Presenting Amrita With Strings Attached

Through puppets, music, textiles and the artist’s own letters, Dadi Pudumjee’s new production is set to stage the short but extraordinary journey of artist Amrita Sher-Gil — the way she saw it

- PANKIL JHAJHRIA

WHAT do you say about a woman who lived only for 28 years, defied conventions, and redefined the course of modern Indian art? In the play, Amrita Sher-Gil: A Life Lived, puppeteer Dadi Pudumjee attempts to tell the artist’s short but extraordinary life story — through her perspective.

Set to be staged on February 22 at 4 pm at the Stein Auditorium, India Habitat Centre, the play is a ‘puppet-cum-theatre’ show, using various props, puppets, music, and poetry to explore Sher-Gil’s journey.

The concept came about as part of the yearly production of new work by the Ishara Puppet Theatre Trust. “We were thinking of something to do with colour, with art, something that projects design,” he tells TMS. “That’s when the idea of Amrita Sher-Gil came up.”

An extensive research went into the making of the script, dipping into letters, diaries, biographies and archival material, including Yashodhara Dalmia’s