Even as the October sun shines through the roofs of Mumbai’s cityscapes, the memories of its monsoon are only just retreating. The occasional wet patches on roads and suddenly puddle-less potholes carry reminders of the season past. This nostalgia, in all its chaos and vibrancy, will also be on show at the 17th edition of the month-long Monsoon Festival at Worli’s Tao Art Gallery.

Curated by Himanshu Verma, Red Earth, the festival, which opened on October 8,  is an amalgamation of different artists giving voice to their experience of the city’s monsoon through various mediums. Having travelled through Delhi and Jaipur, Verma describes the season’s relationship with the city as unique. “Mumbai’s monsoon culture is so special. The matrix of the experience in Mumbai is different from what you see anywhere else,” he says. Verma started the festival back in 2006, in an effort to look at how seasons and festivals in India have inspired creativity across genres. He explains, “Through examples like Raag Malhar in music or Indian literature in the classical period or dance, we see that the act of responding to the season is a very important part of expression. But in contemporary art, most artists don’t have the urge to talk about this element. The idea was to rekindle that urge.”