Artistic Explorations of the Himalaya

Speaker: Dr Vladimir Zaitsev, art historian, curator and museologist
The talk traces the centuries-long history of visual artists’ engagements with the mountainous regions of northern India, Nepal and Tibet, including early European efforts to visually document borderland terrains, flora, fauna and cultures.

Himalayan Landscapes as Portals to Transcendence: A Personal Account of Sublime Visuality in Geographic Exploration
Speaker: Dr Vaibhav Kaul, mountain geographer and multidisciplinary artist
Drawing from two decades of visual and audiovisual documentation in the Himalaya, the talk explores the aesthetic, emotional and contemplative dimensions of geographic field research in remote mountain landscapes.

Followed by a Film Screening 
Mountain, Priest, Son
(27 minutes; 2018; Hindi with English subtitles)
Directed by John Seddon and Vaibhav Kaul

Set in one of India’s most sacred and geologically fragile mountain regions, the documentary explores vulnerability, resilience and changing belief systems through the lives of a priest and his family who survived a devastating flood.

The talks and film screening are being held in conjunction with the exhibition ‘Glacial Mothers: The Numinous Realms of Annapurna and Nanda Devi’, featuring artworks by Vaibhav Kaul, on view at the Annexe Art Gallery.

MUSIC APPRECIATION PROMOTION

Carmen: More than an Opera
An illustrated presentation by Dr Punita G. Singh

This presentation will encounter the many facets of Carmen, the lead character of Georges Bizet’s opera, based on a story by Prosper Mérimée. First performed in 1875 to a mixed response, the opera has since become legendary and a favourite with performers and audiences around the world. The opera has also drawn criticism for its stereotypic, exoticized and negative representation of the Roma (gitano/gypsies). Some artists, writers and academics have presented counternarratives to claim Carmen as a symbol of autonomy and agency, rallying against machismo, patriarchy, racism and fascism. With its catchy music and scope for interpretation and reinvention, the opera will evidently endure and Carmen shall keep reincarnating to assert her rebellious spirit.
Dr Punita G Singh is a musicologist, linguist, acoustician, editor and educator based in New Delhi
 

Smart & Sustainable Mobility Through Cycling

Speakers: Rekha Gupta, Chief Minister of Delhi (TBC); Kuljit Singh Chahal, Vice Chairperson, New Delhi Municipal Council;  K.N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC; Rohina Gupta, Director, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs; Sir Graham Watson, President, World Cycling Alliance; Laurianne Krid, CEO, European Cyclists’ Federation; Mayank Srivastava, Deputy Director General, Sports Authority of India; D.V. Manohar, Chairman, SmartBike and First Vice President, World Cycling Alliance

A national seminar exploring cycling as a sustainable and people-centric mobility solution for Indian cities, with discussions on reducing dependence on fossil fuel-driven transport, addressing air pollution and public health concerns, and learning from global best practices in urban mobility. The seminar will also deliberate upon policy innovations and infrastructure required to build safer and more cycling-friendly urban environments.

Kindly register for the same: https://meraevents.ai/events/smart-and-sustainable-mobility-through-cyc…

(Collaboration: World Cycling Alliance, SmartBike and FIT INDIA)

 

AAJ KAVITA
Bodhisattva, Shailja Pathak (Mumbai); Rakesh Renu (Delhi) and Nand Bharadwaj (Jaipur) will read their poems.

(Collaboration: Raza Foundation)
 

MUSIC APPRECIATION PROMOTION
Music in the Cinema of Ritwik Ghatak 
An illustrated lecture by Partha Chatterjee

Ritwik Ghatak used music in his eight feature films, and several documentaries both as a counterpoint, and even as a counter-melody in conjunction with the image that unravelled the story or the narrative thus adding clarity and richness to the whole film. He used Folk melodies of both East and West Bengal, Hindustani music – both vocal and instrumental, Rabindra Sangeet, and on occasions small selections from Western Classical instrumental music.

Partha Chatterjee is a filmmaker, journalist and rasika of the Arts.

BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP

From Dynasties to Democracy: Politics, Caste and Power Struggles in Rajasthan 
by Deep Mukherjee & Tabeenah Anjum (Macmillan, 2025)

Speakers: Mr. Aditya Menon,Political Editor, The Quint (Moderator); Mr. Akhil Chaudhary,Lawyer and human rights activist ; Mr. Bhanwar Meghwanshi, Writer and social activist;  Ms. Seema Chishti,Editor, The Wire;
Mr. Deep Mukherjee, Author of the book;  Dr. Tabeenah Anjum, Author of the book

INDIAN ARCHAEOLOGY 
Evolution of Bharatiya Knowledge System: Archaeological Perspective

Speaker: Prof. Vasant Shinde, former Professor and Vice-Chancellor, Deccan College, Pune; Adjunct Professor at IIT, BHU, IIT, Hyderabad and the Central University of Haryana

Chair:  K. N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC

Moderator: Pratap Bhanu Singh Sengar, former Director (Monuments) Archaeological Survey of India

Based on archaeological data it is evident that the Bharatiya Knowledge System originates around 7000 BCE. Basic technologies and knowledge for production of various crafts were developed by the early farming communities around 7000BCE. These technologies and knowledge gradually refined and fully developed around 2500 BCE. The presentation will take a survey of this development and explain, with archaeological evidence, what different knowledge systems were introduced and their continuity till date
 

The German contribution in Himalayan understanding with special references to the Schlangitweit brothers

Chair : Ashok Vajpeyi, Poet, critic and editor. Managing and life Trustee, The Raza Foundation

Talk by Dr. Hermann Kreutzmann

Prof. Emeritus Dr. Hermann Kreutzmann,  held the Chair of Human Geography at Freie Universitat Berlin until March 2020. His main research interest is regionally located in Central and South Asia ; the topics range from development studies, high mountain research, mobility and migration to political geography and minority issues. Empirical research has been implemented for more than 40 years resulting in more than 25 books and 250 plus published research papers.

Talk by Prof. Shekhar Pathak
Remembering Pundit Nain Singh Rawat who began in journey with Schlangitweit brothers

Professor Shekhar Pathak is a historian. He is a former professor of History at Kumaun University, Nainital and has been a Nehru Fellow at the Centre for Contemporary Studies at the Nehru Memorial, Teen Murti, New Delhi. He founded the People’s Association for Himalaya Area Research (PAHAR) in 1983. He is an intrepid traveler of the Himalayas and has worked on several aspects of Himalayan history such as local movements, freedom struggle, personalities and culture of Uttarakhand etc.

This talk is being held in conjunction with the ongoing exhibition ‘Himalayan Encounters – Hidden Views from 170 Years Ago: The Schlagintweit Drawings in India’, currently on view at the Annexe Art Gallery until 29 April 2026  

MUSIC APPRECIATION PROMOTION

Manodharma Sangeeta: Scope and Expression within the compositions of Dr. Balamuralikrishna in Carnatic Music
Presentation by Prof P. B. Kanna Kumar

M. Balamuralikrishna was a legendary musician known for his remarkable creativity and versatility. This lecture will highlight the many dimensions of his musical contributions, including his excellence in composing padavarnams with rich sahitya and linguistic brilliance in languages such as Sanskrit and Telugu. It will discuss his innovations in creating new ragas, exploring varied talas, and composing different musical forms in multiple languages, including distinctive tillanas. The lecture will mainly focus on the elements of manodharma (the creative improvisational aspects) found in his compositions.

Prof. P. B. Kanna Kumar is a distinguished Carnatic classical vocalist and Professor in the Department of Music at the University of Delhi
 

BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP

The Power of Ayurveda & Yoga
By Anita Dua (Shubhi Publications, 2026)

Discussants: Vaidya Devendra Triguna, Leading practitioner of Ayurveda; Annantharam Sharma, HOD Panchakarma and Former Medical Superintendent, All India Institute of Ayurveda; Bijoylaxmi Hota, Author & Yoga Therapist; Anita Dua, Author of the Book