A concert presenting Latif Bolat, Turkish singer, composer and scholar of Turkish music and folklore
With Deepak Castelino, accomplished guitarist and banjo artist; and Amjad Khan on the tabla  

Stout and Tender: A Collection of Poems Pure and Impure
By Badri Raina (AuthorsUpFront: 2024)

Discussants: Dr. Shashi Tharoor,  writer and diplomat; Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar, former Minister, Member of Parliament, writer and former diplomat; Prof. Ratna Raman, Professor, Dept. of English, Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi; Dr. B. Mangalam, Professor of English, Aryabhatta College, University of Delhi; and Prof. Badri Raina, well-known commentator on politics, culture and society, former Professor of English, Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi and author of the anthology
 

Kathak Recital
By Ravi Prakash from Chhattisgarh, disciple of Pt. Rajendra Gangani

At 19:00 
Bharatanatyam Recital
By Sudipta Chakraborty from Delhi, NCR disciple of Guru Jayalakshmi Eshwar

Accompanists: Guru Jayalakshmi Eshwar (nattuvanagam); K. Venkateshwaran (vocals); Manohar Balachandran (mridangam); and Raghavendra Prasath (violin)

 

Recitation by Prof. Kesavan Veluthat, formerly Professor of History, Delhi University; and Dr. Sudha Gopalakrishnan, Executive Director, IIC-International Research Division

Moderator: Dr. Naresh Keerthi, Dept. of Sanskrit, Ashoka University

(Organised by the IIC-International Research Division)

Presented by Nobuto Yamanaka, leading soloist and national champion of Tsugaru-shamisen

The shamisen is a three-stringed Japanese instrument played by striking the strings with a plectrum, known as bachi. It is sometimes compared to the guitar or banjo. Originally derived from the Chinese sanxian lute, the shamisen was brought to Japan by way of the Ryukyu Kingdom (modern-day Okinawa) many centuries ago. The instrument used for Tsugaru shamisen differs slightly in shape from those used for other shamisen genres, with a thicker neck and strings and a smaller bachi plectrum. However, the most striking difference is actually in how it is played.

(Collaboration: The Japan Foundation)
 

Unpolitically Correct: The Politics and Economics of Governance
By Satya Mohanty (Rupa Publications India: 2024)

Discussants: Prof. Ashutosh Varshney, political scientist, Sol Goldman Professor of International Studies and the Social Sciences, and Professor of Political Science at Brown University, USA; Shri Nitin Desai, distinguished economist and former Under Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs, UN; and Dr. Satya Mohanty, poet, playwright, novelist and writer, former Union Secretary of Education and Secretary General, National Human Rights Commission; and author of the book

Chair: Dr. Shashi Tharoor, MP

Speaker: Prof. Ramin Jahanbegloo, Iranian-Canadian Political Philosopher and Vice Dean, Jindal Law School, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat

Chair: Prof. Neera Chandhoke, Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Equity Studies, New Delhi

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Hannah Arendt’s death. The talk will cover Arendt’s definitions of politics, violence and power, while showing the relevance of her political thought for the understanding of our present world. Hannah Arendt’s multifaceted work that deals with a range of issues has established her as one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century.

In any non-writing culture, the transmission of practical know how’s, moral compasses, social taboos and the manners of speech, maintain themselves through the telling and retelling of stories. However, across the modern world, the amplitude of such oral cultures is shrinking, their voices often drowned in an era dominated by the written and the visual. Yet within this decline, there exists a possibility: the very communities that have ensured continuum of these narratives for generations are now adapting, using visual mediums as new vessels for disseminating oral knowledge.

The exhibition explores how stories once solely spoken and sung, find expression through visual narratives. A collaboration between Kailash Pradhan and Ajay Marko, Gond Pradhaan artists with Gangaram Uikey and Narayandeen Tekam, oral storytellers from the same community, this exhibition presents the active passing of smriti (memory) within the Pradhaan Gonds and a dialogue between orality and visuality, tradition and reinvention.

The facilitation of this process of memory transfer has been made possible by Smt Apoorva Mishra and Shri Achyut Siddu of Loksutr, who have been working closely with the tribal communities in Anuppur and Dindori in Madhya Pradesh

Inauguration by Shri Udayan Vajpeyi, Raza Foundation on Thursday, 20 March 2025 at 17:30 hrs

(Collaboration: Loksutr) 
 

Programme Details

A two-day festival of folk music and art, celebrating contemporary narratives in traditional folk art organised in collaboration with NCZCC, Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India. The festival includes performances, exhibitions and screening of short and long documentary films. The performances include the best of folk music by renowned folk artistes – Megha Sriram Dalton from Jharkhand who is an MTV Coke-studio artist; and Mooralala Marwada, sufi folk singer from Janana village of Kutch district, Gujarat

On 21 and 22 March 2025 at 18:00 in the Lounge Verandah

Pattachitra tradition with Story Telling Session

An exhibition by Sahajan Chitrakar, Pattachitra artist from West Bengal who will exhibit traditional folk paintings and sing stories from the Ramayana and other deities depicted in the paintings.

The artist will continue to demonstrate and sing on the second day of the festival also.

On 21 March 2025 at 18:30 in the Fountain Lawns

A Desert Trail- Musical Journey

By Mooralala Marwada, celebrated folk singer from Gujarat, who belongs to a lineage of Meghwal singers who migrated from Rajasthan to Khadir Island in Kutch four centuries ago. With a rich repertoire of Nirguni bhajans, sufi kalaam and other traditional folk songs, Mooralala also plays the ‘santaar’, a traditional stringed instrument. He has performed in coke studios and with Indian classical vocalist, Nirali Kartik, gaining a YouTube viewership of 50 lakhs.

Aawazon ke Jaadugar

Bhairav Dutt Bhatt, 86-year-old voice mimickry artist from Uttarakhand who brings to live different sounds of birds, animals and humans, creating a rare experience will present this folk tradition.

Introduction: Col. (Dr.) D.P. K. Pillay, Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses

Panelists: Shri Yaduveer Wadiyar, MP; Lt. Gen. Raja Subramani, Vice Chief of Army Staff; Dr. Kazem Samandari, Founder-Chairman, L’Opera and Senior Member, Baha’i community; and Brig. M.S. Jodha, third-generation army officer, author and grandson on Col. Aman Singh Jodha

Chair: Shri K.N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC

The Battle of Haifa (1918) is a pivotal event in military annals as it marked the last major cavalry charge in history. The Battle saw the Jodhpur, Mysore, and Hyderabad Lancers (part of the 15th Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade) overcome Ottoman, Austrian, and German forces, liberating Haifa as well as Abdul Baha. This daring victory defied expectations, echoing the famous Charge of the Light Brigade but with a triumphant outcome.