This Week In Culture: Monster Machine, Kink Speed Dating & More

Every week, discover a comprehensive guide to culture and lifestyle across India with the Homegrown Bulletin. The #HGBulletin includes creative project launches, drops, the latest releases, and much more.

EVENTS

Uncuff Your Kinks With Vanilla Disrupted In Bengaluru

Hosted by The Intimacy Curator, a relationship coaching initiative, this meticulously vetted event in Bengaluru promises to be a gateway for consenting adults into the tantalising world of fetishes and BDSM. Doubling up as a kink marketplace, speed dating platform and a play area where you can indulge your indelicate fantasies, Vanilla Disrupted is committed to celebrating individuals from across the gender spectrum.

You can register for the event here.

MUSIC

Shruti Hassan's Latest Single Embraces The Inner Darkness

In Monster Machine, the 37-year-old singer pays homage to a woman surviving with unflinching authenticity in a man's world, for many a feat nothing short of witchcraft. Borne upon poignant lyrics and an atmospheric, sinister music video by BLCK Production, the angry poem divulges how uninhibited femininity can wreak righteous havoc upon those who stand in the way. A perfect Halloween banger for the win.

Discover more about the song here.

This Freestyle Rap By Heems Touches Upon Partition Trauma

Filmed outside a Punjabi deli in New York City, Heems drops bars about intergenerational wounds still sore from our independence struggle in a straight-from-the-heart single Sometimes I Feel Like Manto. The collateral damage incurred by South Asian diaspora across the world manifests in patterns of addiction and racial violence, a bloody legacy that the American born rapper scrutinises at length in his upcoming album Veena.

Learn more about this single here.

FILM

HG Guide To Short Films In Mumbai Film Festival 2023

The Dimensions Mumbai category at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival is touted for nurturing local talent and diverse narratives from the city of dreams. This year's line-up of short films attests to the human resilience and harsh realities of the metropolis, from the harrowing ordeal of a transgender photojournalist documenting the plight of migrant workers in Zoya to a romantic impasse at Juhu Beach in Halfway.

Check out the full Homegrown piece here.

EXHIBITION

Travel Back In Time With Sarmaya's Online Museum

Conceptualised as a digital repository of rare artefacts, archival photos and indigenous art, Sarmaya was founded by collectors Tina and Paul Abraham in 2015 to keep our cultural history evergreen in the present times. Whether they be paintings depicting the siege of Delhi or rare books no one remembers anymore, Sarmaya is bound to have a curious corner of the cyberspace you can wander into and peruse at your heart's content.

Click here to find out more about the Sarmaya Arts Foundation.

FASHION

Couture Brand 'Almost Gods' Opens Flagship Store In Delhi

Inspired from ancient landmarks like the pyramids of Giza and brutalist architecture at Harvard, designer Dhruv Khurana's homegrown apparel venture has carved a niche at Dhan Mill, Delhi. The store's captivating façade, complete with a gothic griffin, is an open invitation to those interested in the label's exclusive Autumn-Winter 23 collection. Expect to find inclusive streetwear, artful silhouettes and a distinct visual identity.

Read more about the launch here.

Péro Serves Surrealist Cottagecore In New Collection

A scene stealer at Lakmé Fashion Week this year, the winter collection titled Cuckoo & Co. epitomises Péro's creative tenets of maximalism and sustainability, infusing fuzzy jackets and crocheted shirts with their statement appliqué florals. Sipping the Mad Hatter's tea, the design team upends pattern-on-pattern overlays with psychedelic patchwork and androgynous silhouettes, making the fits curiouser and curiouser.

Find out more about their collection here.

Get Bowled Over With Adidas & Extra Butter's Cricket Collection

With this year being India's first in hosting the Cricket World Cup solo, Adidas has collaborated with New York based Extra Butter for a capsule collection of cable-knit vests and sweaters, with club blazers to match the showstopper Adidas Cable-Knight 2.0 SC Premier shoes. The products are exclusively available from 4th November 2023 at Extra Butter’s Mumbai flagship store at Utopia City, Lower Parel.

Browse the pieces on their website here

FOOD & DRINKS

Rediscover Communal Dining At These HG Supper Clubs

Emerging from the social isolation during the pandemic, there is a worldwide resurgence of supper clubs where raconteurs and culinary explorers can share conversation and recipes for trouble. From The Salon in New York to House of Málà in Mumbai, these establishments are known for dishing out authentic gastronomy and a mehfil style dining experience.

Catch up on more information here.

PRODUCT DROP

These Erotic Boardgames Will Keep You Up All Night

As Indian lovers are growing more diverse and self aware, the need for foreplay and experimentation in the bedroom can be better fulfilled by adult playing cards like Under The Sheets by MyMuse and the spin-off board game Monogamy by Love Depot, homegrown 'sextech' brands. Their less-than-subtle prompts and salacious dares will not only broaden your horizons but also break the stigma around sexual wellness in our country.

Check out more such products here.

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MAMI 2023: Watch A Film That Responds To A Begum Rokeya Science Fiction Story

Artist Letitia Mendes Is Defying The Binary Across Homegrown Tattoo And Design Spaces