Navdanya: An Experiment in Non-violent Farming and Food

Speaker: Dr. Vandana Shiva, renowned environmental activist

 

By Manoranjan Nayak and Rajeswari Nayak from Bhubaneswar, disciples of Guru Durgacharan Ranbir and                      

Guru Shri Pitamber Biswal

 

DNA: Not Merely The Secret of Life

Speaker: Prof. Nadrian "Ned" Seeman of New York University, New York, USA, a chemist who is credited with discovering the fields of DNA nanotechnology and DNA computing, and has been nominated for the Nobel Prize 

Prof Amrit Srinivasan, IIT Delhi; Prof George Mathew, Chairman, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi; Prof Maitrayee Chaudhuri, JNU; and Prof. Abhijit Dasgupta, Professor of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi  will  discuss, Towards Knowledge Society: New Identities in Emerging India by Dr.  Debal K.  SinghaRoy (New Delhi: Cambridge University Press, 2014)

 

Chair: Prof Yogendra Singh, Emeritus Professor, JNU

Discussion around this book edited by Prof Santosh Mehrotra

 

Panelists: Shri Prakash Singh, former Director General, UP Police; Shri Rahul Pandita, The Hindu; Shri Ramanna, Institute of  Defence Studies and Analyses; and Professor Santosh Mehrotra

 

Once a Nomad – Life Apps (Namibia)

(28 min; 2013; dvd; English) 

Director: Abius Akwaake

 

You cannot be more isolated than Namibia's Himba people, a nomadic tribe, following their cattle herds around the harsh, arid landscape of northern Namibia. They do not wear western clothes, preferring traditional attire and striking hairstyles. Most Himba cannot read or write, and yet they do use mobile phones - often travelling for days to try and decipher a text. They are dubious that a life app can help, but Windhoek-based mobile software developer Dalton wants to try…

 

Mobile Harvest (26 min; 2013; dvd; English)

Director: Arjun Pandey

 

In New Delhi, Sachin Gaur keeps computers safe from hackers – but now he has an even tougher challenge. Disturbed by the wave of farmer’s suicide, Sachin wants to help. The film follows him as he travels to Andhra Pradesh where he meets with poor farmers and hears first - hand the major obstacles they face. With a firm grasp of some of their real-life problems, he's ready to start working on a "Life App" to help spread the farmers' ideas…

 

Directed by Manju Kak who will introduce the film

 

For centuries the Bhotias traded with Tibet using routes that cut through the western and eastern passes of the Himalayas; snaking through the valleys of the fast flowing Gori river, across the treacherous Untadhura and Kingri Bingri passes at 19, 000 feet high. In 1962, these passes were closed following the Indo-Chinese war – trade came to an end and with it a centuries old culture that had bonded the Tibetan and Bhotia communities in familial friendships. This film captures some of those memories of the legendary traders

 

Munshi Aziz Bhat Museum of Central Asian and Kargil Trade Artifacts

Speaker: Shri Muzammil Hussain Munshi, Director – Outreach, Resource and Design of the museum

 

Monks, Traders and Travellers

The exhibition focuses on trade and the movement of people, goods and ideas in the Himalaya. Photographs and text on Indian travellers and pilgrims; and western explorers by Deb Mukharji; text and photographs by Chhaya Bhattacharya Haesner on the interactions between Kashmir, Ladakh and Khotan; artifacts, objects of trade from the collection of Kargil Museum; salt traders of Kumaon by Manju Kak; and trading families of Kalimpong by Vidura Jang Bahadur

 

Inauguration on Thursday 18 December 2014 at 18:30

 

As part of this exhibition, the following programmes will be organised in the Art Gallery

 

TALK: 23 DECEMBER 2014 AT 18:30

Intimate Artistic Links Between the Art of Ladakh and Central Asia with Special Reference to Alchi and Khotan Respectively

Illustrated lecture by Dr. Chhaya Bhattacharya Haesner, expert on Central Asian Art and Tagore National Fellowship Awardee, National Museum 

 

FILM AND TALK: 26 DECEMBER 2014 AT 18:30

They Who Walked Mountains (34 min; 2002; dvd; English & with subtitles)

Directed by Manju Kak who will introduce the film

 

For centuries the Bhotias traded with Tibet using routes that cut through the western and eastern passes of the Himalayas; snaking through the valleys of the fast flowing Gori river, across the treacherous Untadhura and Kingri Bingri passes at 19, 000 feet high. In 1962, these passes were closed following the Indo-Chinese war – trade came to an end and with it a centuries old culture that had bonded the Tibetan and Bhotia communities in familial friendships. This film captures some of those memories of the legendary traders

 

Munshi Aziz Bhat Museum of Central Asian and Kargil Trade Artifacts

Speaker: Shri Muzammil Hussain Munshi, Director – Outreach, Resource and Design of the museum

 

In Conversation 

with Krishen Khanna, eminent artist

 

Moderator: Shri Ashok Vajpeyi