Pablo Ganguli

Early life

Ganguli was born in a Bengali Hindu Brahmin family in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, reportedly the son of an art historian. Some sources state that one of his great-grandfathers was the private secretary to Rabindranath Tagore, the Bengali poet who was Asia's first Nobel laureate. As an infant, Ganguli was brought up by his grandmother. He claimed he had never met his mother, and throughout his childhood was only visited by his art-historian father once a month. He grew up in Kolkata in a creative environment pursuing artistic interests.

Career

In August 2006, a columnist in the Evening Standard of London noted that Ganguli had made 'the remarkable journey from a student studying French in Calcutta to, seemingly, one of the world's leading literary salonistas in just three years'.

The December 2007 issue of the British Esquire magazine announced that it had named Ganguli a runner up at the inaugural 'Esquire Man at the Top Awards' under the category 'Young Entrepreneur of the Year'. Esquire reported that Ganguli's work was proof that entrepreneurial skill can work as well for art as for commerce. In November 2010 and 2011, Ganguli was selected as one of the 1000 most influential figures in London by the Evening Standard.

In March 2011, Ganguli said with regard to the festivals he puts on: “It’s not a job. It’s my life. It’s what I dream about and have nightmares about.” The principal source of income for his festivals is sponsorship, which he says is “never easy to get and requires a lot of hard work”. He does not pay the speakers at his festivals: “It’s like giving a fee to someone for attending the Oscars."

Media

Much attention has been paid to Ganguli's image, appearance and personal style by the international media, the British in particular. They continue to paint his profile as an alluring, exotic and enigmatic figure. The editor of the Spectator wrote in his magazine diary that Ganguli reminded him of a cross between Oscar Wilde and Malcolm McLaren while James Collard of The Saturday Times Magazine reported that Pablo Ganguli was a wunderkind and a mystery. He went on to add 'Or even, as Winston Churchill said in an altogether different context, a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.' Words including rare, flamboyant, legendary and fascinating have been used to describe Ganguli.

Papua New Guinea

In 2001, Ganguli created Connect UK, a Papua New Guinea based organisation, whose stated purpose was to forge cultural ties between the South Pacific and Britain. In November 2002, the British High Commission and Connect UK jointly put on the first 'British Week' in that country, 'a celebration of British arts, culture, design, education and science and technology'. Festival participants included Janet Street-Porter and Benjamin Zephaniah.

Ganguli directed the first Women's Rights Conference in Papua New Guinea supported by the PNG, Australian, United States and British governments. Baroness Valerie Amos, the then British Secretary of State for International Development sent a message of good wishes for the conference. The British Council and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office supported the work of Ganguli in Papua New Guinea. Connect UK organised events promoting human rights, youth issues and Aids awareness projects.

The cultural programme of Connect UK consisted of piano recitals by Peter Donohoe, mime events by a British artist, science exhibitions designed by the British Council and international film festivals. Ganguli directed three annual international film festivals in different parts of the country. Ganguli directed the first Britain-South Pacific Museum management project. The two UK experts who visited the region to conduct the courses were from the Victoria and Albert Museum and City University.

Morocco

Between 2003 and 2006, Ganguli spent part of his time in Morocco. Ganguli was head of public relations and events at Kasbah Agafay and Kssour Agafay, a private member's club and luxury hotel in Marrakech. Tim Willis in The London Evening Standard on 5 January 2010 reported of Ganguli's deportation from Morocco in 2005 thus: "when, returning from a trip to India in 2005, he learnt that his ex had been expelled from Morocco and that he had 48 hours to leave the country. “I was never given a reason,” he says. Ganguli moved into a house owned by Scaddan (his ex lover) in Edinburgh".

United Kingdom and Festivals by Ganguli

Beginning in 2005, Ganguli moved to the United Kingdom to make it his base. Around the same time, he started creating and directing cultural festivals in different parts of the world.

North Africa

Arts in Marrakech Festival

The Arts in Marrakech International Festival, a festival of English and Arabic art and literature, was held in Morocco from 29 September to 3 October 2005, and was preceded by Scottish Week Marrakesh, 21–28 September, also organised by Ganguli. The festival included two art exhibitions, one of Moroccan art and one of contemporary British art, under the aegis of Vanessa Branson, sister of tycoon Richard Branson; interviews; readings; and panel discussions on Anglo-Arabic literature.

Those participating included singer Annie Lennox, sculptor Antony Gormley, author Hari Kunzru, writer Deborah Moggach, playwright Hanif Kureishi, artistic director Ekow Eshun and novelist Esther Freud. Other guests included Saadi Youssef and Richard Branson.

India

Kitab New Delhi

Kitab, sponsored by the Hindustan Times, with The Times (UK) as its English media partner, was held at the India Habitat Centre in south Delhi, India, 7–9 April 2006. It was India's first international literary festival. Speakers included actress Goldie Hawn, member of the British Parliament Clare Short, historian William Dalrymple, writer Nadeem Aslam, UN Under-Secretary General Shashi Tharoor and journalist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown.

The festival programme consisted of discussions on subjects such as Globalisation, the writer and the nation; Women's writing: what is it and do women want it?; Media Culpa: Does the media fail literature in the UK and India? Debates, book readings, Q&A sessions and lectures were also held. The most entertaining debate was on the subject 'Humanity, fallibility and truth in contemporary politics' Vir Sanghvi chaired the debate with Clare Short, Rory Stewart and Shashi Tharoor.

Kitab Mumbai

The second Kitab was held in Mumbai, India, February 23–36, 2007. Ganguli said the festival was going to be 'Bollywood meets International Literature'. Participants included Shekhar Kapur, Philip Hensher, Jackie Kay, and Geoff Dyer.

China

Liberatum Hong Kong

Asia Tatler and the Wall Street Journal announced that Ganguli would present Liberatum in Hong Kong in 2012. Participants include Pharrell Williams, Rossy de Palma, Paul Schrader, Thomas Heatherwick, Daniel Wu and Khalil Fong. Vogue China editor in chief said it was one of the very few free cultural events open to the public. The event was reportedly a wild ride with Pharrell Williams as the headliner.

Arab World

Majestic Petra

The Majestic Petra Festival was originally scheduled to be held in December 2006 in Petra, Jordan. Ganguli postponed the festival in October, citing 'security concerns'. In mid-December 2006 it was reported that the festival's location had changed to Dubai. It did not take place in the end.

Russia

Jewel of Russia

An international festival of arts, literature and music called "Jewel of Russia" was held in St Petersburg from 27–31 October 2007. As of February 2007, Ganguli was hoping to stage talks, readings and discussions. Confirmed guests, according to the programme on the Liberatum website, included Edward Docx, Orlando Figes, Alex James, Jasper Conran, Mikhail Piotrovsky, Norman Rosenthal, Stephen Frears and Lyudmila Ulitskaya. Participants of the Jewel of Russia festival discussed, debated and reflected upon subjects relating to arts, media, fashion, music, literature and freedom of speech. The broadcaster Jon Snow also took part in the programme. One of the festival venues was the Hermitage Museum.

Lufthansa was the title sponsor of the festival, therefore the name of the festival was Lufthansa Jewel of Russia. The music programme of the festival was directed by Alexander Zeldin. Opera and concerts were performed at the Mariinsky Theatre. Thomas Ades, Valery Gergiev and Peter Donohoe conducted and performed.

AngloMockBa

According to the Liberatum website, Ganguli's most recent venture (1–3 May 2009) was a festival of British-Russian arts, fashion, film, media, music and literature called AngloMockBa. It is understood to have been the second edition of Jewel of Russia. AngloMockBa was supported and sponsored by TIME, Swissotel Krasnye Holmy, bmi, BBC Russian Service, Audi and The Moscow Times.

The Times reported that guests included leading British and Russian cultural and media personalities such as Michael Nyman, Martha Fiennes, Gavin Turk, Michael Craig-Martin, Irina Hakamada, Lucy Freud, Andrei Konchalovsky, Masha Tsigal, Amanda Eliasch, Danny Moynihan, William Orbit, Henry Holland (fashion designer), Stephen Jones (milliner), Dylan Jones and Stephen Frears. Venues include Dasha Zhukova's Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, ABC Art Gallery, The Most and Eisenstein Film Library.

The St PetersBall

Pablo Ganguli and Liberatum were commissioned by Corinthia Hotels to develop a festival in St Petersburg in November 2010. The St PetersBall celebrated ballet, art, film and fashion. Participants included John Hillcoat, Johnny Borrell of Razorlight, DBC Pierre, Jasper Conran, Polly Morgan, dancers from the Mikhaylovsky Theatre, singers from the St Petersburg Conservatory and Mat Collishaw. Venues included the Academy of Fine Arts, Dom Kino and Lazarev Gallery. Festival partners such as L'Officiel Magazine and BMW took part in St PetersBall.

Turkey

Istancool

Ganguli founded and directed a major festival of cultural diplomacy and international arts in Istanbul in July 2010 under the title 'Istancool'. Liberatum claimed the festival's aim was to showcase all that is contemporary about Istanbul as a great world city while celebrating its past and heritage. Istancool brought together leading fashion, arts and cultural figures from Milan, London, Paris and New York City including Terence Koh, Daphne Guinness, Leigh Lezark, The Misshapes, Michael Nyman, Gareth Pugh, Gore Vidal, Bernard-Henri Lévy, Lily Cole, Zaha Hadid, Philip Treacy, Sir VS Naipaul, Franca Sozzani, Lee Daniels, Waris Ahluwalia and Jefferson Hack. The festival celebrated Istanbul's status as the 2010 European Capital of Culture. It aimed to showcase the great talents of Turkey and connect them with leading global figures. Istancool sponsors and partners consisted of Turkish Airlines, Istanbul 74, Vakko, Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism, AnOther Magazine, Vogue Turkiye, Harper's Bazaar, Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture Agency, Sakip Sabanci Museum, Turkish Airlines, Pera Museum and Istanbul Modern.

Istancool 2

Liberatum and Ganguli worked in partnership with Turkish agency Istanbul'74 again on the second edition of Istancool in May 2011. Participants who travelled to Istanbul included Courtney Love, Kirsten Dunst, Tilda Swinton, Michael Stipe, Terry Gilliam, Ryan McGinley, Dan Colen, Sophie Calle, Reha Erdem, Serra Yilmaz, Venice Film Festival director Marco Mueller, Sam Taylor-Wood, Aaron Johnson among many others. Main sponsor VAKKO supported the festival while other partners included Pegasus Airlines, EDITION Hotel and the Turkish Ministry of Tourism and Culture.

Europe

England

On 23 November 2010, Pablo Ganguli launched the Liberatum Cultural Honour award and hosted a Liberatum dinner in honour of Nobel Laureate Sir VS and Lady Naipaul. The dinner was held in London at the Langham Hotel and it featured dignitaries such as Sir Richard Eyre, Victoria and Albert Museum director Sir Mark Jones (museum director), Serpentine Gallery director Julia Peyton Jones, Terry Gilliam, Christopher Hampton, Mike Figgis, Grayson Perry, Martin Amis, BFI director Amanda Nevill, Sotheby's Chairman James Stourton, Charlotte Casiraghi, Sir Evelyn Robert de Rothschild, Lady Lynn Forester de Rothschild, Alexander Dellal, Mariella Frostrup and many others to celebrate the career of Sir VS Naipaul. Liberatum recently collaborated with Sir VS Naipaul on a recent cultural mission to Turkey for the Istancool festival. In 2011, Liberatum honoured Sir Peter Blake in London at the Corinthia Hotel London and also celebrated its 10th anniversary.

In 2011, Pablo Ganguli, Liberatum and W Hotels hosted an event celebrating fashion and cinema with Andre Leon Talley, Dame Vivienne Westwood and Manolo Blahnik in London.

France

Ganguli hosted a celebratory event and dinner in honour of Another Magazine in January 2011 in Paris. Guests who attended included Kate Moss, Riccardo Tisci, Rick Owens, Christian Louboutin, Marianne Faithfull, Carine Roitfeld and Suzy Menkes.

Germany

Pablo Ganguli, Liberatum, in partnership with Soho House and Grey Goose Vodka, hosted a summit in Berlin in July 2012. Artists who attended and took part included James Franco, Marianne Faithfull, Carmen Dell'Orefice, Jonas Akerlund, Nelly Furtado, Nobel Prize–winning author Wole Soyinka, Lily Cole, Kim Cattrall and others. The summit featured performance art and music events with Azari & III, Rossy de Palma, David Fernandez and Jewels Good. Berlin Liberatum also paid tribute to Marianne Faithfull and celebrated her career achievements.

Films

Inspiring Creativity

Ganguli's direction of a short film with illy earned him widespread recognition and positive media coverage in international press. The film featured several world-renowned artists, musicians and actors such as James Franco, Tracey Emin and Hans Zimmer. It was co-directed by Tomas Auksas.

Artistry/Technology

Ganguli directed another film with Tomas Auksas on the relationship between art and technology featuring Frank Gehry, David Hockney, Francis Ford Coppola and MIA.

In This Climate

Ganguli made a feature length documentary with Tomas Auksas on climate change and the environment called In This Climate featuring Sir David Attenborough, Mark Ruffalo and Cher

Personal life

In 2000, Ganguli met Simon Scaddan, then British Deputy High Commissioner to eastern India, at a musical soiree in the French Consulate in Calcutta. When Scaddan became British High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea in 2001, Ganguli moved into his diplomatic residence as his official consort/partner. The relationship became public in 2003.

In August 2006 it was reported that the Ganguli and Scaddan had split, although remaining friends, and that Ganguli was living in Scaddan's Edinburgh apartment. In 2007, it was reported that Ganguli was living in Wales. In 2009, The Times stated that Ganguli was based in London.

The Times reported in 2009 that Ganguli's partner was the Lithuanian artist Tomas Auksas who joined him at his Moscow festival. They have since separated.