Khala Ghali: Art Alley Night Market

Khala Ghali, the Hindu words for art alley, gathered a unique array of artists from a variety of disciplines including: theater, music, performance art, painting, mixed media, sculpture, multimedia and dance for a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it art happening on the 100 block of West Mifflin and 100 block of North Carroll on August 24, 2007 from 5 to 9pm. Khala Ghali was inspired by the night markets of Hong Kong and the art streets of India, and infused with D.I.Y. spirit of the craft wave that is sweeping the national art scene. The Khala Ghali BLINK recipients organized this event out of a deep desire to bring the diversity of Madison’s arts community together for an outdoor night market with a little fringe. The premiere Madison Khala Ghali took place at the Philosophers Grove (2004) by Jill Sebastian and Forum of Origin (1995) by Brower Hatcher at the top of State, Mifflin, and Carroll on Friday, August 24 from 5:00-9:00pm. The event featured nationally recognized multimedia artist Mark Nelson, Mercury Players Theater, and Kanopy Dance Company among others.

"The most enjoyable part of the night for me was watching the reactions of the people and how they interacted with the public art and the performers. These reactions we done through verbal comments and physical interaction. I actually had a group of kids scream, "Oh gross, don't touch it", to a lady kneel down on my piece. There was also a professor from White Water who came to the first scheduled date, but we got rained out and made sure to come to our rain day September 7. He talked to me about my piece, art theory, philosophy, and sociology of art for over 45 minutes. He than commented about how he travels to Madison to support the Arts and city. Again THANK YOU to the city of Madison for giving public art and performers a chance to be recognized." Naomi Schliesman