MUSIC APPRECIATION PROMOTION

Manodharma Sangeeta: Scope and Expression within the compositions of Dr. Balamuralikrishna in Carnatic Music
Presentation by Prof P. B. Kanna Kumar

M. Balamuralikrishna was a legendary musician known for his remarkable creativity and versatility. This lecture will highlight the many dimensions of his musical contributions, including his excellence in composing padavarnams with rich sahitya and linguistic brilliance in languages such as Sanskrit and Telugu. It will discuss his innovations in creating new ragas, exploring varied talas, and composing different musical forms in multiple languages, including distinctive tillanas. The lecture will mainly focus on the elements of manodharma (the creative improvisational aspects) found in his compositions.

Prof. P. B. Kanna Kumar is a distinguished Carnatic classical vocalist and Professor in the Department of Music at the University of Delhi
 

INDIAN ARCHAEOLOGY

Nishka, The Earliest Indian Gold Coin
Speaker: Prof. Buddha Rashmi Mani, Former Director General, National Museum and Vice Chancellor, National Institute of Heritage Management. Awarded Padma Shri by the Government of India (2026) for his distinguished services in the field of archaeology.  

Chair:  K. N. Shrivastava, Director, IIC

Numismatists were silent about the identification of Nishka. In a recent study of the so called disc shaped gold beads with the central hole, found in less numbers from Harappan sites and found at Mandi in UP in 2000 with a number of no less than 5000 such pieces, of which 1547 are on display in the National Museum, New Delhi, the speaker has argued that they are the physical evidence of ancient nishkas and we can suggest that nishkas were used as gold coins in the 3rd millennium BCE. 
 

Exhibition ■ Quadrangle Gardens; CD Deshmukh Auditorium from 11:00 onwards

Guardians of Neutrality: India’s Korean Mission

Photo Exhibition curated by Colonel Dr. Divakaran Padma Kumar Pillay (Retd.)

India’s involvement in the Korean War extended far beyond the celebrated humanitarian mission of the 60th Parachute Field Ambulance. Emerging from the trauma of its own Partition, India leveraged its unique neutrality to navigate the Cold War’s most dangerous flashpoint—the only direct confrontation between the United States and China, where nuclear escalation was a tangible fear.

The Exhibition will be inaugurated on Tuesday, 21 April at 10:30 AM by Shri R.K. Singh IAS, Defence Secretary, Govt. of India at the Quadrangle Garden, IIC.

Welcome address: K.N.Shrivastava, Director, IIC

Chief Guest: H.E. Cho Hyun, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Republic of Korea

Followed by a detailed presentation on the Exhibition in CD Deshmukh Auditorium from 11:00 am.
The exhibition will remain on view daily from 11:00  onwards

BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP

Gender Discrimination at Work in Urban China: The Paradox of Equality and Difference in the Women's Liberation Movement
By Usha Chandran (Routledge India; 2025)

Discussants:  Prof. Patricia Uberoi, Emeritus Fellow and Former Chairperson, Institute of Chinese Studies; Govind Kelkar; Executive Director, GenDev Centre for Research and Innovation, Gurgaon; Dr. Hemant Adlakha, Vice Chairperson & Honorary Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi; Dr. Ritu Agarwal, Associate Professor, Centre for East Asian Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Dr. Usha Chandran, Assistant Professor, Centre for Chinese Studies, School of Language, Literature & Culture Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Honorary Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi & Author of the Book.

Chair:  Prof. Sabaree Mitra, Professor, Centre for Chinese Studies, School of Language, Literature & Culture Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Editor, China Report (Sage), Honorary Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi
 

ANTARATMA — A Bharatanatyam Dance Production 
Exploring Navarasa Through Tagore

Antaratma is a Bharatanatyam dance production that journeys through the Navarasa – the nine fundamental emotions that shape the full spectrum of human experience, as laid out in the Natyashastra by Bharata Muni. 
Drawing inspiration from Rabindranath Tagore’s vast and diverse body of work, the production highlights how Tagore’s poetry and songs effortlessly traverse love, longing, courage, devotion, wonder, peace, and the darker shades of fear, anger, and despair. His artistic universe becomes the canvas upon which the Navarasa come alive. Antaratma becomes both an inner voyage and a collective experience – a celebration of the human spirit in all its colours.

(Collaboration: Impresario India)
 

Art Matters

Rasas of Modernity, a panel discussion on the book ‘Understanding Indian Modernity Through Paintings’ (Aleph 2025) By Harsha Dahejia.

Discussants: Geeti Sen; Meera Menezes and Harsha Dahejia

(Collaboration: Raza Foundation)

AI-Friendly Newsrooms
Reimagining Journalism in the time of AI

The Ethics Framework (The “Why”)

Transparency: Protocols for “AI-assisted” disclosures
Human-in-the-Loop: Editorial oversight to prevent bias and inaccuracies
Streamlining Production (The “How”)

Automated Layouts: Multi-platform publishing templates
Transcription & Translation: ASR tools and multilingual workflows
Visual Storytelling: AI-driven data analysis and visualisation
Audience Engagement & Distribution

Hyper-Personalisation: Machine learning for content recommendations
Text-to-Speech: Audio formats for long-form journalism
Closing Remarks & Q&A
Summary of key takeaways and audience interaction.

Speakers: Sanjay Kapoor, President, EGi; Editor, Hardnews; Siddharth Varadarajan, Founding Editor, The Wire; Sanket Upadhyay, Founder, Double Check; Pradeep Gairola, Chief Digital Business Officer, The Hindu; and Nandagopal Rajan, Chief Executive Officer (Digital), The Indian Express; and others.

(Collaboration: Editors Guild of India)

 

Echoes of the Earth: A Woodcut Diary, exhibition of woodcut prints by Raja Boro
Curated by Shruti Lakhanpal Tandon

The exhibition reflects a practice rooted in memory, material, and nature. Raised in rural Assam, his surroundings continue to shape his visual language. Trained in printmaking at Santiniketan and MSU Baroda, his woodcuts translate the rhythms and textures of the natural world into a meditative and tactile artistic expression.

The exhibition will be inaugurated on Thursday, 16 April 2026 at 17:30 hrs by Amal Allana ; with poetry readings by Gagan Gill

The artist will be giving a curatorial walkthrough and demonstration of the woodcut printing technique on Saturday, 18 April at 12:00 for the students from Oxford Cambridge Society of India – OCSI. There will be a workshop on Woodcut Printmaking & Curatorial Walkthrough with Sign Language Interpreters for Hearing Impaired IIC members and the students of Noida Deaf Society on Tuesday, 21 April at 11:30

On 23 April at Thursday, 16:30, The Varshita Young Artist Award Ceremony by Chief Guest, Ashok Vajpeyi, will be followed by a panel discussion on ‘Printmaking in the Artworld Today. Poet and Essayist Prayag Shukla will be giving a curatorial walkthrough on Monday, 27 April. A film screening titled ‘The way I see-Yusuf’ is scheduled for Wednesday, 29 April at 16:30 followed by a panel discussion on printmaking.

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

(Collaboration: Ushaarth Art Foundation and Dhoomimal Gallery)
 

Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things
(78 minutes; 2016; English)
Director: Matt D’Avella

A documentary that takes the audience inside the lives of minimalists from all walks of life - families, entrepreneurs, architects, artists, journalists, scientists, and even a former Wall Street broker - all striving to live a meaningful life with less.

(Collaboration: Foundation for Universal Responsibility of His Holiness the Dalai Lama)
 

IIC SPRING FESTIVAL OF MUSIC
Kuchipudi Recital
By Amrita Lahiri from Delhi
Accompanists: Satish Venkatesh (Vocal), Manohar Balatchandirane (Mridangam), Varun Rajasekharan(Nattuvangam) & G Raghavendra Prasath(Violin)

At 19:00
Bharatanatyam Duet Recital
By Yogesh Kumar & Sneha Narayan from Bengaluru, disciple of Guru Sri. Sathyanarayana Raju and Guru Smt. B Bhanumati.