Smolensk (Poland)

(120 min; 2016; dvd; English subtitles)

Director: Antoni Krauze

 

Veteran filmmaker, Antoni Krauze’s film focuses on the 2010 crash in Smolensk, western Russia, of a Polish government plane with 96 people on board, including President Lech Kaczy?ski and the First Lady, on 10 April 2010. The main protagonist is an investigative journalist with a large private television station who is trying to probe all the circumstances surrounding the tragedy

 

(Collaboration: Polish Institute, New Delhi)

 

The Rafoogars and the Journey of a Shawl

This exhibition and workshop presents rafoogari, the traditional skill of darning applied in the maintenance and preservation of precious textiles by the rafoogar communities across India. Said to be synonymous with the repair of intricately designed Jamawars/’Kani’ shawls and robes of Kashmir, these shawls, along with Islam came to India from Central Asia, and have since been refined by local cultural mores through a process of appropriation and acculturation, pushing technique to its creative limit

 

Inauguration by Smt Anita Lal on Tuesday, 10 April 2018 at 18:00

                                                                            

On Thursday 12 April from 17:00 to 18:30

Conversation and Curated Walk 

By Priya Ravish Mehra, artist, weaver, researcher and designer

 

From 13 to 15 April, 11:00 to 18:00

Workshop/Baithak with the Rafoogars

An interactive workshop/baithak with six Rafoogars from Najibabad, skilled in darning and mending of kani to woollen shawls, carpets and rugs.

 

Materials for the workshop will be provided

 

(Collaboration: Priya Ravish Mehra; and Craft Revival Trust)

 

Dastangoi – Colours of Love

Two stories by Ismat Chugtai

Presented by Sunil Mehra and Askari Naqvi

 

Amar Bel: An older man marries a young beautiful girl. And their love, their lives slowly, tragically, unravel…

 

Mughal Baccha: A poignant, bitter sweet tale set against the backdrop of crumbling Mughal aristocracy and the end of the feudal era

 

 

Lead presentation by Prof. C.R. Babu, Professor Emeritus, Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems, (CEMDE) School of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi

 

Discussants: Dr. Faiyaz A. Khudsar, Scientist-in-Charge, Yamuna Biodiversity Park; and Dr. R. Gopinath, IFS, Assistant Inspector General of Forests, Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change

 

Chair: Suhas Borker, founder member, Green Circle of Delhi

 

Tilpat Valley Biodiversity Park, inaugurated in February 2018 is the third green space of its kind after Yamuna and Aravalli Biodiversity parks developed by Delhi Development Authority (DDA). Nestled between Tughlaqabad and Asola-Bhati wildlife sanctuary and spread over 69 acres, the park’s landscape includes grasslands and hilly terrain. Scientists at the Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems, are now engaged in studies to measure the impact of the biodiversity parks on Delhi’s ecology in terms of carbon sequestering and groundwater recharge

 

As a follow-up to this meeting, The Green Circle of Delhi is arranging a special visit for IIC Members to the Tilpat Valley Biodiversity Park on Sunday, 15 April 2018 at 07:00. In view of limited number of seats, Members interested in visiting the park are requested to please register their participation during the discussion on 9 April 2018

 

(Collaboration: Green Circle of Delhi)

 

PANORAMA OF INDIA’S ART HERITAGE

 

Pagla Thakur

On the life of Thakur Ramakrishna presented in traditional Jatra form

By Chapal Bhaduri who will essay the role of Rani Rasmoni

 

(Collaboration: Impresario India)

 

PANORAMA OF INDIA’S ART HERITAGE: 7 AND 8 APRIL 2018

 

Songs of Bengal

Presented by Supratik Das from Kolkata who will present an evening of songs of different genres in Bengal

 

The Rohingya Issue: Broader Perspectives

Panelists: Ambassador Vijay K. Nambiar,  veteran Indian diplomat and until recently, the UN Secretary General's Special Representative for Myanmar; Ambassador Gautam Mukhopadhaya, former Indian Ambassador to Myanmar; and Dr. Khin Zaw Win, Democratic rights activist and Director,Tampadipa Institute, Yangon

 

Chair: Shri Mukul Kesavan, author and historian

 

The Rohingya issue has been dealt in India, mainly from a  security point of view, influenced by concerns regarding unchecked illegal migration, weak refugee laws, and the dangers of religious radicalisation and terrorism, or otherwise, in line with international coverage of the issue, from a purely human rights perspective. The panelists will attempt to contribute a more holistic understanding of the problem, and possible ways ahead  

 

The Folklore of India Series: Poetic Kaleidoscope

Dogri Folk Poetry: An Introduction by Prof. Brij Mohan

 

Release of ‘Crooked Hyphens’, a poetry collection by Geetika Kohli Amla

The book will be released by Dr. Karan Singh

 

Followed by readings from the book

 

Dogri Folk Songs will be sung by Anmol Amla

Chair: Dr. Karan Singh

 

(Collaboration: The Poetry Society, India)

 

SPRING FESTIVAL OF DANCE & MUSIC

 

At 18:00 

Bharatanatyam Recital

By Deepti Parol from Kozhikode, Kerala, disciple of Shri VP Dhananjayan  

 

Followed by

 

At 19:00

Odissi Recital  

By  Sharmila Mukherjee from Bangalore, disciple of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra along with her disciples, Surajit Som and Suranjana Endow presenting new choreographies