I’ve written before how much I loved a painting by Siona Benjamin, a Bombay Jew and master of mashup whose wry work featured in Fatal Love at the Queens Museum of Art.

I am a Sephardic Jew from India, my ancestors came from the Middle East (and perhaps from Spain) centuries ago. Having grown up in a predominantly Hindu and Muslim society, having been educated in Catholic and Zoroastrian schools and now living in America, I have always had to reflect upon the cultural boundary zones in which I have lived. [Link]

Benjamin is doing a multimedia program at the same museum this Saturday (via 3rd I). Given which painting caught my eye, the punny title is apropos:

“Rang de Nila” (Color Me Blue). The visual artist SIONA BENJAMIN and dancer ISHRAT HOQUE have created a special program combining dance and video projection in which the dancers will assume the roles of characters in Benjamin’s work. Benjamin will speak about her work and the dancer will perform an original dance based on the shared experiences of the self-described hybrid/transcultural artists set Indian/jazz/Hip-hop/Bollywood music.

The rest of the program:

“Three Muses” a vocal/sound work by JAISHRI ABICHANDANI, SAMITA SINHA, TENZIN SHERPA, BIJLI and MARVIN SEWELL

Contemporary dance by SHARMILA DESAI & PARUL SHAH

Music by KAASH performing selections from their recently released debut album, SEEP (Sinj Records) Featuring: Samita Sinha (vocals) Sunny Jain (drumset, laptop) Jesse Neuman (trumpet, effects), and Dan Fabricatore (electric bass)

IndoSoul singer & harmonium player ANJALI

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