Pooja Pillai
Pooja Pillai is a Principal correspondent working with The Indian Express.
Articles By Pooja Pillai
Bid to Recover
Top-selling lots from the recent auction of jeweller Nirav Modi’s art collection feature some of the best modern Indian artists.
Tried and True
At Hotel Delmaar, comfort and familiarity define the menu as well as the ambience.
The subtly-flavoured palash or tesu flower not only has medicinal properties, but also makes for cooling summer sherbets
Palash or tesu, with their striking hue, are most associated with Holi. The flowers, soaked in water, produce a colour that has traditionally been used to celebrate this festival.
Teller of Tales
The shadows and mysteries of the human mind shape the narratives in Abul Hisham’s paintings.
Zambar introduces diners to the complex, rich flavours of Marathwada cuisine
As you make your way from the Bharli Wangi (peanut stuffed aubergines) to the Patal Bhaji (spinach and chana dal curry) to the Sabudana Wada and Shrikhand Poori, it’s like being seated on a paat (wooden stool) in Sanglikar’s Aurangabad home and having a meal.
The beguiling work of Jangarh Singh Shyam, creator of his own artistic language, defies labels such as ‘tribal’, ‘folk’ and ‘Gond’
The bare bones of Shyam’s story are well-known enough: he was discovered in Patangarh, Madhya Pradesh, and mentored by artist Jagdish Swaminathan, who was the then director of Bharat Bhavan, a multi-arts complex and museum in Bhopal.
Two-Day Festival: At Red Fort, artists unite against ‘assault on culture’
Referring to the near-constant drizzle, journalist Arfa Khanum Sherwani said, “It seems as if this rain will wash away some of the hate that we have seen in this country in the last five years.”
In an artist’s studio, the palette is evidence: Atul Dodiya
Artist Atul Dodiya on his love for the films of Alfred Hitchcock and how they opened the possibilities of abstract painting for him.
Prabhakar Barwe’s intellectual pursuit in art questioned everything he saw and painted
The intellectual explorations that one sees in Barwe’s works began when he was still a student at the JJ School of Arts, and they found a greater impetus when he joined the Weavers’ Service Centre in 1961, less than two years after graduating from art school.
Colombo’s popular eatery, Ministry of Crab opens its first Indian outpost in Mumbai
Founded by cricketers Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, along with chef Dharshan Munidasa, the restaurant has consistently been placed on most Best Restaurant lists in Asia since it opened in 2011, and because of its policy of serving only the best catch of the day, the prices are high and tables served each day are limited.
Local ingredients, global dishes: A chef embraces his roots to create masterpieces
Chef Thomas Zacharias on the secret behind his award-winning restaurant.
Heckled during speech at National Gallery of Modern Art, Amol Palekar raises concern over censorship
In his speech, Amol Palekar expressed his concern over policy changes that will give the Ministry of Culture at the Centre the sole right to decide the contents and themes of exhibitions to be held at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Mumbai and Bengaluru.
Nambi Narayan, ex-ISRO scientist: ‘After SC order, yes, I feel vindicated in some way’
Excerpts from an interview with Indian Express after the Padma award's announcement on Friday and at the Tata Literature Festival last year
How the 300-year-old Kangra school of art is getting a fresh lease of life
On the walls of Kangra Arts Promotion Society's gallery in McLeodganj, an airy space with windows offering stunning views of the valley below, are exquisite paintings in the 300-year-old Kangra painting tradition.
‘Museums are not merely storehouses of cultural relics,’ says Sabyasachi Mukherjee
As it turns 97, Sabyasachi Mukherjee of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, talks about how Mumbai’s largest museum has stayed relevant
What Drew the Line?
In Jitish Kallat’s return to painting is a continuation of a long-standing preoccupation: what happens when an artist allows forces external to himself to guide his work.
This year saw several record-breaking auctions and women artists getting their due
While #MeToo and repatriation of antiquities were widely discussed, the year also saw several record-breaking auctions and women artists getting their due.
The year in stories
A rich bounty of non-fiction narratives explains a rapidly changing world; the best of fiction mines the human heart
Past Continuous
The exhibition, which is one of the special projects at the Serendipity Arts Festival 2018, also gives a bird’s eye view of what the future, with the right interventions, could look like for Panjim.
‘We have a place where everyone feels welcome’
Sunil Kant Munjal, founder of the Serendipity Arts Foundation, on the third edition of the annual festival, its challenges of scale, and workplace safety.
