The exhibition is based on the extensive collections of jazz at the Archives and Research Center of Ethnomusicology of the American Institute of Indian Studies. The major holdings are of the collections of Naresh Fernandes, author of Taj Mahal Foxtrot and well-known expert on Jazz in India; as well as that of Niranjan Jhaveri, famous jazz aficionado. The interactive exhibition includes offline kiosks which brings together over 600 tracks of music as well as photographs and documents that trace the history of Jazz in India from the 1920s to the current era from the two collections

Inauguration by Mr. Tim Curtis, Director UNESCO on Wednesday, 1 May 2024 at 18:30
 

(Collaboration: Archives & Research Center for Ethnomusicology,  American Institute of Indian Studies; and UNESCO)
 

Dance of the Seasons (UK)
(41 min; 2023; Sanskrit & English)
Directed by G.D. Jayalakshmi who will introduce the film

Screening will be followed by a discussion

Dance of the Seasons deploys the Indian classical dance form, Bharatanatyam, to demand that we respect our earth and its climate. Based on an epic Sanskrit poem, Ritu Samhara (The March of the Seasons) by Kalidasa (circa 400AD), the award-winning dancer, Padmini Upadhya, communes with nature, becoming one with it.  This lies in sharp contrast with what is happening ecologically today. India’s six seasons of yester-year are evoked and juxtaposed strongly with today’s sad reality.  

The narrative inter-cuts with R S Pandit’s 1942 translation, created as he languishes in solitary confinement, fighting for Indian independence against British rule.