IIC/Media Dialogues

Digital News Media: Easy to Set Up, Difficult to Sustain?

Moderator: Dr. Vibodh Parthasarathi, Centre for Culture, Media and Governance, Jamia Millia Islamia

Discussants: Ritu Kapur, Co-founder & Managing Director, The Quint;  M.K. Venu, Founding Editor, The Wire; Rahul Kotiyal, Founder Editor, Baramasa.in; Priyanshi Sharma, Co-founder, Peek TV

(Collaboration: The Media Foundation)

IIC MONSOON FESTIVAL OF MUSIC

Hindustani Vocal Recital 
By Siddharth Sahai from Delhi, disciple of Guru Sanjeev Jha
Accompanist: Roman Das (Pakhawaj)

Dhrupad Bandhu 
By Sanjeev Jha and Manish Kumar from Bihar, disciple of Gundecha Brothers.
Accompanists: Pandit Dalchand Sharma (Pakhawaj)

IIC MONSOON FESTIVAL OF DANCE: 20 & 21 AUGUST 2026

Odissi Recital
By Geetanjali Acharya from Gurugram, disciple of Late Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra & Guru Sujata Mohapatra

At 19:00

Bharatanatyam Recital
By Apeksha Kamath from Bangalore, disciple of Acharya Smt. Indira Kadambi  

Book Discussion Group

The Immortal King: Yama

By Sudhamahi Regunathan (Bloomsbury, 2026)

Moderator: R Sivapriya, Publishing Director, Bloomsbury, India

Discussants: Narayani Ganesh, Former Editor, The Speaking Tree and Sacred Space, Times of India; Sudhamahi Regunathan, Former Vice Chancellor, Author and Translator
 

Vaccines: Emerging Viral Outbreaks

Speaker: Dr. Virander Singh Chauhan, distinguished scientist, Chancellor of GITAM Deemed to be University, Rhodes Scholar and recipient of the Padma Shri awardee (2012). He is known for his contributions to the development of a recombinant vaccine for malaria and for synthetic structural peptides with biological functions.

Moderator: Prof. (Dr.) Narendra Kumar Arora, Professor, Chief Scientist & Mentor, The INCLEN Trust International, New Delhi and President, AIIMS Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh.

The talk will explore the growing importance of preventive vaccines in addressing emerging viral threats such as Ebola, hantavirus and Nipah virus. It will examine the scientific and economic challenges of vaccine development, recent advances in vaccine technology, and issues of affordability, access, public trust and equitable distribution, highlighting the need for preparedness against future outbreaks.
 

Book Discussion Group

The Quiet that Remains: A poetic mapping of memory and emotion

By Usha Mujoo Munshi (‎Vitasta, 2026)

Chair: K. N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC

Discussants: Dr Lakshmi Kannan, Poet, Novelist, Bilingual Writer; Mridula Garg, Writer & Poet; Sunit Tandon, President, Delhi Music Society; Amb Amarendra Khatua, Poet & Former Director, ICCR; Jayashree Misra Tripathi, Poet & Writer; Dr. Usha Mujoo Munshi, Author of the book

Readings by  Prof. Sukrita Paul Kumar; Prof. Swati Pal; Prof. Nandini C Sen; Gauri Shankar Raina; Dr Payal Nagpal; Mandira Ghosh; Achla Bansal; Sangeeta Gupta

Introduction: Dr Maya ‘Parijat’

 

Building Resilient Relations: People as Stakeholders

Speaker: H.E. Riaz Hamidullah, High Commissioner of Bangladesh to India

Moderator: Dr Ashok Behuria, Chairman, Centre for Peace Studies, New Delhi.

People are central to bilateral relations. Bound by centuries of shared history and culture, human connections give depth, resilience, and direction to enduring ties between nations.

(Collaboration: Centre for Peace Studies)
 

Unconfined

By Ravi Shail, Delhi-based artist and photographer. Recipient of Lalit Kala Akademi National Academy Award and the National Photography Award (Govt. of India)

The idea that art exists beyond conventional boundaries and can be discovered in the ordinary moments of everyday life. Through mixed-media works inspired by photographs, the exhibition invites viewers to pause, observe and engage with familiar forms in new ways.

The exhibition will be inaugurated on Friday, 14th August’26 at 18:00 hrs by Amb Shyam Saran, President, IIC

An open conversation titled ‘Photography: What Next?” is scheduled be on 19 August at 15:00 hrs at the Main Art Gallery, Kamaladevi Complex with Ashish Chawla, Ravi Dhingra, Ravi Shail, Manoj Jain, Sanjay Das, Maneesh Aggarwal and Ashwani Prithviwasi to discuss the future of photography in the age of emerging technology and AI.

The exhibition will remain open daily from 11:00 to 19:00 hrs

MUSIC APPRECIATION PROMOTION

The Teaching Legacy of Franz Liszt                                                                                                                 Illustrated lecture by Francesca Khalifa

Franz Liszt, a master of the piano, composer, and the father of the modern concept of the "piano recital", was also a prolific teacher. This lecture will explore the lineage through the work of modern musicians connected to the tradition via the teaching of Claudio Arrau, a student of Krause who embraced and structured the core elements of Liszt’s philosophy and approach.

The conversation will be followed with the screening of the documentary Piano Lessons: The Life and Art of Germán Diez, based on Khalifa’s research on Diez’s background and musical legacy.

Francesca Khalifa, an Italian-Egyptian concert pianist, researcher and educator. Her research work focuses on passing on the piano tradition inherited by Franz Liszt through the teachings of her late mentor, Germán Diez
 

LIVING LANDSCAPES 
Conceptualized by Anuj Srivastava

Art as Ecology: Learning from the Ecosystems of the Western Ghats
Speaker: By Arunkumar H G, Artist, Conservationist

The talk will be followed by a Panel Discussion

Moderator: Anuj Srivastava, Architect, Writer and Photographer

Discussants: Vijay Dhasmana, Rewilder and Ecological Restoration Practitioner; Ghazala Shahabuddin, Ecologist and Author

The talk and discussion will focus on how artistic practice can foster ecological consciousness and community engagement, drawing from Arunkumar's conservation work with SARA and its initiatives in ecosystem restoration, biodiversity conservation and environmental education.

(This is the eigth talk in the series on Living Landscape)