Riddhi Dastidar

Dear readers, I've just returned from Kochi where I taught an art-writing workshop for the Biennale, then spent a week trying to cram in as much art, food, and coast as I could. I'll make up for the tardiness of February's dispatch with March's newsletter before the end of the month. After the neat box-square of February, March feels like a long month. Like the year has really kicked into its rhythm, and there's much to be done. In Delhi the temperature is still bearable indoors thank god,...

The longest month is over, long live the longest month. Dear friend, how was your January? This one sped by for me. I was in Dhaka for Chobi Mela (Asia's oldest international biennale of photography begun in 2000 by Shahidul Alam) for some of it, and preparing to leave before that. So it feels like going to the gym and going to Dhaka consumed my month. I'm back in Delhi now, just in time for India Art Fair; returning from Chobi Mela to this, to likely Kochi next month, is making me feel...

I thought this dispatch was going to be largely about reading Arundhati Roy's memoir Mother Mary Comes To Me , but then two reviews made that unnecessary. I'll tell you my feelings about it instead. I read it quickly over a few days, long after the hype had died down. I borrowed a copy from a friend, who had found it too depressing, and was letting it sit on ice. I had a rather troubled childhood so I didn't find it depressing so much as incredibly true to the ways in which parents can hurt...