The Sliver of the Oxus Borderland: Medieval Cultural Encounters between the Arabs and Persians
Speaker: Dr Manu P. Sobti, Associate Professor, School of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Chair: Dr Arup Banerji, Associate Professor of History, University of Delhi
A talk on a unique borderland condition on the Silk Road on the Oxus river, combining fieldwork with close reading of archival sources from across the Russian Federation, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, to unravel how conflict, reconciliation and interaction between medieval Arab and Persian communities created distinct urban forms along this geographically significant and politically critical divide
Our Beautiful Planet
(120 min; dvd)
The environmental crisis facing the globe and the global initiatives needed to solve it are illustrated using problems faced by different countries. The film includes a computer analysis of potential climate change and presents the results of a questionnaire answered by over 7000 environmental NGOs worldwide
The Magic Makers - Folk and Tribal Arts
An exhibition of paintings and sculptures from the collection of Arpana Fine Arts Museum of the Academy of Fine Arts and Literature
On display are Godana art works, Midnapur scrolls, Bengal folk art, Orissa pata-chitras, art by the Sauras and Gonds, and from Worli, Bastar and Hazaribagh
Opening on Thursday, 17th January, at 18:30
Flora's Empire: British Gardens in India
Speaker: Dr Eugenia W. Herbert, Professor Emeritus of History at Mount Holyoke College, and author of Twilight on the Zambezi: Late Colonialism in Central Africa
Chair: Shri Pradip Krishen, ecological gardener, and author of Trees of Delhi
Book Discussion Group
Dr Sanjaya Baru, Editor, Business Standard; and Shri Prem Shankar Jha, Managing Editor, Financial World, will be in conversation with Gurcharan Das on his book, India Grows at Night: A Liberal Case for a Strong State (New Delhi: Penguin, 2012)
Chair: Justice Shri J.S. Verma, former Chief Justice of India
The Mud Mosque of Djenné
Chair: Prof K.T. Ravindran, Dean, School of Planning and Architecture
Djenné, a centre of commerce and of Islamic learning in Mali, with a continuous history from 200 BCE, is remarkable for being built entirely in raw earth. Its imposing Great Mosque has a facade over 60m long and up to 15m high, dominated by three towers. Its annual re-plastering ceremony involves everyone in Djenné, with the city's two quarters competing to complete their section first"”a joyous and mind-boggling spectacle, carried out in near-clockwork fashion. The speaker, who has trained in earthen architecture, will describe the experience of witnessing the ceremony, taking in such areas as living heritage, conservation, Mali and its current geo-political situation
An exhibition of photographs by Peeyush Sekhsaria will be on view in the corridor outside Conference Room - I until Tuesday, 22nd January