N ow that the skies have truly opened up, it might be time to make sure your feet stay dry and clean. Kan Accessorize, a boutique shoes and accessories label that created footwear for designer Masaba Gupta’s IIFA awards fashion show earlier this month, has launched a new line of shoes that take the idea of a ‘fish pedicure’ to a whole new level. Fish flops, as they are christened, are brightly-coloured, funky fish-shaped flip-flops that aim to make splashing about in puddles more fun. Made from synthetic fabrics, fish- flops are rain-proof and come patterned with scales that extend to the fish tails that the shoes flare out in. “We want- ed to do a line of theme-based shoes, and this takes inspiration from Pisces, my zodiac sign,” says Ileshaa Khatau of Kan Accessorize. “Pisces signifies creativity, and the fish flops show a fun sense of individuality. Also, my broth- er is a passionate diver, and I wanted to use fashion as a way to raise aware- ness about marine life in India.” A part of the proceeds from the fish flops will be donated to Reef- watch Marine Conservation, an organi- sation that works to protect India’s marine heritage, in support of their EcoSearch programme, which intro- duces students to scuba diving, marine ecology, conservation and research. The fish flops come in a palette of bright colours with quirky ocean- themed names each, such as Goldfish (gold), Finding Nemo (orange), Mudflats (brown), Oil Spill (black) and Endless Blue (blue). Khatau recom- mends buying one pair with two dif- ferent-coloured shoes for the experimental. They are available for children as well, and come in a broad- er, more subtle range for men. Khatau also plans to launch a corporate collection of fish flops soon, with more formal hues. — Pankti Mehta | 13 HINDUSTAN TIMES, MUMBAI SATURDAY, JUNE 30, 2012 do YOUR WEEKEND FIX Riddhi Doshi ■ [email protected] In the art gallery calendar, the monsoon is usually the off-peak season. Galleries hold fewer exhibitions at this time of the year as established artists either travel to international events such as Art Basel in Switzerland and dOCUMENTA in Germany, or retreat to their studios to create new work. This, however, allows galleries to showcase new talent, the work of less known artists or old paintings and prints of established artists from their store rooms, at affordable art exhi- bitions. Here are some you can visit: über cool IF YOU AREN’T IN ON THIS, YOU AREN’T IN ON IT AT ALL Growl play M umbai-based metal band Pangea will make its live debut this Sunday as the opening act of the third Rolling Stone Metal Awards, but it has already been nominated in five out of eight categories of the awards, including one for Best Band. Yet 26-year-old Shadab Kadri, the band’s co-founder and guitarist, insists that Pangea is not strictly a metal band. “It’s hard to classify our music under a single genre,” he says. “We’re a mix- ture of drone, soundtrack and ambi- ent-progressive with elements of rock and metal.” Indeed, their debut album ‘Snails Are When I Was Young’, which was released last November, features a more chilled out, atmospheric sound than the music of their co-nominees, which include Bangalore-based progressive metal band Eccentric Pendulum, Pune-based hard- core band Dark Helm; post-hardcore outfit Goddess Gagged and technical death metal outfit Providence, both from Mumbai. Older metal bands such as Zygnema and Abraxas will also play. But Kadri feels that these nomina- tions as well as the opportunity to play live at the awards are a blessing. “Despite being around for more than two years, we have never played a gig and had no plans to play live until we released the album,” he says. “The nom- ination has really spurred us on. Since March, we’ve been obsessed with arranging these songs for the live act, and it has taken us many sleepless nights to get our sound right.” The live act for Pangea features an impressive line-up of some of the finest musicians in the Indian rock and metal scene — co-founder, co-producer and guitarist Akshay Rajpurohit (Scribe), co-producer and guitarist Kuber Sharma (Scribe, Exhumation), and bass player Rushad Mistry and drummer Jai Row Kavi, both of Indus Creed, among many other bands. This edition of the Rolling Stone Metal Awards is marked by the absence of Indian metal giants such as Demonic Resurrection, Scribe and Bhayanak Maut in the nominations list, since none of them released any material last year. “We’re hoping to provide a platform to younger, emerging bands,” says Lalitha Suhasini, editor, Rolling Stone India. “The aim has always been to reach out to a wider audience.” — Suprateek Chatterjee WHAT:ROLLING STONE METAL AWARDS 2012, featuring Pangea, Zygnema, Eccentric Pendulum, Abraxas and Providence WHERE: Blue Frog, Lower Parel: 61586158 WHEN: Sunday, July 1, 8 pm onwards ENTRY FEE: Rs 200 the gig in store CANVAS SHOPPING Several affordable art exhibitions in the city this monsoon offer young buyers the chance to start collecting and encourage new talent AFFORDABLE ART FAIR GALLERY: Artic Vision WHAT: This fair has 300 paint- ings of 50 established artists, such as Subrata Sen, Achhyut Palav and Milon Mukherjee. PRICE RANGE: Rs 500 to Rs 25,000 ADDRESS: 348/2788, Motilal Nagar- 2, off New Link Road, Goregaon (W) TELEPHONE: 2878-5507 WHEN: Until July 16. It opened on June 16. Open daily, 11 am to 8 pm “Most people from the middle class do not enter an art gallery, thinking that they will not be able to afford anything in there. We wanted to encourage buyers from this section of the society and young- sters to get initiated into seeing and buying art.” DEBASHRITA BAIDYA, gallery owner ART FOR YOUNG COLLECTORS GALLERY: Galerie Mirchandani+Steinruecke WHAT: The show has 15 paintings and new-media works created by recent art graduates from Vadodara and Hyderabad. PRICE RANGE: Rs 4,000 to Rs 12,000 ADDRESS: 2 Sunny House, 16/18 Mereweather Road, Behind Taj Mahal Hotel, Colaba TELEPHONE: 2202-2030 WHEN: Up to July 9. It began on June 12. Tuesday to Saturday, 11 am to 7 pm EASY BUYS GALLERY: Sakshi DESCRIPTION: The gallery has exhibit- ed 300 paintings, prints, drawings, pho- tographs and posters from its in-house collection. In its second year, the exhi- bition consisted of small, old works and prints of well-known artists such as Jitish Kallat, Sudarshan Shetty and MF Husain, and cost much less than these painters’ more recent works. In the first week, the gallery sold nearly a third of what was on offer. It added more works to the exhibition every week. PRICE RANGE: Rs 1,500 to Rs 2 lakh. ADDRESS: Sakshi Gallery, Tanna House, Ground floor, 11-A, Nathalal Parekh Marg, Colaba TELEPHONE: 6690 9191 WHEN: Today is the last day. It began on May 23. Timings are 11 am to 7 pm Last day... Ongoing… “We have had many young people, most of them first-time buyers, purchase works.” G E E TA M E H R A , gallery director TAKE TO ART “All the artists of the show are in their 20s. Their thoughts and visual culture would appeal to buyers of the same age group.” RANJANA MIRCHANDANI, gallery director “These students have worked with us as researchers and assistant curators on other projects. We thought it would be a nice idea to give them a platform for their works.” S U M E S H S H A R M A , gallery curator UNTITLED GALLERY: Clark House Initiative DESCRIPTION: The gallery has exhibited 100 prints, paintings, drawings and sculptures of 12 students of JJ School of Art, Rachna Sansad and MS University of Vadodara. PRICE RANGE: Rs 1,500 to Rs 12,000 ADDRESS: Ground floor, Clark House, 8 Nathalal Parekh Marg (Old Wodehouse Road), opposite Sahakari Bhandar, and Regal Cinema, near Woodside Inn TELEPHONE: 9820213816 WHEN: Today is the last day. It began on June 15. Timings are 11 am to 7 pm THREE REASONS TO BUY THREE TOP TIPS DON’T WASTE your money on decora- tive art. You will eventually find it bor- ing, a waste of money, and might give up on art altogether. Instead, visit scores of galleries and as many art fairs as possible before buying your first piece, to get a sense of what kind of work strikes a chord with you. IF YOU CAN’T afford a work that you want, ask the gallery or the auc- tion house if you can pay in installments. If you are persuasive enough, galleries will agree. IF YOU ARE STARTING OUT, first seek advice from gallerists, artists and curators, who wont charge anything. Once you buy a work, consult the gallery about how to frame and conserve the piece. Here too, most galleries will not charge anything. The Indian art market is in a nascent stage, and is expected to grow fivefold in the next few years. Buying good art could be a wise investment. TUSHAR SETHI, owner of the Institute of Contemporary Indian Art gallery and an auctioneer Living with art develops your aesthetic sensibilities and facilitates the apprecia- tion of the finer things in life. An art work is not merely a commodity. MANISHA PATIL, art historian at the JJ School of Arts and artist An interesting art work gets you think- ing. You get to see the work every day and live with it. VEERANGANA SOLANKI, independent city-based curator At Artic Vision, I bought a painting each of artist Madhumita Bhattacharya and Arabinda Samanta, for a total of Rs 50,000, for my new house. I have been following Bhattacharya’s work for a long time and am particularly fond of her paint- ings of Buddha. — Asish Bao, 34, bank employee I bought six ceramic pots of artist Naladvar from Artic Vision for a client. I regularly buy works both for myself and my clients. I liked these pots because I loved the contrast in the textures.” — Prithi Majumdar, 34, architect Coming up... CHATAK GALLERY: Nehru Centre Art Gallery WHAT: This show, in its 20th year, has 64 paintings and sculptures by 34 artists from all around the country. PRICE RANGE: Rs 5,000 to Rs 1 lakh ADDRESS: Nehru Centre, Annie Besant Road, Worli TELEPHONE: 24973827 WHEN: July 3 to 15, open daily, 11 am to 7 pm “The aim of the annual show is to promote young and new talent. The show always attracts hordes of art collectors and enthusiasts looking for good works at a reasonable price. NINA REGE, assistant director BUYER’S VIEW ■ Members of metal band Pangea, nominated in five categories. Fishing for fashion FISH FLOPS Monsoon flip-flops in the shape of fishes PRICE: Rs 751 for women; Rs 816 for men WHERE: Kan Accessorize, a boutique store for designer footwear. CALL: Khatau on 9820550171 to order a pair. Visit the Facebook page called ‘Fish Flops by Kan’ to view the entire collection. MONSOON HEELS Kan also makes colourful block heels for the rain, in neon colours, and heels that are made from raincoat material and sport geometric patterns. Khatau will soon be launching a store in Colaba to stock quirky accessories. ■ A painting by B Kumaraswamy ■ A ceramic kettle by Neha Pullarwar ■ A painting by student Sachin Bonde ■ A painting by Harsha NS ■ Sakshi Art Gallery ■ A painting by Poorvesh Patel at Galerie Mirchandani —Maithili Parekh, director of the Indian division of auction house Sotheby’s ■ Fish flops are rain-proof and come patterned with scales.