Rick-Show, Cinema on Wheels in Pune on April 16th

Pune, 13th April 2022: Rick-Show: Cinema on Wheels, an art installation which is being presented in Pune by Alliance Française de Pune, in association with the Goethe-Institut Pune and TIFA Working Studios is taking place at the Goethe-Institut at Boat Club Road, Pune on April 16th from 7 pm to 9 pm. There is no admission fee to attend the show. However, entry will be granted to visitors strictly on the basis of first-come, first-serve.

This initiative is a part of the Bonjour India 2022 an artistic, cultural, educational and social initiative put together by the French Cooperation Network in India including the Embassy of France in India, its cultural department the French Institute in India, the network of Alliances Françaises in India and the Consulates of France in collaboration with an illustrious list of sponsors, partners, and performance spaces.

Here, Punekars will get to experinece the magic of open-air cinema, this time in a new light! Developed by multidisciplinary artist Le Gentil Garçon (also known as The Nice Guy) and the Design Department from the College of Architecture Trivandrum, the Rick-Show is an outdoor cinema installation with the aim of bringing art and storytelling to the streets. Thematic art films from the archives of the Regional Fund of Contemporary Art Occitanie-Montpellier, the Contemporary Art Fund of the City of Geneva, and The Nice Guy themself, will be projected on a large screen fixed onto the back of a mobile rickshaw. The origin of this project lies in the artist’s desire to showcase art films to communities that have little access to contemporary artwork.

The Artist Le Gentil Garçon aka The Nice Guy, strives to explore diverse art media such as drawing, sculpture, installation, performance and video. Through the themes in his artwork, he invokes various references without seeking to establish a signature style. He is more driven by the artistic process itself rather than the end result. With a strong belief in the subjective perception of reality, he aspires to question it by attempting to invent the unknown. Today, his work is shown internationally and since 2006, he has designed several artworks for public art commissions.

The Rick-Show project was developed by The Nice Guy in partnership with the Department of Design of the College of Architecture Trivandrum (CAT). A team of professors and students produced the cinema set-up of the artwork under the guidance of the artist, who participated remotely from France, via video call. The creation of the Rick-Show is supported by the Kochi Municipal Corporation and Bharat Bhavan, Department of Culture, Government of Kerala.