MUSIC APPRECIATION PROMOTION

The Legend of Pankaj Mullick

A presentation by Rajib Gupta, grandson of Pankaj Mullick

Tracing the life and times of music maestro Pankaj Mullick through his songs and compositions and their everlasting influence on Indian music

Rajib Gupta is a voice artiste, writer, designer and filmmaker

From Quetta to Delhi: A Partition Story

Memories Revived Through Music

Release of the book by Reena Nanda (New Delhi: Bloomsbury, 2018)

Speakers: Narayani Gupta, historian; and Parvati Sharma, novelist and short story writer

Followed by a Concert

By Pamela Singh, Punjabi singer and actor with Neelam Mansingh’s The Company, Chandigarh

The partition of the Punjab in 1947 was not just the loss of a physical space but of the culture and ethos it embodied. Multilingual with multiple identities, it was a pluralist culture in which bhajans, shabads, sufi kafis and qawwalis were equally popular with people of all religions. There was an invisible cost of Partition besides the loss of life and property. It was the destruction of the psychic equilibrium of the displaced population, the ‘refugees’. This is the story of one such woman, Shakunt Nanda, who coped with mental distress by escaping into memories of the part, mourning the loss of the old Punjabiyat, remembering the old songs which will be presented by Pamela Singh

Two talks by Prof. Sitta von Reden, Historian of Ancient Greece, University of Freiburg, Germany. She is author of Exchange in Ancient Greece (1995); Money in Ptolemaic Egypt (2007) and Money in Class

Two talks by Prof. Sitta von Reden, Historian of Ancient Greece, University of Freiburg, Germany. She is author of Exchange in Ancient Greece (1995); Money in Ptolemaic Egypt (2007) and Money in Classical Antiquity (2010)

On 15 February at 18:30 in Conference Room I
Alexander the Great in India: Towards a Transcultural Understanding of Cultural Encounter

Alexander’s campaigns in India and the ethno-geographical literature that ensued tend to serve as treasure troves for Greek perceptions of cultural difference and otherness in the Hellenistic period. However, recent debates in the wider context of globalization theory have made us rethink cultural entities and the idea of their clash or encounter

Chair: Prof. Anil Bhatti, Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University

On 16 February at 18:30 in Conference Room I

Comparing European and Indian Empires in Antiquity: How, What and Why

Speaker: Prof. Sitta von Reden

Chairperson: Prof. Anil Bhatti

The Roman Empire stands out as the archetypal great empire. Not only has it been most influential in the formation and ideology of European and Western world empires, but it has also profoundly shaped academic and public debates on the nature of empires, and how and why they developed. This lecture aims to broaden the perspective by discussing patterns of Mediterranean empire formation in the local context of academic research

Courtesan's Legacy

Manijiri Chaturvedi relives the lost songs and dance of the courtesan

Introduction by Pran Nevile

(Collaboration: K.L. Saigal Memorial Circle)

DELHI MATTERS

Getting Anywhere? Mobility in Delhi & NCR – Traffic, Transport and Commuting

Roundtable Discussion with

Ms Varsha Joshi, Commissioner Transport Government of Delhi: Policies, Regulations and Status of Public Transport: Buses, 3 wheelers and privately owned vehicles - Über,Ola and electric rickshaws

Mr. Dependra Pathak, Special Commissioner (Traffic ) Delhi Police: How technology is being used to control traffic – Achievements & Challenges

Mr Rohit Kumar Singh, Member, National Highway Authority of India: NHAI’s plans and progress on building Highways in Delhi and the NCR

Dr. O.P. Agarwal, International Urban Transport Expert and former Global Adviser in World Bank will moderate and present experience of high performing transport systems in world cities

There will also be a short presentation of what Delhi Metro has achieved along with what to expect in 2018-19

Coordinator: Smt Shailaja Chandra

Louis Kahn’s Tiger City (117 min; 2017; Blu-ray; English)

Film by Sundaram Tagore who will introduce the screening

Screening will be followed by a discussion

A rough-cut of the film on the architect Louis Kahn and his famous parliamentary complex in Bangladesh, Sher-e-Bangla Nagor, also known as the Tiger City. A worldwide quest to more than fourteen countries to find out how this Estonian-born American architect built such a daringly modern and monumental complex in a culturally rich but economically shattered country. How did he win such a high-profile commission ten thousand miles from his home in Philadelphia? What force of will enabled him to design a capital complex on the tabula rasa of the rice paddies of Bangladesh?

The Indian Parliament and Democratic Transformation

Launch of the book edited by Ajay K. Mehra (New Delhi: Routledge India, 2018)

Chief Guest: Dr. Karan Singh, MP, Rajya Sabha

Guest of Honour: Mr. Peter Rimmele, Resident Representative, KAS

Chair: Air Marshal (retd.) Naresh Verma, Director IIC

Followed by a panel discussion

Panelists: Prof. D.R. Tripathi, MP, Rajya Sabha; Prof. E. Sridharan, UPIASI; Prof. Amit Prakash, JNU; and Prof. Satyajit Singh, University of Delhi

The book traces the trajectory of the Indian Parliament from its formation to present day. The essays explore parliamentary democracy through the formative years and highlight the Parliament’s function as a representative and accountable institute, its procedures and responsibility, its connection with the other arms of the state, its relationship with grassroots democracy and the press, and its critical role in framing foreign policy and national security

Western Concepts and Indian Realities

Speaker: Professor Arvind Sharma, McGill University

Chair: Dr. Kapila Vatsyayan, Chairperson, IIC – International Research Division

Respondent: Prof Madhu Khanna, an Indian people historian of religion and noted Tantric scholar based in Delhi. At present, she is Distinguished Fellow (2013–2014) in Asian and Comparative Studies at the California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco

Modern Indian thought employs many concepts of Western origin such as secularism, democracy, egalitarianism and so on because of its close association with the West over the past three centuries and the prevalence of English in intellectual discourse in India. The purpose of this presentation is to demonstrate that by doing so Indians may be modifying the Indian reality to suit these concepts without realising that this is happening and that the changes thus being brought about are not necessarily in India’s best interest. This raises the question: how wise it is to allow the Indian reality to be modified to suit the semantic conventions of European languages

A Café Exposition: Reliving Van Gogh

Three leading artists pay homage to Vincent van Gogh

Conceptualised and curated by Rekha Mody

Artists: Seema Kohli, Indian artist whose work reveal a claiming of feminine subjectivities through paintings, sculptures, performance videos and drawings

Tayeba Begum Lipi who lives and works in Dhaka on prints, paintings, installations and videos. A co-founder of Britto Arts Trust, Bangladesh’s first artist-run alternative arts platform

Mahbubur Rahman, a pioneer in Bangladesh of cross-media approach

Inauguration on Monday, 12 February 2018 at 17:00

During the exhibition there will be a Potato Eaters Party at 15:30 everyday

(Collaboration: Habiart Foundation)

Concert – Lute Recital

By Emilio Bezzi from Italy

(Collaboration: Italian Embassy Cultural Centre; and Delhi Music Society)

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