A virtual tour of the city conducted by Caterina Brazzi Castracane, historian, author and tour guide

Vicenza, known as the “city of Palladio”, was founded in the 2nd century B.C. in northern Italy. Vicenza prospered under Venetian rule from the early 15th to the end of the 18th century. The work of Andrea Palladio (1508–80), based on a detailed study of classical Roman architecture, gives the city its unique appearance. Palladio's urban buildings, as well as his villas, scattered throughout the Veneto region, had a decisive influence on the development of architecture. His work inspired a distinct architectural style known as Palladian, which spread to England and other European countries, and also to North America.

An initiative of the Italian Embassy Cultural Centre, New Delhi and Bell’Italia 88

(50 min)
Recording of Professor Mahmood Mamdani giving the Edward W Said London Lecture 2017 on 31 March 2017, at The British Museum, London. Prof. Mamdani is a Ugandan academic, author and political commentator, presently Chancellor, Kampala International University, Uganda; Director, Makerere Institute of Social Science Research; the Herbert Lehmann Professor of Government, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University; and Professor of Anthropology, Political Science and African Studies, Columbia University. In the lecture Mamdani examines the question of justice in the postcolonial period, in the writings of Aime Cesaire and Nelson Mandela. He looks at how South Africa's transition from apartheid presents a critique of the lessons drawn from the Nuremberg trials of Nazi war criminals.

Of Bridges & Breaks- The Constitution at a Crossroads |  ( Click here to watch )

Electoral Democracy in India – From Spectacle to Substance

Speakers: Shri R. Venkataramani, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India and former Member, Law Commission of India; and Dr. Neelanjan Sircar, Assistant Professor, Ashoka University and Senior Visiting Fellow, Centre for Policy Research

Moderator: Ms Ritwika Sharma, Lead Charkha and Senior Resident Fellow, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy

A new year-long series of monthly conversations jointly curated and presented with Charkha, the Constitutional Law Research Centre, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. The conversations have been envisaged to spark thoughtful, nuanced discussions on some of the most significant constitutional challenges of our times. The conversations will focus on three broad themes – understanding Indian democracy, unpacking Indian federalism, and unearthing civil liberties

This Life at Play: Memoirs

By Girish Karnad; translated by Girish Karnad and Srinath Perur (Fourth Estate: 19 May 2021)

Discussants: Ms Nasreen Munni Kabir, television producer, director and author based in UK; Ms Arundhati Ghosh, Executive Director, India Foundation for the Arts; and Dr. Srinath Perur, writer, author and co-translator of the book

Chair: Shri Suryasarathi Bhattacharya

Girish Karnad was one of modern India’s greatest cultural figures: an accomplished actor, a path-breaking director, an innovative administrator, a clear-headed and erudite thinker, a public intellectual with an unwavering moral compass, and above all, the most extraordinarily gifted playwright of his times. Moving and humorous, This Life at Play translated from the Kannada in part by Karnad himself and in part by Srinath Perur, is insightful and candid, the memoirs provide an unforgettable glimpse into the life-shaping experiences of a towering genius, and a unique window into the India in which he lived and worked.  

Prof. Deborah Swallow, Director, Courtauld Institute of Art, London will speak on

Art for All: Samuel Courtauld, collecting and public patronage

The concept of 'Art for All' is universally endorsed, but what does it really mean?
Industrialist Samuel Courtauld ensured that the great impressionist and post-impressionist paintings that he purchased, and so loved, were primarily in the collections of public institutions. He passionately believed in the positive impact of great art. Yet the concept of 'Art for All' in the 1920s is different from that in the 2020s. Today arts and cultural institutions, are rightly being challenged about what they do, what they hold, whose work they show and whom they are for. This talk will look at the history of The Courtauld from this perspective and its hopes for the future.  Prof. Deborah Swallow is the Märit Rausing Director of The Courtauld Institute of Art, London.  Founded in 1932, The Courtauld is the UK’s leading specialist institution for research and study in the history of art, architecture, and conservation, with an art gallery and a world-renowned art collection. Before joining the Institute, Prof. Swallow worked for 21-years in the Indian and Asian Departments at the Victoria and Albert Museum and 8 years in the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

(Collaboration: JD Centre of Art)

Poetry in Corona Times

A discussion with Anamika; Prof. K. Satchidanandan; Priya S. Chabria; and Sudeep Sen

Moderator: Ashok Vajpeyi, Managing Trustee, The Raza Foundation

(Collaboration: The Raza Foundation)

Dusk to Dawn: Poetic Voices on the Current Times South Asia and Beyond
Edited by Chandra Mohan, Rita Malhotra and Anamika (Heritage Publishers, New Delhi: 2021)

Discussants: Shri Ashok Vajpeyi, eminent poet and critic; Prof. Sanjukta Dasgupta, academic, poet, Convenor, English Advisory Board, Sahitya Akademi and President, Intercultural Poetry and Performance Library, ICCR, Kolkata; Dr. Chandra Mohan, Chair, ICLA Standing Research Committee South Asian Literature and Culture and one of the Editors of the book

Moderator: Prof. Malashri Lal, academic, writer and Editor

Chair: Shri N.N. Vohra, President, IIC 

Witness for the Prosecution (USA) | ( Click here to watch )
(116 min; 1957; b/w; English)
Director: Billy Wilder

With Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton

Multiple award winner including David for Best Foreign Actor, David di Donatello Awards 1958; Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress, Golden Globes, USA 1958; Golden Train Award for Best Actress, Faro Island Film Festival 1957; among others

Ailing barrister Sir Wilfrid Robarts is thrust back into the courtroom in what becomes one of the most unusual and eventful murder case of the lawyer's career when he finds himself defending Leonard Vole, a man being tried for the murder of a wealthy woman. With Robarts choosing to represent him, the two find themselves up against Leonard's cold-hearted wife, Christine - who, in a surprising turn of events, chooses to appear in court against her husband.