The India International Centre publishes a journal for the exposition of cultural patterns and values prevailing in different parts of the world. In 1965, the Centre launched Conspectus, which was subsequently discontinued. In 1974, the journal was revived as the IIC Quarterly, as a multi-disciplinary publication with essays from leading statesmen, writers, thinkers and activists from India and abroad, many of them being policy-makers in the government, academia, members of the intelligentsia and activists.
Originally initiated to publish talks given at the IIC, the Quarterly has widened its scope to focus on concerns of the Centre: on civic and international affairs, ethics and society, folklore and anthropology, indigenous knowledge systems, ecology and the environment, governance, and the arts and literature. The journal’s foremost concern is to promote an understanding of different cultures and civilisations, as well as to focus on contemporary issues of the day, reflecting in print the concerns of the institution.
Over the years, several eminent writers have contributed to this journal. Among them are Amartya Sen, Ivan Illich, Fritjof Capra, Kathleen Raine, A.K. Ramanujan, U.R. Ananthamurthy, Meghnad Desai, Sudhir Kakar, Narayana N.R. Murthy, Jayant Narlikar and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, to name just a few.
The Quarterly’s in-depth interviews with world leaders and people of commitment engages them in personal insights and political commentary. H.H. the Dalai Lama, Khushwant Singh, Romila Thapar, Nikhil Chakravartty, Shyam Benegal and Ebba Koch are a few among them. Rich in visual commentary, photo essays present the work of outstanding photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Richard and Pablo Bartholomew, Raghu Rai, Dayanita Singh and Ram Rahman. India’s foremost cartoonists – R.K. Laxman, Sudhir Dar and Abu Abraham – have all contributed generously to the Quarterly.
Once a year, the journal publishes a theme volume in collaboration with a leading publisher on subjects such as interrogating India’s national culture, exploring the human landscape, India at 60, India and Pakistan 60 years on, Women’s leadership and empowerment. These volumes are now treasured as collectors’ items.
The Quarterly is published as three volumes a year: two single and one double (theme) volume. Its editors have included a host of distinguished litterateurs such as A. Ravi Shekhar, Mira Sinha Bhattacharya, Roshan Seth, Sima Sharma, Geeti Sen and Ira Pande. It is currently edited by Omita Goyal.
