ART MATTERS
PHYSICAL PROGRAMME
Do Art Books Matter?
A discussion with Malvika Singh, author and publisher; Dayanita Singh, well-known photographer; Pramod KG, Managing Director, Eka Archiving Services, founder Director, Anokhi Museum of Handprinting and author and editor of several publications; Bhavna Kakar, Founder and Director, Latitude 28, and Editor and Publisher, TAKE on Art magazine; and Akshay Pathak, Head, Pro Helvetia, Swiss Arts Council
Chair: Ashok Vajpeyi
(Collaboration: The Raza Foundation)
IIC DIAMOND JUBILEE LECTURES ON DIGITAL GOVERNANCE
IoT Security’s Hidden Depths - How regulators can enable a secure IoT
Speaker: Dr. Richard Hayton, Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer and Chief Information and Security Officer, Trustonic
Chair: Ms Mahima Kaul, Head Public Policy, APAC Bumble
Treasures of Ancient Rome (2012)
A three-part documentary series presented by Alastair Sooke, taking an in-depth look at the art of the Roman Empire. In the documentary Sooke sets out to "debunk the myth that Romans didn't do art and were unoriginal". This is based on the view that Romans heavily incorporated Greek style in their art, and hence produced nothing new or original.
Episode 2: Pomp and Perversion (59 min) | Click here to watch
Director: Tim Dunn
Alastair Sooke follows in the footsteps of Rome's mad, bad and dangerous emperors in the second part of his celebration of Roman art. He explores the underwater remains of the Emperor Claudius's pleasure palace and ventures into the cave where Tiberius held wild parties.
The other side of the coin was the bombastic art the Romans are best remembered for - monumental arches and columns that boast about their conquests. Trajan's Column in Rome reads like the storyboard of a modern-day propaganda film. Sooke concludes with the remarkable legacy of the Emperor Hadrian.
Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision
(105 min; 1994; English)
Director: Freida Lee Mock
Recipient of the Oscar Award for Best Documentary, Features, Academy Awards 2015
This award-winning documentary is a portrait of the Chinese American sculptor who designed the Vietnam Veterans Memorial while an undergraduate student at Yale University. The film tells the gripping story behind the memorial and explores a decade of Maya Lin’s creative works, including the Civil Rights Memorial, revealing her ability to address major issues of our time through the power of art.
The Crisis of Civilization (UK)
The Crisis of Civilization (UK) | Click here to watch
(82 min; 2011; English)
Director: Dean Puckett
The Crisis of Civilization is a documentary feature film investigating how global crises like ecological disaster, financial meltdown, dwindling oil reserves, terrorism and food shortages are converging symptoms of a single, failed global system.
Honey at the Top (UK)
Honey at the Top (UK) | Click here to watch
(55 min; 2015; Kikuyu/English and with subtitles)
Director: Dean Puckett
Honey at the Top is a film about the Sengwer forest people of the Cherangani Hills, Kenya, being evicted from their ancestral land in the name of conservation. Facing international pressure from organisations like the World Bank, a corrupt Kenya Forest Service who are burning their houses, and attempts to turn the forest into a commodity through carbon offsetting schemes, the Sengwer fight to hold onto their culture and resist the evictions.
FOCUS ON WESTERN CLASSICAL MUSIC COMPOSERS
The Joy of Rachmaninoff (UK)
(60 min; 2016; English)
Director: Benjamin Whalley
A BBC Four production
Tom Service takes a cinematic journey through Russia on the trail of the wondrous yet melancholic melodies of Russian giant Sergei Rachmaninoff. A celebration of a composer's musical triumph over critical adversity and Soviet terror, with performances and contributions from Vladimir Ashkenazy, Denis Matsuev, Steven Isserlis, Stephen Hough, Vladimir Jurowski, Lucy Parham and James Rhodes.
Beatrix Potter with Patricia Routledge (UK)
(47 min; 2016; English)
Director: Ian Denyer
Actress Patricia Routledge takes viewers through the life of one of the most well-known children's authors ever, Beatrix Potter, creator of Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle-Duck and Jeremy Fisher.
Routledge, who portrayed Potter in 1998 in the stage play Beatrix and is the writer and presenter of this documentary, and its story is as lovely, colourful, and engaging as any of Beatrix Potter’s illustrated tales. Born in 1866 into a wealthy family in Kensington, London, “artistic talent was in Beatrix’s genes,” says Routledge, who gives viewers of this programme a glimpse of Potter’s childhood art, housed in the archives of the Victoria & Albert Museum. In its collection are many of Potter’s early paintings, including wonderful ones she made in a sketchbook when she was only nine years old.
Film: 'The Salt Stories'
PHYSICAL PROGRAMME
Film: 'The Salt Stories'
(84 min; 2008; b/w & colour; Hindi/English/Gujarati and with English subtitles)
Director: Lalit Vachani
Recipient of the Best Documentary Award, MIAAC 2009; and 2nd Prize, Film South Asia, Kathmandu 2009
In 1930, a group of Indians led by a frail, elderly man marched a distance of 241 miles. They marched for salt. Mahatma Gandhi was able to craft an anti-colonial, nationalist movement around the most basic issue of livelihood: the right of Indians to make and consume their own salt. Set against the backdrop of Gandhi’s original journey, this documentary is a road-movie about issues of livelihood in a modern, globalising India. It is a documentary about ‘the salt stories’ of our times.