Lusophone Film Festival

Opening Remarks followed by a Presentation of the Poetry book by Domingos Raul

At 18:50

Vou Mudar a Cozinha -The Kitchen- (Angola)

(30 minutes;2022; Portuguese)

Director:  Ondjaki

Set in the aftermath of the Angolan Civil War, the film reflects on the lingering impact of conflict through the life of a young widow. As the camera quietly moves through the rooms of her home, capturing everyday objects and moments, she recounts—through a poetic monologue—how the war came to inhabit her family’s life.

At 19:20

As Noites Ainda Cheiram a Pólvora - The Nights Still Smell of Gunpowder- (Mozambique)

(93 minutes; 2024; Portuguese)

Director:  Inadelso Cossa

Revisiting a childhood shaped by conflict, the film follows a man returning to his grandparents’ village in Mozambique, where he once lived during the civil war. Through memory and reflection, it traces how his grandmother shielded him from the violence, evoking a deeply personal account of resilience, loss, and the lingering echoes of war.

(Collaboration: Portuguese Embassy Cultural Centre)
 

The First Ascent of Shahi Kangri (6934 M) and Silver Peak (6871 M)

Through Grit, Skill and Leadership

Speaker: Brigadier SS Shekhawat, KC, SC, SM, VSM (retd)

Chair: Brigadier Ashok Abbey (retd). Experienced veteran climber. He has climbed, led, and participated in many International, and Indian Mountaineering Expeditions successfully.

An illustrated talk on the never-heard-of or seen-before climb of the enigmatic Shahi Kangri and Silver Peak by an Indian Army expedition, unravelling the majestic mountain’s mystery. Located in the majestic Eastern Karakoram Range lies the massif of Shahi Kangri. Connected to Shahi Kangri by its west ridge is Silver Peak, at 6,871 meters. Silver Peak has to be scaled before an attempt on Shahi Kangri. In June 2022, a team of soldier mountaineers, under the leadership of Brigadier Saurabh Singh Shekhawat, attempted to climb this challenging peak. Despite rapidly changing weather conditions, the crack Aksai Chin Warriors scaled Shahi Kangri and Silver Peak, thus recording a first ascent of this formidable mountain. Undoubtedly, this was one of the finest climbs undertaken by Indian climbers in recent times!

(Collaboration: Himalayan Club and the Himalayan Environment Trust)
 

Bindu: Dots Series by Rashid Ahamad

Curated & Supported by terrain.art

This exhibition presents a contemplative body of works by Rashid Ahamad, centred on the profound idea of the universe contained within a single point. Using the motif of the Dot as a focal centre, his paintings explore existence, spirituality, and the interconnectedness of life. Through layered textures, flowing lines, and intuitive compositions, the works evoke life’s continuous journeys—where every ending becomes a new beginning—inviting viewers to reflect on their place within a larger cosmic whole.

The exhibition will be inaugurated on Saturday, 2 May’26 at 17:00 hrs by Chief Guest Sushma K. Bahl, Writer, Art Advisor & Curator

The exhibition will remain open daily from 3rd may to 10th May from  11:00 to 19:00 hrs
 

How do we annihilate caste?
 

Moderator:  Suhas Borker, Convener, Working Group on Alternative Strategies
 

Discussants: Prof N. Sukumar, Professor, Department of Political Science, University of Delhi; Prof  Y. S. Alone, Professor of Visual Studies, School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU; Prof  Sumeet  Mhaskar, Fulbright-Nehru Fellow, Department of Anthropology, University of Stanford (Online); Prof Ram Chandra, Professor of Hindi,  Centre of Indian Languages, JNU; Dr Rehnamol P. R., Associate Professor, Jindal Global Law School, O. P. Jindal Global University; Disha Wadekar, Advocate, Supreme Court of India  and member of CEDE (Community for the Eradication of Discrimination in Education and Employment)

The discussion is part of the series on Social Justice and Empowerment started in 2010 and held every year on 1 May to commemorate the life and work of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
 

(Collaboration:  Maharashtra Sanskritik ani Rannaniti Adhyayan Samiti and Working Group on Alternative Strategies) 

The German contribution in Himalayan understanding with special references to the Schlangitweit brothers

Chair : Ashok Vajpeyi, Poet, critic and editor. Managing and life Trustee, The Raza Foundation

Talk by Dr. Hermann Kreutzmann

Prof. Emeritus Dr. Hermann Kreutzmann,  held the Chair of Human Geography at Freie Universitat Berlin until March 2020. His main research interest is regionally located in Central and South Asia ; the topics range from development studies, high mountain research, mobility and migration to political geography and minority issues. Empirical research has been implemented for more than 40 years resulting in more than 25 books and 250 plus published research papers.

Talk by Prof. Shekhar Pathak
Remembering Pundit Nain Singh Rawat who began in journey with Schlangitweit brothers

Professor Shekhar Pathak is a historian. He is a former professor of History at Kumaun University, Nainital and has been a Nehru Fellow at the Centre for Contemporary Studies at the Nehru Memorial, Teen Murti, New Delhi. He founded the People’s Association for Himalaya Area Research (PAHAR) in 1983. He is an intrepid traveler of the Himalayas and has worked on several aspects of Himalayan history such as local movements, freedom struggle, personalities and culture of Uttarakhand etc.

This talk is being held in conjunction with the ongoing exhibition ‘Himalayan Encounters – Hidden Views from 170 Years Ago: The Schlagintweit Drawings in India’, currently on view at the Annexe Art Gallery until 29 April 2026  

The Iran War: Geopolitics at the Edge of a New World Order

The ongoing tensions surrounding Iran signal a critical inflection point in global geopolitics, with far-reaching implications for regional stability, energy security, and shifting power alignments. The discussion will explore how these developments may reshape the contours of an emerging world order.

Chair:  Amb Saurabh Kumar, Former Ambassador of India to EU and Iran  

Discussants: Prof. (Dr.) C. Raja Mohan, Visiting Research Professor, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore;  ; U.K. Sinha, Diplomat and Former Chairperson, SEBI; Happymon Jacob,  Distinguished Visiting Professor, Shiv Nadar University, Founder & Director, Council for Strategic and Defence Research, Editor, INDIA’S WORLD magazine.

Manipuri Workshop: Yangshak Movement; In continuation

Facilitator: Surjit Nongmeikapam, choreographer and contemporary performing artist

Open to dancers of all classical styles

C.D. Deshmukh Auditorium

At 16:00-  AI & Dance: Challenges and Opportunities
Curator; Dr Anita Ratnam, Artpreneur and SNA Awardee

Keynote Speaker: Madhu Nataraj, Director, STEM Dance Kampni, Bangalore

At 18:30 Young Dancers Festival

Odissi Recital

By Vrinda Chadha, New Delhi

At 19:45
Kuchipudi recital

By Avijit Das, Bengaluru

Nature Walk at IIC – Know the Wondrous Trees of IIC

Learn about the varied trees of IIC with Kavita Prakash, tree lover, walk leader and self-taught naturalist.

Exclusively for IIC Members, on a first-come, first-served basis.

To register for the same, please email apo3@iicdelhi.in by 20th April 2026. A confirmation email will soon be shared with you thereafter with additional details of the walk.
 

1.            Sealed Tender is invited for the services against the above-mentioned category of the contract for the period 01 June 2026 to 31 March 2027.

2.            You may quote for the services to be rendered as per Annexure-A, One Rate, without preconditions. All pages of the Tender form are to be stamped and signed.

3.            Bidder can download the document and further amendments, from the IIC website   (https://iicdelhi.in)and submit the same to IIC in a sealed envelope super-scribing on it “Tender for ANNUAL SERVICE CONTRACT FOR PEST CONTROL SERVICES” so as to reach “Purchase Officer, India International Centre, 40, Max Mueller Marg, New Delhi 110003” on or before 30^th April 2026 at 17:00 Hrs. Validity of quoted rates will be for 90 days.

4.            Check list provided in the Tender form is mandatory to be filled by the vendor by attaching all the required documents as asked for.

5.            Please note that the Centre reserves the right to accept or reject any of the Tender in part or whole or all the Tenders without assigning any reason, nor is it bound to accept the lowest quotation & to divide the same between a number of suppliers without any liability on its part.

6.            Late, incomplete, conditional, false, fictitious tenders or Tenders without deposit will be summarily rejected.

7.            Please read the detailed services as required to be rendered by the vendor, which form part of this tender document at Annexure-B and Terms and conditions at Annexure ‘C’ as the same are to be accepted by the Tenderer.

The Body as Method: Dance Research and Writing in India
Speaker: Dr Sreenath Nair, University of Lincoln, U.K.
Chair: Dr Sudha Gopalakrishnan, Executive Director, IIC-International Research Division

Dr Sreenath Nair is a leading UK academic who earned his PhD from the University of Wales in 2006. His research explores embodied methodologies in Kerala performance, examining corporeal links between medical, martial, spiritual, and performance traditions. He has lectured widely across the USA, UK, Russia, Germany, Prague, Finland, and Sweden, and has held international academic posts and collaborations. He received the Leverhulme Trust International Fellowship and served as Scholar-in-Residence at the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University.

Dance research and writing in India have largely relied on Cultural Studies and postcolonial theories to examine questions of identity, representation, and power. While these frameworks offer valuable critical tools, they remain limited in their ability to address embodied and kinaesthetic practices. Grounded in textual and discursive methods, such approaches struggle to engage with tactile experience, rhythm, breath, muscle memory, and the physical intelligence through which the dancing body itself becomes both method and site of knowledge.