Kanakia Zillion Gallery opens a new window into Mumbai
by EVENTFAQS Bureau | Marketing | August 13, 2014 | News
They say Mumbai is a city of many layers and shades. What's more, even Mumbaikars might not have seen the facets and shades of this vibrant global city like the ones put up in the Kanakia Zillion Gallery, a mammoth endeavour with a staggering 10,000 pictures of Mumbai that was launched on August 7.
Touted as India's largest photo gallery, it is located at Zillion, a commercial venture by Kanakia Spaces located in BKC Annexe. The launch event was a carefully choreographed one, executed by The Think Tank Entertainment, where the theme of Mumbai was carefully woven in.
As a pre-event activation, Kanakia Art Foundation launched a Mumbai Meri Jaan competition. Photograph entries of various facets of Mumbai were invited from amateur and professional photographers alike. Of the 36,000 entries sent in, 10,000 photographs were shortlisted and displayed at the gallery. More than 50,000 Mumbaikars were engaged through social media and other platforms to connect with this initiative.
"Given the pre-event contest, Mumbai Meri Jaan , it made sense for us to conceive of a event theme centered around Mumbai," said Abhishek Mazumder, founder and CEO, Think Tank Entertainment. "So everything from our décor, to props set up at the gallery and a fashion show that rounded it all off were centered around Mumbai."
The show began with an innovative way of inaugurating the entire photo gallery, with a 20x20 feet screen collapsing after a holographic projection mapping was done on the screen. The entertainment component included a Sci- Fi International Laser Show. This was followed by a felicitation of all the winners of the photography contest.
The piece-des-resistance of the evening was fashion show that doubled up as a tribute to Mumbai. Models donned modified garbs of dabbawaalas, Traffic Police of Mumbai, macchi waali tai and gaswaala. The fashion show presented futuristic Mumbai style in a glamourous way by creating new wardrobe designs for these building blocks of aamchi Mumbai. Designer Shefali Parekh was roped in for the costumes while Mazumder himself choreographed the fashion show.
Himanshu Kanakia, Managing Director of Kanakia Group, said, "This is a rare collection of beautiful efforts of amateur and professional photographers from various walks of the life. We are just overwhelmed to receive about 36,000 photographs and the task of judges was not only mammoth but also difficult while choosing the winners. We congratulate all participants and invite all Mumbaikars to have a glimpse of this unique gallery."
"The Clients approached us after we successfully conceptualised and executed two of their biggest launches for their residential properties - Platino and Rainforest. The Zillion was their premium commercial property. All that they asked was for us to create a kick-ass concept for its launch surrounding Mumbai Meri Jaan theme," added Mazumder.
The Art gallery was launched on August 7 with a staggering 10,000 pictures of Mumbai on display.