THREADS OF CONTINUITY – APRIL TO MAY 2016
A series of films, lectures and exhibitions focusing on the philosophy and ideals of Zoroastrianism in practice today affirming both tangible and intangible cultural heritage and the need to preserve it. The films, exhibitions and lectures will travel from the ruins of Persepolis to the present day, bringing to life an exuberant empire and its magnificence, its stories, its truths. What remains – is it only brick and mortar, is there a language, what are its beliefs, where are its people? The series is part of The Everlasting Flame International Programme and is organized in collaboration with Parzor Foundation, Ministry of Minority Affairs, Govt. of India, and UNESCO and with the support of Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla, Serum Institute
Theme: Parsi Entertainment and Culture
Ferrari ki Sawaari
(134 min; 2012; dvd; Hindi with English subtitles)
Director: Rajesh Mapuskar
Cricket, Ferrari and the adventures of a middle-class Parsi family, the film is a fun-filled story of small guys and their big dreams…and how these dreams turn into a mad comedy of errors
Bojangles to Ballanchine and Beyond: A Century of American Dance
A series of three lectures by Sharon Lowen, well-known exponent of Odissi who will provide a panoramic visual overview of 20th century American dance genres through film and video clips encompassing folk to Broadway, ballet to Pilobolos
Thursday 31st March
Broadway and Concert Dance
Mid-century transitions in Ballet and Modern
Monday 11th April
Abstract Expressionism
Post Modern, Dance Theatre and Contemporary Dance
A Rude Awakening: Germany, the Refugee Crisis, and the Question of Identity
Speaker; Dr. Alexander Goerlach, founder and publisher of the debate magazine, The European
Chair: Shri Ronen Sen, President FIGS
(Collaboration: Federation of Indo-German Societies in India; and Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung, New Delhi)
Saving Mes Aynak (60 min; 2014; dvd; English & with subtitles)
CANCELLED
A film by Brent Huffman
A film by Brent Huffman
Introduction & Discussion: Shobita Punja, Art Historian and independent scholar; and William Dalrymple, Author and Historian
Multiple award winner including Grand Prize & Audience Award, Arkhalos Cultural Heritage and Archaeology Film Festival; Best Film, The Archaeological Channel International Film & Video Festival; Best Documentary, International One Hour Film Competition, Cinemambiente Environmental Film Festival, Turin, Italy; IDFA Honorary Award for 2015, IAFOR Documentary Film Award, The International Academic Forum, Kobe, Japan; among others
Saving Mes Aynak follows Afghan archaeologist Qadir Temori as he races against time to save a 5,000-year-old archaeological site in Afghanistan from imminent demolition. A Chinese state-owned mining company is closing in on the ancient site, eager to harvest $100 billion dollars worth of copper buried directly beneath the archaeological ruins. The film examines the conflict between cultural preservation and economic opportunity through the lens of the Afghan archaeologists and local villagers who work and live near Mes Aynak
The Construction of the Hindu Identity in Medieval Western Bengal: The Role of Popular Cults
Speaker: Shri Jawhar Sircar, CEO, Prasar Bharati
Chair: Prof. Dipankar Gupta
The focus is on how only one of the 5 Divisions of Bengal (the western Rarh tract, i.e., modern West Bengal) became a Hindu majority region, while the 4 other Divisions of Bengal (including Bangladesh) had an overwhelming Muslim domination. Sircar has been analysing this from the early 1980s and had undertaken field researches for a project of historical anthropology, that was supported by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) which covered the 6 western districts of Bengal. His conclusions are that there were ‘three distinct phenomena’ that helped the revival and reconstruction of the Hindu identity, in the western part of Bengal, which he will narrate through slides, tables, statistics and maps, based on his monograph.”
Chair: Prof. Dipankar Gupta
The focus is on how only one of the 5 Divisions of Bengal (the western Rarh tract, i.e., modern West Bengal) became a Hindu majority region, while the 4 other Divisions of Bengal (including Bangladesh) had an overwhelming Muslim domination. Sircar has been analysing this from the early 1980s and had undertaken field researches for a project of historical anthropology, that was supported by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) which covered the 6 western districts of Bengal. His conclusions are that there were ‘three distinct phenomena’ that helped the revival and reconstruction of the Hindu identity, in the western part of Bengal, which he will narrate through slides, tables, statistics and maps, based on his monograph.”
Hindustani Vocal Duet Recital
By Rishi Mishra and Varun Mishra from Allahabad, disciples of their grandfather Pt. Ganesh Prasad Mishra and father Pt. Vidyadhar Mishra
BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP A State in Denial- Pakistan’s Misguided and Dangerous Crusade
Dr. Shashi Tharoor, MP; Shri Shivshankar Menon, former Foreign Secretary, National Security Advisor and High Commissioner to Pakistan; and Shri Prem Shankar Jha, senior journalist and columnist will discuss A State in Denial – Pakistan’s Misguided and Dangerous Crusade by B.G. Verghese (New Delhi: Rupa, 2016)
Moderator: Shri Shekhar Gupta, editor and columnist
Tug of War
An exhibition of paintings in watercolours
By Sajal K. Mitra from Delhi
Inauguration by Shri P.K. Pujari, Secretary, Ministry of Power, Govt. of India on Tuesday, 22 March 2016 at 18:30
Inauguration by Shri P.K. Pujari, Secretary, Ministry of Power, Govt. of India on Tuesday, 22 March 2016 at 18:30
Piano Recital
By Dr. Raul M. Sunico, award-winning Master Pianist and composer from the Philippines who is President of the Cultural Center of the Philippines
The artist will present a concert of works by Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Debussy, Gershwin, Abelardo, Liszt and others
BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP
Prof. G.C. Tripathi, Director, Bhogilal Leherchand Institute of Indology; Prof. R.N. Misra, Art Historian; and Prof. K.D. Tripathi, scholar of non - dualistic philosophy will discuss Kalatattvakosa: A Lexicon of Fundamental Concepts of the Indian Arts, Vol 7. Substratum/Abode Sthana/Ayatana by Kamaleshadatta Tripathis, Sukumar Chattopadhyay and Pranati Ghosal (New Delhi: IGNCA, 2015)
Chair: Prof. Bettina Sharada Baumer