Now that the skies have truly openedup, it might be time to make sureyour feet stay dry and clean. Kan

Accessorize, a boutique shoes andaccessories label that created footwearfor designer Masaba Gupta’s IIFAawards fashion show earlier this month,has launched a new line of shoes thattake the idea of a ‘fish pedicure’ to awhole new level. Fish flops, as they arechristened, are brightly-coloured, funkyfish-shaped flip-flops that aim to makesplashing about in puddles more fun.

Made from synthetic fabrics, fish-flops are rain-proof and come patternedwith scales that extend to the fish tailsthat 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 Khatauof Kan Accessorize. “Pisces signifiescreativity, and the fish flops show a funsense of individuality. Also, my broth-er is a passionate diver, and I wantedto use fashion as a way to raise aware-ness about marine life in India.”

A part of the proceeds from thefish flops will be donated to Reef-

watch MarineConservation, an organi-sation that works to protect India’smarine heritage, in support of theirEcoSearch programme, which intro-duces students to scuba diving, marineecology, conservation and research.

The fish flops come in a palette ofbright colours with quirky ocean-themed names each, such as Goldfish(gold), Finding Nemo (orange),

Mudflats (brown), Oil Spill (black) andEndless Blue (blue). Khatau recom-mends buying one pair with two dif-ferent-coloured shoes for theexperimental. They are available forchildren as well, and come in a broad-er, more subtle range for men. Khataualso plans to launch a corporatecollection of fish flops soon, with moreformal hues.

— Pankti Mehta

| 13H I N D U STA N T I M E S , M U M BA IS AT U R DAY, J U N E 3 0 , 2 0 1 2

do YOUR WEEKEND FIX

Riddhi Doshi■ riddhi.doshi@hindustantimes.com

In the art gallery calendar, the monsoon isusually the off-peak season. Galleries holdfewer exhibitions at this time of the year asestablished artists either travel to internationalevents such as Art Basel in Switzerland anddOCUMENTA in Germany, or retreat to theirstudios to create new work.

This, however, allows galleries to showcasenew talent, the work of less known artists orold paintings and prints of established artistsfrom their store rooms, at affordable art exhi-bitions. Here are some you can visit:

übercool IF YOU AREN’T IN ON THIS, YOU AREN’T IN ON IT AT ALL

Growl playMumbai-based metal band Pangea

will make its live debut thisSunday as the opening act of

the third Rolling Stone Metal Awards,but it has already been nominated infive out of eight categories of the awards,including one for Best Band.

Yet 26-year-old Shadab Kadri, theband’s co-founder and guitarist, insiststhat Pangea is not strictly a metal band.

“It’s hard to classify our music undera single genre,” he says. “We’re a mix-ture of drone, soundtrack and ambi-ent-progressive with elements of rockand metal.”

Indeed, their debut album ‘Snails AreWhen I Was Young’, which was releasedlast November, features a more chilledout, atmospheric sound than the musicof their co-nominees, which includeBangalore-based progressive metal bandEccentric Pendulum, Pune-based hard-core band Dark Helm; post-hardcoreoutfit Goddess Gagged and technicaldeath metal outfit Providence, both fromMumbai. Older metal bands such asZygnema and Abraxas will also play.

But Kadri feels that these nomina-tions as well as the opportunity to playlive at the awards are a blessing.

“Despite being around for more thantwo years, we have never played a gig

and had no plans to play live until wereleased the album,” he says. “The nom-ination has really spurred us on. SinceMarch, we’ve been obsessed witharranging these songs for the live act,and it has taken us many sleeplessnights to get our sound right.”

The live act for Pangea features animpressive line-up of some of the finestmusicians in the Indian rock and metalscene — co-founder, co-producer and

guitarist Akshay Rajpurohit (Scribe),co-producer and guitarist KuberSharma (Scribe, Exhumation), and bassplayer Rushad Mistry and drummerJai Row Kavi, both of Indus Creed,among many other bands.

This edition of the Rolling StoneMetal Awards is marked by the absenceof Indian metal giants such as DemonicResurrection, Scribe and BhayanakMaut in the nominations list, since noneof them released any material last year.“We’re hoping to provide a platform toyounger, emerging bands,” says LalithaSuhasini, editor, Rolling Stone India.“The aim has always been to reach outto a wider audience.”

— Suprateek Chatterjee

WHAT:ROLLING STONE METALAWARDS 2012, featuring Pangea,Zygnema, Eccentric Pendulum,Abraxas and ProvidenceWHERE: Blue Frog, Lower Parel:61586158WHEN: Sunday, July 1, 8 pm onwardsENTRY FEE: Rs 200

thegig instore

CANVAS SHOPPING Several affordable art exhibitions in thecity this monsoon offer young buyers the chance to startcollecting and encourage new talent

AFFORDABLE ART FAIRGALLERY: Artic VisionWHAT: This fair has 300 paint-ings of 50 established artists, suchas Subrata Sen, Achhyut Palav andMilon Mukherjee.PRICE RANGE: Rs 500 to Rs 25,000ADDRESS: 348/2788, Motilal Nagar- 2,off New Link Road, Goregaon (W)TELEPHONE: 2878-5507WHEN: Until July 16. It opened on June16. Open daily, 11 am to 8 pm

“Most people from the middle class do not enter anart gallery, thinking that they will not be able toafford anything in there. We wanted to encouragebuyers from this section of the society and young-sters to get initiated into seeing and buying art.”D E B A S H R I TA B A I DYA , gallery owner

ART FOR YOUNG COLLECTORSGALLERY: GalerieMirchandani+SteinrueckeWHAT: The show has 15 paintings andnew-media works created by recentart graduates from Vadodara andHyderabad.PRICE RANGE: Rs 4,000 to Rs 12,000ADDRESS: 2 Sunny House, 16/18Mereweather Road, Behind Taj MahalHotel, ColabaTELEPHONE: 2202-2030WHEN: Up to July 9. It began on June12. Tuesday to Saturday, 11 am to 7 pm

EASY BUYSGALLERY: SakshiDESCRIPTION: The gallery has exhibit-ed 300 paintings, prints, drawings, pho-tographs and posters from its in-housecollection. In its second year, the exhi-bition consisted of small, old worksand prints of well-known artists suchas Jitish Kallat, Sudarshan Shetty andMF Husain, and cost much less thanthese painters’ more recent works.In the first week, the gallery soldnearly a third of what was on offer.It added more works to the exhibitionevery week.PRICE RANGE: Rs 1,500 to Rs 2 lakh.ADDRESS: Sakshi Gallery, TannaHouse, Ground floor, 11-A, NathalalParekh Marg, ColabaTELEPHONE: 6690 9191WHEN: Today is the last day. It beganon May 23. Timings are 11 am to 7 pm

Last day...

Ongoing…

“We have had many youngpeople, most of them first-timebuyers, purchase works.”G E E TA M E H R A , gallery director

TAKETO ART

“All the artists ofthe show are intheir 20s. Theirthoughts and visualculture wouldappeal to buyersof the same agegroup.”R A N J A N AM I R C H A N D A N I ,gallery director

“These students have worked with usas researchers and assistant curatorson other projects. We thought it wouldbe a nice idea to give them a platformfor their works.”S U M E S H S H A R M A , gallery curator

UNTITLEDGALLERY: Clark House InitiativeDESCRIPTION: The gallery has exhibited100 prints, paintings, drawings andsculptures of 12 students of JJ School ofArt, Rachna Sansad and MS Universityof Vadodara.PRICE RANGE: Rs 1,500 to Rs 12,000ADDRESS: Ground floor, Clark House,8 Nathalal Parekh Marg (Old WodehouseRoad), opposite Sahakari Bhandar,and Regal Cinema, near Woodside InnTELEPHONE: 9820213816WHEN: Today is the last day. It began onJune 15. Timings are 11 am to 7 pm

THREE REASONS TO BUY THREE TOP TIPSDON’T WASTE your money on decora-tive art. You will eventually find it bor-ing, a waste of money, and might giveup on art altogether. Instead, visitscores of galleries and as many artfairs as possible before buying yourfirst piece, to get a sense of what kindof work strikes a chord with you.

IF YOU CAN’T afford awork that you want, askthe gallery or the auc-tion house if you can payin installments. If youare persuasive enough,galleries will agree.

IF YOU ARE STARTING OUT,first seek advice from gallerists,artists and curators, who wont chargeanything. Once you buy a work, consultthe gallery about how to frame andconserve the piece. Here too, mostgalleries will not charge anything.

The Indian art market is in anascent stage, and is expectedto grow fivefold in the next fewyears. Buying good art could bea wise investment.TUSHAR SETHI, owner of theInstitute of Contemporary Indian Artgallery and an auctioneer

Living with art developsyour aesthetic sensibilitiesand facilitates the apprecia-tion of the finer things inlife. An art work is notmerely a commodity.MANISHA PATIL, art historian atthe JJ School of Arts and artist

An interesting artwork gets you think-ing. You get to see thework every day andlive with it.VEERANGANA SOLANKI,independent city-basedcurator

At Artic Vision, I bought a paintingeach of artist MadhumitaBhattacharya and Arabinda Samanta,for a total of Rs 50,000, for my newhouse. I have been followingBhattacharya’s work for a long timeand am particularly fond of her paint-ings of Buddha.— Asish Bao, 34, bank employee

I bought six ceramic pots of artistNaladvar from Artic Vision for aclient. I regularly buy works bothfor myself and my clients. I likedthese pots because I loved thecontrast in the textures.”— Prithi Majumdar, 34,

architect

Coming up...CHATAKGALLERY: Nehru Centre Art GalleryWHAT: This show, in its 20th year, has 64paintings and sculptures by 34 artists from allaround the country.PRICE RANGE: Rs 5,000 to Rs 1 lakhADDRESS: Nehru Centre, Annie BesantRoad, WorliTELEPHONE: 24973827WHEN: July 3 to 15, open daily, 11 am to 7 pm

“The aim of the annual show is to promoteyoung and new talent. The show alwaysattracts hordes of art collectors andenthusiasts looking for good works at areasonable price.N I N A R E G E , assistant director

BUYER’S VIEW

■ Members of metal band Pangea,nominated in five categories.

Fishing forfashion

FISH FLOPSMonsoon flip-flops in the shapeof fishesPRICE: Rs 751 for women;Rs 816 for menWHERE: Kan Accessorize,a boutique store fordesigner footwear.CALL: Khatau on 9820550171to order a pair.Visit the Facebook pagecalled ‘Fish Flops byKan’ to view theentire collection.

MONSOON HEELSKan also makes colourfulblock heels for the rain, inneon colours, and heels thatare made from raincoatmaterial and sport geometricpatterns. Khatau will soon belaunching a store in Colaba tostock quirky accessories.

■ A painting by B Kumaraswamy

■ A ceramickettle byNehaPullarwar

■ A painting by student Sachin Bonde

■ A painting by Harsha NS

■ Sakshi Art Gallery

■ A painting by Poorvesh Patel atGalerie Mirchandani

—Maithili Parekh, director of the Indian division of auction house Sotheby’s

■ Fish flops are rain-proof and comepatterned with scales.