bungalow in Kolkata. Image: Swarup Dutta

Dana Roy, creative producer of Pickle Factory Dance Foundation which curates dance and movement opportunities in the city in repurposed spaces–aiming for a permanent venue–says, “Restoring a building for public use seems to be seeing a resurgence in Kolkata at the moment. This has pulled our focus back to the quietly glorious inherited architecture that gives our city its unique character.”

A bygone era

Growing up, Shuli Ghosh loved the Hindustan Park lane, dotted with beautiful homes comprising ornate grills, spacious balconies and wooden shutters. Later, as co-founder of Sienna Store and Cafe, she worked with artisans specialising in Bengal crafts. In 2015, Ghosh chose 49/1 Hindustan Road as the space for Sienna as it reflected the architectural heritage of the city. Her programming featured live music, performances, poetry readings and workshops, which brought in a discerning audience. “We wanted it to be a safe space for local artists and a platform for lesser known independent performers,” she says, adding,  “Restored spaces can make art more accessible and relatable, bringing an audience into a more domestic space rather than a commercial or corporate one. The audience can engage more openly with the artist and vice versa, which may help enhance the impact of the performance itself.”

Let the music play

For Subhagata Singha, a musician who plays with the duo Parekh and Singh, “The first question that always enters my mind [when playing at Sienna] is ‘which room will we perform in?’ followed by ‘where may we suggest the audience is sitting?’” Depending on the performance, the mood is determined and so is the arrangement of the seating. “It's always fun,” he says, because fundamental elements become variables to be experimented with within his work. As a musician, there isn't a lack of space for Singha, but budget and a realistic turnout push work towards unconventional spaces, especially when one is not yet a well-connected artist or creates work meant for a specific audience. “Larger venues need to be able to justify having performances,” he says, “Artists mostly cannot afford the loss incurred based on the work they're doing. The projected ticket sales are seldom hopeful.” For him, unconventional venues run by patrons of the arts are often a necessity for such work to even take a first step in the world, “or else it's doomed to live on an Instagram Reel forever,”  he says.

The Sienna Store and Cafe works with artisans specialising in Bengal crafts. Image: Instagram.com/sienna_store

The Sienna Store and Cafe works with artisans specialising in Bengal crafts. Image: Instagram.com/sienna_store

After her grandmother told her that their ancestral home had been demolished, Avantika Jalan became determined to save an old building from a similar end. Now one of the owners of the 90-year-old Kalighat house called The Red Bari, Jalan believes Kolkata once had a thriving art and culture scene, which, over the years, reduced substantially. Through a for-profit space like The Red Bari (currently under restoration and due to open by October), she wants to support emerging artists and create a community. Above the ground-floor café and the first-floor business coworking unit, the second floor is an open-format area for events and pop-ups. Earlier this year, The Red Bari organised an intimate concert with Parklife, featuring artists like Dolinman, which had a great reception. "Everyone who came appreciated the space in its raw form," shares Jalan. 

An enabling space 

Diptanshu Roy a.k.a Dolinman feels at home in vintage, restored structures, which are a lot warmer than a concert hall, a nightclub or an event stage. His project, Dolinman X, largely involves recording performances in his 300-year-old home in Kolkata, where he grew up. "If I had recorded the same music in a studio, the performance of the musicians would not have been the same. There is a certain energy and warmth that is captured because of the space," he says, echoing most of the collaborating artists who reacted to the space and how it impacted their mindspace. "For the audience, the ambience and the music work hand-in-glove to offer a unique experience," he adds. Roy believes that unused structures need to be revived and made commercially viable.  

“RESTORED SPACES CAN MAKE ART MORE ACCESSIBLE AND RELATABLE, BRINGING AN AUDIENCE INTO A MORE DOMESTIC SPACE RATHER THAN A COMMERCIAL OR CORPORATE ONE”

Shuli Ghosh

A performance taking place inside The Red Bari. Image: Insatgram.com/theredbarikolkata

A performance taking place inside The Red Bari. Image: Insatgram.com/theredbarikolkata

Inside the Calcutta Bungalow. Image: Instagram.com/calcuttabungalow.

Inside the Calcutta Bungalow. Image: Instagram.com/calcuttabungalow.

For Dana, it was an immersive performance in Jorashako Raj Bari by Sasha Waltz & Guests which showcased how dance and architecture could amplify each other. “It was transformative for the space, the dancers and the audience.” Agreeing with Singha, she says that since most auditoriums are pricey or unusable due to technical neglect and artists being forced to adapt owing to poor stage space, it's better they do so in spaces that add to their practice or performance. It invites people for immersive experiences and locates the piece uniquely within the space. Singha says that non-conventional venues like restored spaces “push artists to be as self-sufficient as possible, and therefore an economy around affordable gear to pull off a full performance on your own is more affordable than two decades ago.”

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