On 12 March, 2015, Prime Minister Modi made an important speech, at Port Louis, when he gifted an India-made Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) during his official visit to Mauritius. Calling it ‘SAGAR’ (‘Security and Growth for All in the Region’), he articulated India’s vision about the future of the Indian Ocean and the approach to realise it. His speech touches upon the strategic dimension of the policy as well as a roadmap of ecologically wholesome regional integration in which all stakeholders, both regional and non-regional, can invest on the principle of the primary security responsibility resting with the littoral countries.

 

Former diplomats, security analysts and domain experts gather for a day-long seminar to discuss various aspects of Prime Minister’s landmark speech on the country’s engagement with the Indian Ocean Region which faces multiple challenges impacting on India’s national security and well-being against the backdrop of geo-strategy flux and uncertainty. Together, they explore these challenges and reflect as to how Prime Minister envisions converting these challenges into transformative opportunities for India’s and the region’s future. The seminar has been organised by Ambassador (retd) Yogendra Kumar in collaboration with the India International Centre and with the support of Ministry of External Affairs. It will be web cast live with the further details being available at http://streaminglive.in/webcast/yogendra_kumar/.

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Sitar Recital

By Soumyajit Paul from Kolkata, disciple of Pt Soumitra Lahiri

 

 

 

Discussion and launch on book on Women, Peace and Security  in Northeast India, Bangladesh & Myanmar

 

Speakers: Ms Friederike Tschampa, Head of Political Section, Delegation of European Union in India; Ms Nivedita Varshneya, Country Director, Welterhungerhilfe India; and Dr. Anuradha Chenoy, JNU

 

Discussion will also include contributors to the book from Mizoram, Manipur, Assam, other parts of Northeast India and Chin Refugee Representative from Myanmar

 

(Collaboration: Control Arms Foundation of India)

 

 

Craft Nouveau: Celebrating a Decade of Education for Artisans

The seminar reflects on ten years of education for artisans. Divided into three focused parts, the faculty, trustees, artisan advisors, graduates of Somaiya Kala Vidya (SKV) and experts in the world of craft and design discuss the ground-breaking programme and its impact

 

Education for Artisans Programme

Judy Frater, Ashoka Fellow, Founder-Director and initiator of the concept

 

Discussants: Amrita Somaiya, Trustee, K.J. Somaiya Trust; Lokesh Ghai, Faculty, Governing Council Member, SKV; Bishakha Shome, Faculty, Learning material developer; Shyamji Vishramji Siju, Master Weaver, Advisor, SKV; and 

Dr. Ismail Mohamed Khatri, Master Ajrakh printer, Advisor, SKV

 

Impact on Artisans

Dahyalal Kudecha, weaver, entrepreneur, Design and Business graduate, Faculty, SKV

 

Discussants: Irfan Anwar Khatri, Master Ajrakh printer, Governing Council Member, SKV; Laxmi Puwar, Design and Business graduate, Faculty, SKV; Aslam Abdul Karim Khatri, Ajrakh artist, Design graduate, presently BMA student; Purushottam Premji Vankar, Weaver, Design graduate, presently BMA student; Rajesh Vishramji Siju, Weaver, Design graduate, presently BMA student; and Talha Gulam Khatri, Bandhani artist, Design graduate, presently BMA student

 

Impact in the Market/Design World

Ritu Kumar, Designer

 

Discussants: Laila Tyabji, Chairperson, Dastkar; Jaya Jaitly, President, Dastakari Haat Samiti; Anjana Somany, President, Delhi Crafts Council and Governing Council Member, SKV; Anuradha Kumra, Fabindia; and Manjari Nirula, Vice-President, World Crafts Council, Asia-Pacific Region

 

Concluding Remarks: Ashoke Chatterjee, Former Executive Director and Distinguished Fellow, National Institute of Design

 

Moderator: Ritu Sethi, Chairperson, Craft Revival Trust

 

(Collaboration: Craft Revival Trust; and Somaiya Kala Vidya)

 

 

Faith – A Quaint Emotion

An exhibition of black and white photographs that interrogates the idea of faith

Photographs by Nilanjan Ray from Kolkata

 

Inauguration by Smt Antara Dev Sen, Editor, The Little Magazine on Tuesday, 29 November 2016 at 18:30 

 

Photography and Interpretation 

A Dialogue between Aditya Arya and Geeti Sen

 

 

Concert – Classical and Jazz

By Enrico Zanisi, young talented Jazz pianist from Italy

 

(Collaboration: Italian Cultural Institute)

 

 

Spiritual Ecology Lecture

 

Buddhist Awakening in the Middle of the Climate Crisis

Speaker: Dr. Deane Curtin, Hanson-Peterson Endowed Chair of Ethics and Professor of Philosophy at Gustavus Adolphus College. He is the author of several books and many articles. His research now focuses on Buddhist social ethics and the ethics of climate change, supported by a Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence Fellowship. He is based at Tibet House, Delhi.

 

This talk sketches out a Buddhist environmental ethic, the path of an eco-sattva. It then delves into Buddhist social ethics in search of practical advice on responding to planetary suffering. Questions include: what does the climate crisis look like from a Buddhist perspective? And, does the cultivation of traditional Buddhist “perfections” (such as patience as the antidote to anger) help us see what a practical Buddhist environmental ethic might look like? 

 

(Collaboration: Tibet House)

 

 

Inside the Painting

Three works of the iconic Lithuanian artist of the late 19th century, Mikalojus Konstantinas ?iurlionis (1875 – 1911), have been recreated in a 3D reality, and are presented in a virtual form. The visitor can view the paintings in different dimensions, offering a new way of experiencing. Though short for a short duration, the exhibition nevertheless unveils the future potential of new technologies being applied to the world of arts

 

Inauguration by H.E. Mr. Laimonas Talat-Kelpša, Ambassador of Lithuania on Friday, 25 November 2016 at 18:30 

 

The exhibition will include an A Capella Concert by the Lithuanian group, Where the Backs Come From

With Berta Timinskaitè (soprano); Silvija Pank?naitè (soprano); Algè Matek?naitè (alto); and Eglè Gadeikytè (alto)

 

(Collaboration: Embassy of Lithuania)

 

 

 

BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP

 

Performing Shakespeare in India: Exploring Indianness, Literature and Culture

Edited by Shormishtha Panja & Babli Moitra Saraf (New Delhi: Sage, 2016)

 

Discussants: Dr. Angelie Multani, Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Delhi; Prof. Christel Devadawson, Dept. of English, University of Delhi; Prof. Bishnupriya Dutt, School of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University; and Prof. Jonathan Gil Harris, Ashoka University

 

 

Chair: Prof. Rupin W. Desai, formerly Professor of English, University of Delhi