Back on January 21, 2004 I exulted in the fact that I had received 50 subscribers to this blog – Tiffinbox. Well today, thanks to you all, I have reached another milestone when the 100th subscriber joined this list!

Your site “TIFFINBOX” received 1 new subscribers today.
It has 100 total subscribers and is ranked #196 on Bloglet.

What would make this experience even richer is if you all could take the time to comment or email me your suggestions. During a recent panel on blogging, I lamented that most of those comments I do receive (and have to delete) are from spammers. Well, let's change that around shall we? It would be great if you could keep your eyes peeled for content that would make for an interesting read for everyone.

Some of you have already told me that the site needs a redesign and badly. I am working on that, I assure you. My friend Arindam Mukherjee has designed a new logo. I'll be releasing both the logo and the site in the next few weeks. If there are features you would like to see on this site that you have seen elsewhere, do let me know. I'll be happy to see if it will make or break the site.

While 100 is a great round number, this site isn't just about increasing traffic. It's about involving each of you in this experiment in such a way that we can raise our collective awareness of the similarities and differences within South Asian culture and its ultimate relationship with rest of the world. It's a tall order, no doubt, but it can be done through thoughtful dialogue and an exchange of ideas which could take shape as photography, writing, art & design.

So, if you know of people involved in any of these endeavors, send them my way – email me at: tiffinbox {at} pipalproductions {dot} com. I'll be happy to post a blog about them and link to their website, if they have one.

I welcome all of you to participate and to let others know about Tiffinbox.

“I don't know how long that's going to last. But I can't escape it; this is what I am. And I'm going to be with this forever.”

That is jazz pianist Vijay Iyer in today's New York Times article, India Resounding New York.

Time Out New York, Newsweek and now this about South Asians coming into their own in careers other than medicine, law or computer science. Refreshing, to say the least. These new vocations – in the Arts – are not easy choices to make and they certainly aren't by far the safest ones, considering the state of the economy and the fickle nature of the art world. Yet, it had to happen. While the article speaks of only South Asian music, I suspect other genres of art will also see a resurgence. Only a matter of time when we see sculptors, dancers, photographers making their way into the spotlight, if only for 15 minutes.

Speaking of desi culture pervading the Western landscape, my wife and I have tickets for Bombay Dreams. I'll be sure to post my thoughts here on that spectacle.

South Asian Visual Arts Collective or SAVAC, is hosting an experimental art installation called Arrange My Marriage.

Via Saheli

“The Gala featured a wonderful slideshow of SAJA members' photography set to music by Seshu Badrinath's Pipal Productions–keep an eye on his site for it to be posted. It made me hungry to travel.”

Well, I am not entirely sure if the entire show will reside on my professional wedding photography site or here on Tiffinbox, or on the SAJA Photoforum site. Perhaps the latter as the images were ostensibly submitted to be shown at the SAJA convention and ultimately published on a SAJA sanctioned website.

It isn't so much as to WHERE but HOW the slideshow will be published. Right now I am grappling with bandwidth and storage space issues. If I were to show the entire show as a Quicktime movie, it comes in at a whopping 400 megabytes. At that size, I will quickly exhaust my monthly (or perhaps annual quota). So, that's not going to work.

I am looking to convert the slideshow (which was made using iViewMediaPro) into a lighter, Flash based slideshow. If you have any suggestions, do chime in. I am all ears.

Via Shana Dressler

The Indo-American Arts Council, Inc. is calling for artists to submit work for it's September show – “Passport To Contemporary Indian Art”. The show will be held September 16-30, 2004 at the State Bank of India Gallery, 39 Broadway, 8th Floor, NYC.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

Contemporary Indian artists in the diaspora are encouraged to submit their portfolios of painting, sculpture, photography, digital art, installation art.

Requirements:

· artists bio & statement

· slides  and/or prints of work

· description of each work, size, and medium

· self-addressed, stamped envelope for return of material (if requested by artist)

· permission to print accepted work in exhibition catalogue 

Deadline: July 10 , 2004

Criteria:                     

· artist must deliver and pick up artwork to and from the gallery

. artist must have external insurance. ( The gallery is insured but artwork is not insured enroute to and from the gallery)

. artist must try and be present for the exhibition

. artist must have approximately 12 images ready for the show

Information:

. There will be a printed catalogue for this exhibition

. Submissions will be chosen by an Independent curator

. Sundaram Tagore, Sundaram Tagore Gallery  will curate the accepted artwork for exhibition

. Due to space restrictions, there will be a limited number of artworks exhibited 

. Artwork  not chosen for this show will be kept for exhibition at a later date

Please note: all submissions must be received in hard copy.  No email submissions will be considered. 

Please send all  submissions  to:
Aroon Shivdasani, Executive Director,
Indo-American Arts Council Inc
118 East 25th Street, 3rd Floor, New York  10010
Phone: 212 529 2347 Fax: 212 477 4106
Email: iaac@iaac.us  Web: www.iaac.us

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS JULY 10, 2004.  PLEASE SEND IN YOUR PORTFOLIOS ASAP.  ARTISTS WILL BE INFORMED OF THE FINAL DECISION BY AUGUST 10 , 2004.