A month-long fest in Kolkata that will celebrate arts and culture with a dash of politics

A month-long winter festival in Kolkata related to arts and culture, which has gained popularity over the six years that it is being held, begins on Friday (November 21, 2025) with this edition being presented with a dash of politics too.

Organised by the Kolkata Centre for Creativity (KCC), AMI Arts Festival will go on till December 21 and will feature exhibitions, workshops, theatre productions, dance and music recitals, band performances, talks, film screenings, and community-focused engagements. Along with the KCC premises, events will take place across major landmarks in Kolkata, including the Indian Museum, Victoria Memorial, G. D. Birla Sabhaghar, and Gyan Mancha.

This year the participants include former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, who will deliver a talk ‘Creative? Really?’, and Yogendra Yadav, whose lecture is titled ‘Reclaiming the Republic’. Other guests include Makarand Deshpande, Swastika Mukherjee, Kumud Mishra, Ratna Pathak Shah, Seema Pahwa, and Arko Mukhaerjee.

“The festival has always aimed to reflect the world we live in, and that naturally includes conversations around society and ideas, which sometimes intersect with politics. This year, we are creating spaces for thoughtful dialogue that allow audiences to engage with contemporary issues, but the focus remains on art as a means to explore, question, and connect. It’s not about politics for its own sake, but about using creativity to reflect on the world and spark meaningful conversations,” said Richa Agarwal, chairperson of KCC.

“This time, we are pushing past geographical boundaries, from collaborating with local traditional artisans for workshops and pop-ups to international collaborations such as King, a theatre production from Ireland. We are trying to make the festival truly diverse in spirit and scale,” Ms. Agarwal said.

A prominent feature of this year’s AMI festival will be a tribute to filmmaker Shyam Benegal, which will include an exhibition titled The Lens of Revolution, a talk session called Acting, Art and the Indian Conscience, and the screening of some of his best-known films. There will also be a talk on the legacy of Safdar Hashmi.

“The festival is an opportunity to honour our traditions while welcoming fresh perspectives, showing how art can connect people and inspire new ways of thinking. Audiences will see both emerging and established artists, and discover fresh ideas and new ways to engage with art,” Ms. Agarwal said.