An exhibition of Gond paintings; Kalighat patuas; Kalamkari; Madhubani paintings; Mata-ni-Pachedi paintings on cloth; Pichwai paintings; Theyyam masks; and Warli paintings 

Artists: Rajendra Kumar Shyam, Santosh Shyam Moti, Manoj Tekkam (Gond); Shanwar Chitrakar (Kalighat); Gurappa Chetty, Harinath N.  (Kalamkari); Baua Devi, Ajit Kumar Jha, Chandrakala Devi, Avinash Karn, Shalini Karn (Madhubani); Sanjay Manubhai Chitara (Mata-ni-Pachedi); Karan Pichwai, Manish Soni & group, Karan Singh Rajput (Pichwai);  Prasanth A.V. (Theyyam mask); and Amit Mahadev Dombhare, Sunil Khadpada, Sarita Suresh Banjara (Warli)

Curator: Meena Varma

The folk art and handicrafts of India are as diverse as the culture of the subcontinent. The Indian way of life is replete with products created with the aid of simple, indigenous tools by craftspeople who belong within a strong fabric of tradition, aesthetic and artistry. Each state has an abundance of traditional forms of art and crafts that have been passed on from one generation to the next and helped them sustain a living - Madhubani in Bihar, Kalamkari in Andhra Pradesh, Mata ni pachedi in Gujarat, Warli painting in Maharashtra, and Kalighat paintings and scrolls from West Bengal, to name a few.

While some artisans have adhered to age-old techniques and ideas, others have attempted to adapt to the changing times by imbibing contemporary themes and language. They derive their inspiration, innate wisdom, and skill not from books but from nature and their surroundings. Their art reflects the immense creativity of ordinary people and their quest for self-expression and fulfillment. These traditions that have continued undisturbed over the centuries have had to face the realities of rapid change brought about the inexorable forces of communication and globalization. However, India is still very creative in its villages, with the youth exposed to the art of making and transforming materials and spaces by the act of creation on a daily basis. Wall paintings and decorations are an everyday art in many parts of the country and each uses fascinating local variants to tell beautiful stories or to capture symbols of fertility and good will. Over time, folk and tribal art and craft has become an effective vehicle for self-development and for sustainable employment generation for much of our population living in difficult economic conditions. 

However, over the last decade, it is heartening to see renewed interest in our traditional art practices by art lovers, resulting in increased patronage for our gifted artists, thereby giving them the economic sustainability to continue with their art. It is in these art traditions that the spirit of India resides.

Panelists: Admiral H.C.S. Bisht, PVSM, AVSM, former Flag Officer; Commander-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command and former Director General, Indian Coast Guard; presently Administrative Member, Armed Forces Tribunal, Chandigarh; and Commodore R. Seshadrivasan, Director, Chennai Center of China Studies, and Regional Director, National Maritime Foundation, Chennai Chapter

Chair: Amb. K.P. Fabian, Professor, Indian Society of International Law; Distinguished Fellow, Symbiosis University  

The South China Sea (SCS) located in the Western Pacific Ocean with an area of 3.5 million sq. kms is one of the most important economic and environmental regions in the world. SCS also contains some of the world’s most important shipping lanes and is the site of inter-state disputes primarily because People’s Republic of China (PRC), although a signatory to UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas), has violated its provisions in many ways. China is only one of the littoral states, along with Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and Taiwan. Since a rule-based order is of utmost importance for humanity, India, United States, Australia, Japan, United Kingdom, France, and Germany, have insisted that PRC should abide by the UNCLOS. 
    
 

And then there were none (USA) | (97 min; 1945; b/w; English)

Director: René Clair

With Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Houston, Louis Heyward

Recipient of the Golden Leopard Award for Best Film and Award for Best Direction, Locarno International Film Festival 1946
Film adaptation of Agatha Christie’s bestselling 1939 mystery novel of the same name. Seven guests, a newly hired personal secretary and two staff are gathered for a weekend on an isolated island by the hosts, the Owens, who are delayed. At dinner, a record is played and the host's message alleges that all of the people present are guilty of murder, and suddenly the first of them is dead, then the next. It seems that one of them is the murderer

Willa Cather: The Road is All (USA) | (90 min; 2005; English)

Director: Joel Geyer

Documentary on Willa Cather, one of the greatest American novelists of the twentieth century, she was gifted in conveying an intimate understanding of her characters in relation to their personal and cultural environments. Awarded the Pulitzer Prize for One of Ours (1922), a novel set during World War I, critics have increasingly identified Cather as a canonical American writer, the peer of authors like Hemingway, Faulkner and Wharton.

Dramatic reading of a play in English by Namita Gokhale and Malashri Lal 

‘Delhi Bengali’, Oroon Das and Canada-based ‘Bangladeshi Bengali’, Inji Zayba Zaheer explore the early origins of modern Bengali identity through the life of poet extraordinaire, Michael Madhusudan Dutt and his journey from alienation to a return to selfhood.

Episode II of the play will be presented as part of the IIC online programme schedule for 14th to 20th December 2020

Video recorded play-reading for IIC online programmes.

MICHAEL MADHUSUDAN DUTT (1824-1872), a maverick who changed the scope of Bengali poetry in the nineteenth century, especially with his free-verse epic, Meghnadhbadh Kabya, was a genius who never got his due. Throughout his life, Madhusudan was caught in an identity crisis: he wrote in the English language, changed his religion and was a restless traveller, yearning to belong somewhere. After an extended sojourn in London and Versailles, with misery and poverty as his constant companions, the poet finally found his métier in his mother tongue.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Namita Gokhale is the author of seventeen works of fiction and non-fiction. She is the founder and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival, and Mountain Echoes, the Bhutan Literature Festival.

Malashri Lal has recently retired from the Department of English, University of Delhi, and is a member of the Sahitya Akademi advisory board. She has published fifteen books.

ABOUT THE PERFORMERS

Oroon Das is a designer, theatre artist and performer, inhabiting diverse realms ranging from literature and the arts to planning and policy in the culture sector.

Inji Zayba Zaheer is a Bangladeshi-American actor now based in Vancouver, Canada, having worked for a decade in the US, Bangladesh, Thailand and Canada.
    

Myths of Venice: Rediscovery of the Italian city of Venice (50 min)
A virtual tour of the city conducted by Caterina Brazzi Castracane, historian, author and tour guide

The floating city of Venice, one of the most extraordinary cities in the world was constructed on a swampy area, made up of over a hundred small islands and marshlands in between. A miracle of creative genius, a city built on mud, sand and the slime of a difficult, inhospitable landscape; and yet few cities can claim such a priceless heritage of art and history as Venice. The tour will travel through the city’s history and focus on some of the unique construction methods adopted there.
An initiative of the Italian Embassy Cultural Centre, New Delhi and Bell’Italia 88

Screening of NHK documentary films on Japan’s history, literature, art, culture and heritage. Organised with the support of NHK World and Embassy of Japan, New Delhi 

Ink Paintings: Insights into the Heart of Zen | (28 min; 2020; English and with subtitles)

Originating in China, ink painting was once part of a Zen monk’s ascetic training. It reveals the beauty of space in a simple, refined state and captivates the viewer, while conveying Zen tenets. The art form took hold and matured in Kyoto in the 15th century with masters, such as Josetsu and Sesshu, and Jakuchu in modern times, wielding great influence on the genre.