PHYSICAL PROGRAMME
    

Ray between the Covers
An exhibition of digital reprints of book jackets, illustrated and designed by Satyajit Ray, beginning with his early work for Signet Press. Included in the exhibition are book jackets for his own fiction and non-fiction work; examples of his calligraphic covers; word play with titles; buoyant and cheerful covers for children’s fiction, among others

This exhibition is part of the year-long celebrations marking the centenary year of Satyajit Ray, legendary filmmaker, writer, illustrator and music composer.

The exhibition will continue online from 2 March to 13 March 2022. To access the exhibition, please visit www.iicdelhinic.in
 

Introductory Text

Satyajit Ray, the artist:
Satyajit Ray was a multifaceted genius who will be remembered as much for his graphic designing and illustrations as for his storytelling prowess.  He was a great artist first, well before he made his name as a filmmaker. He designed book covers, film posters, illustrated children’s books and had a mastery over calligraphy and typography creating numerous new fonts in Bengali and four Roman fonts, receiving an award for designing the typeface for Ray Roman. Ray’s artistic work reflects a sophisticated experimentation with various artistic styles and traditions, both local and foreign, without compromising on aesthetic or authenticity. Throughout his career, sketching, graphic design and calligraphy merged seamlessly with his filmmaking. 

From early childhood Ray was acquainted with the process of printing blocks, block printing and block carving techniques that he picked up at the family owned printing press U Ray and Sons. In 1940, he joined Santiniketan to study art under Nandalal Bose and Binode Behari Mukherjee who instilled in him a love of Indian classical art, reinforced by a tour he took in 1941 to see the great masterpieces for himself. Ray visited Ajanta, Ellora, Elephanta, Sanchi and Khajuraho, assimilating the qualities that distinguish Eastern from Western art. Critics note that this awareness sharpened his perception of the way very small details in Indian art could be used to express something much greater.

As a graphic illustrator, Ray started his career in 1943 as a junior visualiser at D.J. Keymer (now Ogilvy), a British-run advertising agency where he established a strong reputation as an art director and designer. His advertisements often reflected his familiarity with different folk motifs, traditional day-to-day rangolis (in Bengal, alpana) or the patachitra style of painting. At the same time, Ray ventured out as a book cover designer for the newly opened pioneering publishing house, Signet Press where he designed some of his best book covers revolutionising book jacket designs in Bengali literary traditions. At Signet a significant early assignment was the entire responsibility of layout, illustration and cover design of the abridged version of Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay’s immortal Bengali classic Pather Panchali with far-reaching consequences.

With an impressive portfolio of 5,500 book covers, posters, advertisement layouts and film titles and innumerable illustrations for Bengali fiction, both his own and others, Satyajit Ray encapsulated a fine blend of functionality and aesthetics of illustrations.

PHYSICAL PROGRAMME
  
Presentations by Ven. Olande Ananda from Sri Lanka; Dr. Subhadra Desai, well-known vocalist; and Sonam Rinchen, flautist from Thailand

Introduction: Lama Doboom Tulku

(Collaboration:  World Buddhist Culture Trust)

PHYSICAL PROGRAMME
 

Sitar Recital
By Lakshay Mohan from Delhi, disciple of Pt. Balwant Rai Verma, Pt. Uma Shankar Mishra and Pt. Tejendra Narayan Majumdar

Accompanied by Pt. Vinod Lele on tabla

At 19:00

Bharatanatyam Recital
By Pavitra K. Bhat from Mumbai, disciple of Kumari Vasantha and Guru Deepak Mazumdar
 

A Haunting Tragedy: Gender, Caste and Class in 1866 Famine of Orissa

By Bidyut Mohanty (Routledge Taylor & Francis, New Delhi: 2022)

Discussants: Shri P. Sainath, Founder Editor, PARI (People’s Archives on Rural India); Prof. Tim Dyson, Emeritus Professor, London School of Economics, UK; Prof. Sanjay Sharma, Professor of History, Ambedkar University, Delhi; Prof. Pritish Acharya, Regional Institute of Education (NCERT), Bhubaneswar; Prof. Jean Dreze, Visiting Professor of Economic, Ranchi University, Jharkhand; and Dr. Bidyut Mohanty, Head, Women Studies, Institute of Social Sciences and author of the book

Chair: Prof. Ashwini Deshpande, Professor of Economics, Ashoka University, Sonipat 

(Collaboration: Social Science Research Community; Institute of Social Sciences; Development Research Institute; Bandung Network India; and Manohar Publishers)

To access the webinar: 
https://meet.google.com/vmf-ryfa-www 

Krishna Sobti: Classic Litterateur

A discussion with Anamika, Geetanjali and Sanjeev Kumar

Moderator: Ashok Vajpeyi

Organised to mark Krishna Sobti’s birth anniversary

(Collaboration: The Raza Foundation)

The Only Son (Netherlands) | Click here to watch
(78 min; 2013; English and with subtitles)
Director: Simonka de Jong

The Only Son is the story about the challenges of keeping Dolpo’s ancient culture alive as the area becomes less isolated. The film is primarily shot in Karang, a village at 13,000 feet in Upper Dolpo, one of the most remote areas of Nepal. 

The film centres on Pema’s parents’ expectation that Pema will return to Dolpo, Nepal, when he completes his education, marry a Dolpapa woman, and manage the family’s land. As the only son, this is his role in Dolpo’s traditional culture. Pema is torn between his duty to the family and his desire to live the modern life that he now prefers. 

https://www.documentarytube.com/videos/documentary-on-arranged-marriage…
 

Dangerous Knowledge (UK) | Click here to watch
(89 in; 2007; English)
Director: David Malone

A two-part documentary about four of the most brilliant mathematicians of all time, Georg Cantor, Ludwig Boltzmann, Kurt Gödel and Alan Turing, their genius, their tragic madness and their ultimate suicides.

Dangerous Knowledge: The Enigma (44 min)
Kurt Gödel, the introverted confidant of Einstein, proved that there would always be problems which were outside human logic. His life ended in a sanatorium where he starved himself to death. Finally, Alan Turing, the great Bletchley Park code breaker, father of computer science and homosexual, died trying to prove that some things are fundamentally unprovable.
 

Joseph Haydn: Libertine & His Master’s Servant (Germany) 
(54 min; 2009; English and with subtitles)
Director: Nele Münchmeyer
A DW film

Nele Münchmeyer's documentary throws light upon Haydn as the ingenious composer and as the private person – the "Libertine" in his private life and the "Servant" as the Kapellmeister of Esterházys'.

Haydn's lifetime saw a series of striking changes in musical style. At the time of his birth and childhood baroque traditions still prevailed. By the end of his life the apparent stability of the classical style was being challenged, notably by Beethoven. Haydn did not simply live through this long development; he was a central part of it.

The film includes excerpts from highly acclaimed performances of Haydn works. Amongst them are: the opera, Armida with the German Soprano Annette Dasch, Arias from Haydn performed by the Freiburger Barockorchester and the Baritone Thomas Quasthoff, performances of Die Schöpfung and Die Jahreszeiten conducted by Roger Norrington.

 Conan Doyle and the Realm of the Faeries (UK) | Click here to watch
(75 min; 2007; English)
Director: Philip Gardiner

Ever since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle first introduced him to readers back in 1887, Sherlock Holmes has fascinated fans of mystery fiction worldwide, and in this documentary filmmaker Phillip Gardiner explores the mind of both the author and the enduring characters he created. In exploring the life of Doyle, Gardiner uncovers a bizarre mystery of his own, one that seems almost stranger than the wildly imaginative fiction he penned for the written page. A tormented author with ominous ties to secret societies, the man who gave birth to Holmes, Moriarty, and Watson is almost as great a mystery as The Hound of the Baskervilles.