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Jaipur’s Nahargarh Fort turns host for contemporary art

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By Somrita Ghosh
Jaipur, Dec 23 (IANS) Basking in the glory of Rajput history, the iconic Nahargarh fort in Jaipur has always remained a favourite among the tourists. Built by Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II in 1734 the fort overlooks the pink city. And now, it is also home to a sculpture park.

First of its kind in the country, the Sculpture Park at Madhavendra Palace in Nahargarh Fort has turned into a hub of contemporary art where 15 Indian artists and 9 international artists have presented their collections. The park, which opened its doors on December 10, is a public-private collaboration between the Rajasthan government and the not-for-profit Saat Saath Arts.

Acclaimed curator Peter Nagy, who is the brain behind this concept, said it was a challenge for him to give a twist in the appearance of the fort but without hampering its surface.

“Maintaining the art is difficult, some of the works are even kept in open, there is a risk of it being damaged by natural calamities as well as visitors. But there is a great scope of contemporary art in India which is gradually spreading its roots. And it’s just a small step towards it. For most of my career as a gallerist and curator, I have been trying to break away from the white-box exhibition space. With this project, I am able to indulge my passions for art, architecture and decor into a marvellous synthesis of the past and the present,” Nagy told IANS.

For artist Jitish Kallat, whose works “Annexation” and “Vertical Chronicle of a Turbulent Equilibrium” are being showcased in thesculpture park, there were no second thoughts when he was approached because he found the concept a fresh one.

“Contemporary art as such necessarily need to be in an environment which is devoid of any content. When you see work against the backdrop of a really majestic architectural and historical structure it only adds one more dimension to the meaning,” Kallat told IANS.

Artist Ravinder Reddy who has taken up the very contemporary issue of migration, believes there couldn’t have been a better place for his art than a heritage site. Reddy’s “Migrant” is a reflection of unacknowledged heroes, those who raise children, run homes, and keep families together. With “Migrant” he commemorates women who are extremely pertinent in the world of 2017: the refugee who is forced to move from one location to another, often with her children and all she owns are on her head and her back.

“We are always creating history. In that context, I feel the sculpture is very relevant because you are associating with an old structure and at the same time looking forward at the present. This is perhaps one of the best way to engage with past and present at a time,” Reddy noted.

While curator Nagy expressed concern about the preservation of the sculptures, artists Thukral and Tagra voiced just the opposite; they wanted their piece of art to touched and felt by all. Titled “Memorial – a & b (wings), the work recreates the imagery which came as a sequence of images in dream.

“The realisation was kind of introspective; where the very desires of mankind are expressed but cannot be achieved. This reflects our desires which cannot be fulfilled, which are so heavy that cannot be lifted, cannot fly. We want the visitors to touch it and relate it with their own buried desires,” Thukral commented.

With the sculpture park, Rajasthan has indicated it is eyeing to turn into the next art destination and the artists were happy with this.

“There are many art institutions in the state, especially in Jaipur. The state has got immense scope to become the next destination for major art exhibitions. It is welcome that the government has shown such keen interest towards art and extended its support for the cause,” Kallat mentioned.

“For many years now, people have been coming to this beautiful palace — they come, they look and go away. To keep this space living, it is important to merge it with today. It’s a privilege for someone like me to enable this happen,” Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje commented.

(Somrita Ghosh visited Jaipur at the invitation of Saat Saath Arts. She can be contacted at [email protected])

–IANS
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Casino Days Reveal Internal Data on Most Popular Smartphones

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CasinoDays India

International online casino Casino Days has published a report sharing their internal data on what types and brands of devices are used to play on the platform by users from the South Asian region.

Such aggregate data analyses allow the operator to optimise their website for the brands and models of devices people are actually using.

The insights gained through the research also help Casino Days tailor their services based on the better understanding of their clients and their needs.

Desktops and Tablets Lose the Battle vs Mobile

The primary data samples analysed by Casino Days reveal that mobile connections dominate the market in South Asia and are responsible for a whopping 96.6% of gaming sessions, while computers and tablets have negligible shares of 2.9% and 0.5% respectively.

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The authors of the study point out that historically, playing online casino was exclusively done on computers, and attribute thе major shift to mobile that has unfolded over time to the wide spread of cheaper smartphones and mobile data plans in South Asia.

“Some of the reasons behind this massive difference in device type are affordability, technical advantages, as well as cheaper and more obtainable internet plans for mobiles than those for computers,” the researchers comment.

Xiaomi and Vivo Outperform Samsung, Apple Way Down in Rankings

Chinese brands Xiaomi and Vivo were used by 21.9% and 20.79% of Casino Days players from South Asia respectively, and together with the positioned in third place with a 18.1% share South Korean brand Samsung dominate the market among real money gamers in the region.

 

CasinoDays India

Cupertino, California-based Apple is way down in seventh with a user share of just 2.29%, overshadowed by Chinese brands Realme (11.43%), OPPO (11.23%), and OnePlus (4.07%).

Huawei is at the very bottom of the chart with a tiny share just below the single percent mark, trailing behind mobile devices by Motorola, Google, and Infinix.

The data on actual phone usage provided by Casino Days, even though limited to the gaming parts of the population of South Asia, paints a different picture from global statistics on smartphone shipments by vendors.

Apple and Samsung have been sharing the worldwide lead for over a decade, while current regional leader Xiaomi secured their third position globally just a couple of years ago.

Striking Android Dominance among South Asian Real Money Gaming Communities

The shifted market share patterns of the world’s top smartphone brands in South Asia observed by the Casino Days research paper reveal a striking dominance of Android devices at the expense of iOS-powered phones.

On the global level, Android enjoys a comfortable lead with a sizable 68.79% share which grows to nearly 79% when we look at the whole continent of Asia. The data on South Asian real money gaming communities suggests that Android’s dominance grows even higher and is north of the 90% mark.

Among the major factors behind these figures, the authors of the study point to the relative affordability of and greater availability of Android devices in the region, especially when manufactured locally in countries like India and Vietnam.

“And, with influencers and tech reviews putting emphasis on Android devices, the choice of mobile phone brand and OS becomes easy; Android has a much wider range of products and caters to the Asian online casino market in ways that Apple can’t due to technical limitations,” the researchers add.

The far better integration achieved by Google Pay compared to its counterpart Apple Pay has also played a crucial role in shaping the existing smartphone market trends.

 

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