Concert presented by Azure Quartet – Thomas Knollys (clarinet); Elana Kenyon-Gewirtz (violin); Hoda Jahanpour (cello); and Joel Banerjee (piano)

There are very few pieces in the Western classical music canon comparable to the Quartet for the End of Time. This rarely heard piece was written in Stalag VIII-A, a German prisoner-of-war camp during WWII where Messiaen was imprisoned. Its unspeakable circumstances and infinite subject matters culminate in one of the masterpieces of the Twentieth century
 
(Collaboration: Delhi Music Society)
 

Illustrated lecture by Dr. George Michell, architectural historian who has worked extensively in the Deccan region, beginning some 50 years ago with a doctoral thesis on early Chalukya temples. His collaborative publications with Dr. Fritz includes Hampi Vijayanagara, the popular guidebook issued by the Deccan Heritage Foundation. Michell’s most recent publication is the profusely illustrated Temple of Deccan India

Chair: Shri Ratish Nanda, CEO, Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC)

The late Dr John M. Fritz was the first American archaeologist to survey the ruins of Hampi Vijayanagara. Trained at the University of Chicago as an anthropologist with a special interest in prehistoric, Native American sites in New Mexico and Arizona, Fritz brought an entirely new perspective to South Asian urban studies. Together with Dr. George Michell, Fritz directed a team of volunteer architects and archaeologists to investigate the meaning of Hampi’s city plan. Building on more than twenty years
of fieldwork during the 1980s and 1990s, he concluded that the Hindu god Rama dominated the layout of the Vijayanagara’s Royal Centre by acting as a mediator in the everyday activities and ceremonial life of the Vijayanagara rulers. It is this innovative interpretation that Michell will discuss in his illustrated lecture.

(Collaboration: American Institute of Indian Studies, Gurgaon)
 

By Sunil R. Gargyan

With N. Madan Mohan (violin); Abhishek Avadani (mridangam); and Varun Rajasekharan (ghatam)

(Collaboration: Shanmukhananda Sangeetha Sabha)

Life and Loss in Shahjahanabad

A Talk by Ashok Mathur, a long-time resident of Shahjahanabad. The talk will explore the connections between the architecture of Shahjahanabad and its characteristic way of life -- through his primary experience and his family memories of living in a haveli constructed by his great-grandfather over 120 years ago in the Nai Sarak area of Shahjahanabad. What are the tangible and intangible implications due to the degradation and loss of that architecture -- and what may be done to arrest that loss?

The talk will be followed by a dialogue with Anuradha Chaturvedi, HoD Department of Conservation, S.P.A. Delhi;  Shama Mitra Chenoy, Professor, Department of History of Shivaji College, University of Delhi; and Anisha Shekhar Mukherji, Conservation Architect, Author and Visiting Faculty at School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi 
 

Poetry Readings

By Hindi poets – Keshav Tiwari (Banda); Vijay Rahi (Dausa); Hare Prakash Upadhyaya (Lucknow); Aamir Hamza and Satyavrat Razak (Delhi)

(Collaboration: The Raza Foundation)

Hindustani Vocal Recital

By Kshitij Mathur, disciple of Pandit Madhup Mudgal  and Shri Bhuvanesh  Komkali

At 19:00
Kathak Recital
By Srishti Junnarkar from Mumbai, disciple of Parwati Dutta and Pt. Jaikishan Maharaj
 

Appreciating Form and Structure in Baroque and Classical Music                                                                              

 An Illustrated presentation by R. H. Duncan Lyngdoh

Chair: Ms. Anjli Mata, a noted music teacher associated with Trinity College London and was earlier a faculty at the Delhi School of Music 

The 18th century is noted for the prominence attached to form and structure in painting, architecture and music. Baroque and classical music flourished during this period. Composers like J. S. Bach raised the structural complexities of polyphony and counterpoint to their apex, in a grand synthesis of the intellectual and the emotional. It was a genius like Mozart who took the evolution of melody and form to an incomparably beautiful level of perfection. Some aspects of how form and structure gave enduring shape and significance to Western music are discussed here, with some recorded examples being presented for illustration.

Prof. Richard Duncan Lyngdoh retired last year from North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, after 35 years of teaching and research in chemistry. His interest in music has inspired him towards piano playing, studying music theory, and composing some 240 pieces of music in various genres. He teaches music theory at the Harmini Preparatory Music Academy, Shillong 

By Geeti Sen (Mapin Publishing: 2024)

Introduction: Waswo X. Waswo

Dr. Giles Tillotson, cultural historian, Consultant Director, Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II Museum, City Palace, Jaipur and Senior Vice President, DAG, New Delhi In Conversation with Dr. Geeti Sen, art historian, author and professor

The book introduces the work of contemporary Indian artists who have been influenced by miniature traditions of painting. Dr. Sen brings together her two areas of expertise in contemporary art and miniature painting, to introduce an approach that has not been explored before. Icon making forms an indispensable part of the visual language in India. This book selects and focuses on the work of five significant artists: Abanindranath Tagore, Manjit Bawa, Waswo X. Waswo, R. Vijay and Nilima Sheikh. They have resourced and reinvented iconic traditions, with different perspectives and using different techniques.

(Collaboration: Mapin Publishing)

Crusader for environmental justice, Mike Pandey

In conversation with Sujata Prasad and Oroon Das

(Collaboration: Ahad Anhad)
 

An exhibition of photographs by Subhash Verma 

Inauguration by Smt Satinder Kaur Dhillon and Olav Balslev  on Tuesday, 26 November 2024 at 18:30 
 
29 and 30 November 2024 at 17:00
Gallery Walkthrough 

1 December at 18:00
Conversation with the Photographer