A month-long winter festival in Kolkata related to arts and culture, which has gained popularity over the six years that it is being held, begins on Friday (November 21, 2025) with this edition being presented with a dash of politics too.
Organised by the Kolkata Centre for Creativity (KCC), AMI Arts Festival will go on till December 21 and will feature exhibitions, workshops, theatre productions, dance and music recitals, band performances, talks, film screenings, and community-focused engagements. Along with the KCC premises, events will take place across major landmarks in Kolkata, including the Indian Museum, Victoria Memorial, G. D. Birla Sabhaghar, and Gyan Mancha.
This year the participants include former West Bengal Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, who will deliver a talk ‘Creative? Really?’, and Yogendra Yadav, whose lecture is titled ‘Reclaiming the Republic’. Other guests include Makarand Deshpande, Swastika Mukherjee, Kumud Mishra, Ratna Pathak Shah, Seema Pahwa, and Arko Mukhaerjee.
“The festival has always aimed to reflect the world we live in, and that naturally includes conversations around society and ideas, which sometimes intersect with politics. This year, we are creating spaces for thoughtful dialogue that allow audiences to engage with contemporary issues, but the focus remains on art as a means to explore, question, and connect. It’s not about politics for its own sake, but about using creativity to reflect on the world and spark meaningful conversations,” said Richa Agarwal, chairperson of KCC.
