The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) celebrates an unparalleled 200-year legacy of cultural exchange with India with its Sensational India! festival, April 6 and 7. This year's festival is inspired by the current exhibit Midnight to the Boom: Painting in India after Independence, from the PEM’s renowned Herwitz Collection. Join us for a vibrant array of dance and music performances, traditional Indian cooking demonstrations, art-making activities and the popular Bollywood Dance Party with Djs from the Boston Sound and Light Company.

HEADLINING EXHIBITION
Come discover three generations of Indian artists who changed the way we think about modern Indian art. Midnight to the Boom: Painting in India after Independence features nearly 60 works from PEM's extraordinary Chester and Davida Herwitz Collection, considered the foremost collection of modern Indian art in the world outside of India. Select paintings are presented in conversational groupings with well-known artists including Paul Cézanne, Marc Chagall and Andrew Wyeth, lending context to the development of this art movement in the wider world of modern painting.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

SATURDAY, April 6| 10 AM – 5 PM| DAYTIME ACTIVITIES FREE WITH ADMISSION
SATURDAY, April 6| 9 PM – MIDNIGHT | BOLLYWOOD DANCE PARTY | $15 & $20
SUNDAY, APRIL 7| 10 AM – 5 PM| DAYTIME ACTIVITIES FREE WITH ADMISSION

SATURDAY, APRIL 6
10 AM – 4 PM | COLLABORATIVE ART PROJECT| ALL SKILL LEVELS | ATRIUM
Work with visual artist Adrian Galvin in a hands-on art-making experience to create the backdrop that will be used in Sunday’s dance performance.

11 AM – NOON | COOKING | BARTLETT GALLERY
DEMONSTRATION: HEALING SPICES | ADULTS
Food expert Shruti Mehta returns to share tips about the therapeutic and healing properties of spices and demonstrates the art of making Paan and Chai.

11 AM – 3 PM | DROP-IN ART ACTIVITY: PAINTING WITH PIGMENT | ATRIUM
FAMILIES W/ CHILDREN 3 YEARS & UP
Make your own colorful artwork inspired by the Midnight to the Boom exhibition using dry pigments and water.

11:30 AM|NOON STORY TIME: Elephant Dance | FAMILIES W/ CHILDREN 4 YEARS & UP
MEET AT INFORMATION DESK
Join Ravi as he experiences his grandfather’s captivating stories about India, where the sun is like a ferocious tiger and monsoon rains crackle like waterfalls.

NOON – 12:45 PM | DANCE PERFORMANCE | ALL AGES | ATRIUM
Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Dance Company presents Vasanth, a retelling of an Indian myth that describes the return of spring to earth after years of desolation.

1 – 2 PM | ARTIST TALK | ADULTS | MORSE AUDITORIUM
Raghava KK, a multidisciplinary artist who combines painting, technology, film and performance, presents his journey as an artist and showcases his latest art project,
a brainwave installation.

2:30 – 4:30 PM | ART WORKSHOP | FOR FAMILIES W/CHILDREN 8 AND UP | BARLETT GALLERY
Learn how to cartoon emotions and give drawings personality, something that visiting artist Raghava KK calls “shadows that misbehave.”

3:30 – 4:45 PM | CONCERT: RAJASTHANI FOLK MUSIC | EAST INDIA MARINE HALL
Come hear Lakha Khan perform this centuries-old musical tradition.

9 PM – MIDNIGHT | Bollywood Dance Party | Atrium
DJ Yogz and DJ D-Xtreme of Boston Sound and Light Company transform PEM’s soaring Atrium into a nightclub by spinning the latest Bollywood, Bhangra and Western remixed music. Cash bar, 21 +. Members $15, nonmembers $20.

SUNDAY, APRIL 7

11 AM – 3 PM | DROP-IN ART ACTIVITY: PAINTING WITH PIGMENT | ATRIUM
(See April 6 listing)

11:30-NOON – STORY TIME |MEET AT INFORMATION DESK
(See April 6 listing)

NOON – 12:45 PM & 4 – 4:45 PM | DANCE PERFORMANCE | ALL AGES
(See April 6 listing)

1 – 2 PM | PRESENTATION: THE ETERNAL ESSENCE OF MUSIC | MORSE AUDITORIUM
Ankur Malhotra, co-founder of Amarrass Records, talks about the role folk music plays in shaping the Indian ethos. Malhotra addresses the challenges that traditional folk music musicians face despite a favorable Indian economy.

2:30 – 3:45 PM | KEYNOTE | MORSE AUDITORIUM
New York Times columnist Anand Giridharadas discusses the emerging prominence of India in the global sector through the lens of his book, India Calling: An Intimate Portrait of a Nation’s Remaking. Giridharadas, a second generation Indian-American who writes the “Currents” column for The Times, also appears regularly on CNN, MSNBC, NPR and The Daily Show. The Wall Street Journal called his book “smart, evocative and sharply observed.”

2:30-3:45 PM | CONCERT | EAST MARINE HALL
(See April 6 listing)

ABOUT THE PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM
Founded in 1799, the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) presents outstanding works of artistic and cultural creativity in ways that transform people's lives. The museum's collection is among the finest of its kind, showcasing an unrivaled spectrum of American art and architecture as well as outstanding Asian, Asian Export, Native American, African, Oceanic, Maritime and Photography collections. In addition to its vast holding, the museum offers a vibrant schedule of changing exhibitions and an interactive education center. The museum campus features numerous parks, period gardens and 22 historic properties, including Yin Yu Tang, a 200‐year‐old house that is the only example of Chinese domestic architecture on display in the United States. Currently, a comprehensive $650 million Campaign is underway to advance PEM's mission, fortify its endowment, improve infrastructures and build a 175,000-square-foot expansion, set to open in 2017.

HOURS: Open Tuesday-Sunday, 10 am-5 pm and the third Thursday of every month, 10 am-9:30 pm. Closed Mondays (except holidays), Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day.

ADMISSION: Adults $15; seniors $13; students $11. Additional admission to Yin Yu Tang: $5. Members, youth 16 and under and residents of Salem enjoy free general admission and free admission to Yin Yu Tang.

INFO: Call 866‐745‐1876 or visit our Web site at www.pem.org

MEDIA CONTACTS: April Swieconek, Director of Public Relations, 978-745-9500 x3109, april@pem.org
Whitney Van Dyke, Senior Press Officer, 978-745-9500 x3228, whitney_vandyke@pem.org
Dinah Cardin, Press Officer/Special Projects Writer, 978-745-9500 x 3230, dinah_cardin@pem.org

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