The virtual Mad-Rush

August is synonymous with Madras Month — filled with vibrant walks, talks, quizzes and exhibitions.

Compiled by Roshne Balasubramanian, Vaishali Vijaykumar. For the full schedule, visit: themadrasday.in/express illustration

CHENNAI: August is synonymous with Madras Month — filled with vibrant walks, talks, quizzes and exhibitions. But in this era of the pandemic, in joyful defiance of the virus, celebrations have been moved to the digital space. In a first, Madras Week, like all other good things in the world, will have a quarantine 381st birthday. Here’s how! 

Madras Inherited

• Madras Inherited, a social initiative started by a team which is passionate about making significant changes in the domain of heritage, will be curating a series of social media live sessions & walks.
•  Tales of Madras — a Facebook live session with Delhi Food Walks on August 19.
•  A virtual scavenger hunt on August 20. 
•  A virtual walk; a webinar on the Heritage of Moscow and Madras in collaboration with the Russian Center of Science and Culture, Chennai on August 22.
•  Memoirs from Madras: A social media project involving people from the creative field, who have taken inspiration from Chennai to produce their art/craft on August 25.

Aalayam Kanden Trust
Padmapriya Baskaran, writer-historian and founder of Aalayam Kanden Trust will be creating a series of 10-minute-long video snippets on ‘The Saints of Madras’ through the course of Madras Month celebrations. The videos, focusing on the life, times and history of saints and their associations with different pockets of the city including Mylapore, Tiruvottiyur and Velachery, will be uploaded on her YouTube channel: Padmapriya TS. The videos will be interspersed with anecdotes, trivia and visual imageries, says Padma. “Interested viewers can watch these videos on-the-go, and learn whenever they get the time,” she says. For details, visit Facebook page: Aalayam Kanden Trust.

Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), Chennai Chapter

• Talk on Heritage of Buckingham Canal by author and historian Venkatesh Ramakrishnan on August 27, 5 pm. Zoom ID: 89357323868
•  Talk on Temples of Madras by Temple historian Chithra Madhavan on August 20 at 5.30 pm. Zoom Id: 85474535191.
• For details, visit Instagram page Intach_chennai_chapter

Chennai Photo Biennale
CPB Learning Lab, the educational wing and a resource hub of the Chennai Photo Biennale Foundation for emerging photographers and lens-based artists will be curating photographic works, conversations and reading material around photography.

•  A conversation between Aditya Arya, founder of Museo Camera and Varun Gupta, co-founder CPB — ‘Museo Camera — The Journey’ will be held on August 19 from 5 pm to 6.30 pm. He will also walk the audience through the halls of the first-of-its-kind museum on his journey of discovery into the Kulwant RoyarchivesToregister,visit https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/4315973073916/WN_FtYzHk2GS9qWNbmn (You will receive the link to join the session via email.)

•  Discussion on poster, banner & cut-out culture in Tamil Cinema with a panel including Preminda Jacob, author of Celluloid Deities; Rajiv Menon, filmmaker; Theodore Baskaran, film historian and author, on August 29 from 4 pm to 6 pm. The panel will be moderated by Uma Vangal, filmmaker and film professor at LV Prasad Institute.

Nam Veedu Nam Oor Nam Kadhai
Madras Household Heritage Exhibition with the collections of architect T Sivagamasundari and Akshayaa Selvaraj. On 
August 22 and August 29 from 11 am to 12.30 pm; and from 5 pm to 6.30 pm. On Zoom. To register, call: 9176030811.

• Make your social history scrapbook or album or competition. From 8 to 16 years. On August 22. To register, call: 9176030811.
• Video or PowerPoint presentation competition on how your family history is related to Anna Nagar.  Madras Inspired — Art and Design trails by Aafreen Fathima. On August 23 from 7 to 8 pm. Instagram live on Nam Veedu, Nam oor, Nam Kadhai.

YOCee
The second in the series of the 12th annual photowalk conducted by YOCee will go online this year. 

•  A virtual photowalk on Chintadripet on August 23.  
•  A virtual photowalk on Soundarapandiyanar Angadi on August 30. The sessions will start at 9.30 am  on Google Meet and will be led by N Ramaswamy of Chennai Daily Photo and Chennai Photowalk. Participants can also share photographs of the neighbourhood. To join the virtual walks, register at yocee.in
•  Thematic photobook-making contest: Chennai-related water bodies; nature and green; heritage — pick a theme, organise the photos in a word document along with information about the picture, as a caption below each of them. You can make up to 10 pages. 
• Send a word document to editor@yocee.in. The best 10 entries will be published on yocee.in. Last date for submission is August 23.

The Chennai Photowalk
A photography competition on the themes: Kollywood, Hidden History, and The Chennai Bond. The last date for submission is August 20 by 10 am. Rules and details can be found on their Instagram and Facebook page: The Chennai Photowalk. 

Roja Muthiah Research Library
RMRL in association with Foundation for South Indian Studies will be curating a series of Madras Month lectures.

•  A lecture on Print culture in Tamil Nadu by professor V Arasu (in Tamil). On August 19 at 6.30 pm. Zoom ID: 89298273935 and Facebook (live) – www.facebook.com/rmrl.in
• Film historian S Theodore Baskaran will present a talk on Sabha Nadagangalum Tamil Cinemavum on August 26 at 6.30 pm. Zoom ID: 89575354784.
• Visual artist CP Krishnapriya will be in conversation with curator, researcher and art programme manager Bhooma Padmanabhan, discussing ‘The School of Arts, Madras: Imagining a museum of labour’ on September 9 at 6.30 pm. Zoom ID: 83320171132.
• A talk on Making a Dravidian voice by Amanda Weidman, associate professor of Anthropology at Bryn Mawr College, the USA on September 2 at 6.30 pm. Zoom ID: 857 7692 7793.
• All the talks by RMRL will also be live on their Facebook page Roja Muthiah Research Library

Madras Literary Society

• A talk on ‘Madras trams and my Boyhood’ by Padmashri Manohar Devadoss. On August 21 from 6  pm to 7 pm. 
•  A talk on ‘Indian troops and British victories’ by Capt Ramachandran, Colors of Glory. On August 23 from 11 am to 12 pm. 
•  A talk on the trigonometric survey by KRA Narasiah. On August 29 from 11 am to 12 pm. 
• To register, mail to madrasliterarysociety@gmail.com, and a link will be sent. Or call: 9176030811.

Quaide Milleth International Academy of Media Studies

QIAMS in association with Foundation for South Indian Studies will curate online talks and lectures.

•  A talk on Rejuvenating the city — Penang and Chennai by A Srivathsan, professor, CEPT University and Hamdan Abdul Majeed, managing director of Think City, today.
• Lecture on Company paintings of Madras, portraying the picturesque and the prosaic by Swapna Sathish, faculty, Fine Arts, Stella Maris on August 19.
• A talk on Arcot Nawabs in Madras by Kombai Anwar, director of QIAMS on August 20.
• A talk (in Tamil) by poet T Parameswari, ‘Madras Manadhe — Thalai Koduthenum Thalainagar Kappom’ on August 21.
• All events will be held at 7 pm as Facebook Live sessions.

Press Institute of India
A lec-dem by Nivedita Louis and Monali Bala on Gujili, subaltern literature, comprising short songs. On August 22 at 6 pm. On Zoom.

Tamil Heritage Foundation
Launch of Digital Madras Project, followed by a special lecture on culture and history of Madras by KRA Narasiah. On August 22 from 11 am to 12.30 pm.  

• Gana Kavi and team will perform Gana songs. On August 22 from 2 pm-5 pm. . 
•  A gallery launch of historical monuments followed by a lecture. On August 22 from 5.30 pm to 9 pm. 
• A panel discussion on Madras then and now. On 
• August 23 from 11 am to 12.30 pm. 
• A Gana concert and Silambam demonstration by World Silambam Sports Association Team. On August 23 from 2 to 5 pm.  
• Gallery launch on three themes — historical monuments, indigenous sports, and economy of fishing and boat making community. On August 23 from 5 pm to 9.30 pm. 
• All events will be held online. 
• To register, call: 7358700167/6382632153