(+612) 2531 5600
info@la-studioweb.com
PO Box 1622 Colins Street West Victoria 8077 Australia
Neekoee Foundation is the upshot of Neena and Naishadh’s 16-year long journey in the world of Art and Culture in Ahmedabad.
An avid traveler and a lover of ‘all things art’, Neena had a long-standing dream of filling Ahmedabad’s cultural space with unusual, vivid and bold productions from near and far. Her passion and eye for spotting cultural gems combined with Naishadh’s pragmatic approach is Neekoee’s forte.
We strongly believe that art has several intrinsic benefits that enrich our emotions, stimulate our minds and entertain us. Individuals and communities cherish arts and culture for these benefits. However, art also has an impact on social cohesion, education, local economies, health and wellbeing. By bringing thought provoking productions, delivering top quality workshops, supporting local artists and providing a platform to community members and students to engage with artists of international repute they aim to widen the reach of art and culture across social, economic and cultural divides in the city. The explicit charter of the Foundation is to bring these benefits to Ahmedabad for improvement of the individual and the society by bridging communities and cultures of the region, country and the world.
Over the last decade, we have organised a variety of events including theatre performances, workshops and artist camps, to change the perception of art being for a select few and opening our doors to a wider community.
2018-2020
2018 | Performed 6 shows of the Gujarati play ‘Baavo Aavyo Baavo’ for AMC schools.
2018 | An art performance piece by Nachom Art Foundation from Imphal called ‘Nerves’
2018 | AHA! Theatre Festival for Toddlers- August 8-12, 2018, in collaboration with Ranga Shankara, Bangalore. Kids 1-5 years enjoyed the performances, workshops and panel discussion on the Sensory world of Children with Arundahti Nag & Dr. Shekhar Seshadri (NIMHANS) was very well accepted.
2018 | A comprehensive show of K. G. Subramanyan- ‘Women Seen and Remembered’- Nov 2018
As part of the show in collaboration with the Seagull Foundation , we had a talk by Shri Gulammohammed Sheikh- ‘World in Many Guises’- The Art of K.G Subramanyan, and a live performance Dr. Anandibai.
2019 | ‘The Last Supper’, a series of reverse paintings on acrylic by Madhvi Parekh, an art exhibition in collaboration with the Seagull Foundation was held in the Chapel at the GUST, Ahmedabad.
2019 | Initiated a series of talks with Ahmedabad University (once a month), ‘Change and the Arts’, the speakers are: Abhishek Majumdar, Amitesh Grover, Sharmila Samant, Anuradha Kapur, Prof. Pankaj Chandra, Vishal K dar, Anita Dube...
2019 | AHA! International Theatre Festival for Children, 14- 20 July 2019, in collaboration with Ranga Shankara, Bangalore. Performers from India, Germany, Peru, Switzerland, UK, & USA performed. School children along with NGO s children watched the magic.
2019 |‘Table Radica- habib’, a taste performance, an immersive experience of memoirs with food, found documents and music. Directed and performed by Amitesh Grover, in Ahmedabad for the first time.
2019 | ‘Women’s Weekend Theatre’ performances by women directors and performers- Black Hole & Quality Street by Jyoti Dogra and Maya Krishna Rao.
2019 | Naad Vivaad - A musical ensemble by T.M. Krishna at the Gandhi Ashram
2020 | Kusur a play by Amol Palekar
2020 | ऋत- a site specific sculpture at Ambapur stepwell by Vishal K Dar
Announced three Neekoee Artist Grantss during the pandemic to support young artists, find new ways of creating and disseminating works of arts, engaging with the community
2015-2017
2015 | Organized “Abstracts in Oil” by Amol Palekar followed by a portrait session by Amol Palekar with Pandit Shri Shivkumar Sharma
2015 | Hosted “In the Light(ness) of Being” with three senior female artists- Lalitha Lajmi, Latika Katt and Rekha Rao
2016 | Staged, “Mein Hun Yusuf aur Yeh Hai Mera Bhai”- A theatre production by Aasakta Group (Pune)
2016 | Organized “Piya Behrupiyaa” - An adaptation of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night by The Company Theatre
2016 | Hosted “A Dialogue between Easel and Chisel”- An interdisciplinary workshop of artists, where a sculptor and a painter worked on one piece of work. 10 senior artists who participated in it were: Amit Ambalal, Amol Palekar, Anandjit Ray, Indrapromit Roy, Karl Antao, Lalitha Lajmi, Pankaj Panwar, Sojwal Samant, Tanmoy Samanta,Vyom
2016 | Held “Eternal Embrace” – A collaboration of Padma Shri Astad Deboo, pioneer of Indian contemporary dance with musician Yukio Tsuji for the poem Maati, written by Sufi poet Hazrat Bulleh Shah
2017 | ‘Khwab Sa” an adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream by Atul Kumar
2017 | AHA! International Theatre Festival for Children- in collaboration with Ranga Shankara, Bangalore.Groups from U.K., Switzerland and Germany performed for children. Municipal school children also had the opportunity to view the same. A production in Gujarati with Gujarat artists opened the festival.
2017 | Staged “The License” a play directed by Padma Shri Dr. Neelam Mansingh.
2017 | “Dvait”, an Art Show by 5 Couple-Artists was held in Ahmedabad from December 15 to 25, 2017. Participating artists were- Anju & Atul Dodiya, Madhavi & Manu Parekh, Vasundhara & Rameshwar Broota, Sharmila Samant & Tushar Joag, N. Ramachandran & V. Anamika
There were other workshops, film screening and slide shows, which were attended by fine arts students and people of Ahmedabad.
2004-2014
2004 | Screening of film “Anaahat” with an interaction with the director Amol Palekar
2006 | Held “The Sketchbook Expedition” - An artist camp in Goa, with 7 artists from India
2007 | Invited “Bikhare Bimb” by Rangashankara – A play directed and written by Girish Karnad
2008 | Organized an Artist’s Scuba Diving Camp in Bali
2008 | Held “Journey back to the Nest” by Amit Ambalal - A site specific installation, and sculpture show
2009 | Exhibited “Rehashed” – Artist Manish Modi
2011 | Screening of film “Dhoosar” with an interaction with the Director
2012 | Hosted “Flow” - A temporary site-specific installation by Sarika Mehta & Neha Lavingia
Residency
Organized an Artist’s Scuba Diving Camp in Bali.