Moving Images – Maya Kulkarni’s Shilpanatanam
Shilpanatanam is a style of movement and choreographic vision conceived by Dr. Maya Kulkarni that departs from the structures of classical dance technique and conventional dramaturgy. Shilpanatanam taps into the wider world of literature and poetry.
Dance presentations by Mesma Belsare and Dr. Kaustavi Sarkar
Filmit India: IIC/ INTACH Children’s Film Festival
Children’s cultural film festival, a screening of the best films on heritage made by children across different schools in Delhi-NCR
(Collaboration: Heritage Education and Communication Service, INTACH)
Living Traditions: Gwalior Gharana
Hindustani vocal recital by Meeta Pandit who will present compositions intrinsic to the Gwalior Gharana
Showcasing rare and exquisite genres such as tapp-khayal, tappa, ashtapadi, tapp-thumri, tapp-tarana, chaturang, the program offers a glimpse into the profound beauty and versatility of this illustrious musical heritage and its relevance today.
Accompanists: Pt. Shailendra Mishra on tabla and Ustad Kamal Ahmad on Sarangi
To Commemorate Martyrs Day 2025
To Commemorate Martyrs Day 2025
(Collaboration: Sarvodaya International Trust-Delhi Chapter)
THE IIC DOUBLE BILL: DANCE RECITALS
Kathak Recital
By Mayukh Bhattacharyya from Delhi, disciple of the late Guru Pt. Birju Maharaj
At 19:00
Bharatanatyam Recital
By Jhinook Mukherjee Sinha from Kolkata, disciple of Dr. Guru Smt Thankamani Kutty
Indian Constitution @75: A Federal Democracy Perspective
Indian Constitution @75: A Federal Democracy Perspective
Speakers: Hon’ble Mr. Justice Madan Lokur, Judge, Supreme Court of Fiji, Chairperson, United Nations Internal Justice Council and former Judge, Supreme Court of India; Shri Rajeev Dhavan, Senior Advocate, human rights activist, and Commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists; and Prof. Neera Chandhoke, Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Equity Studies, and former Professor of Political Science, University of Delhi
Introduction: Prof. Balveer Arora, Chairman, Centre for Multilevel Federalism and Convener, IIC Programme Planning Group on Federal Democracy
Chair: Shri N.N. Vohra, Life Trustee, IIC
IIC ANNUAL DAY 2025
Concert
Presented by Advaita Crescendo Quintet
With Dr. Suma Sudhindra (veena); Federica Colangelo (piano); Ned McGowan (flute); Karthik Mani (percussion, vocals); and Laurent Peckels (bass)
Advaita Crescendo is a new ensemble that weaves the rhythmic and expressive threads of Indian Carnatic music with the spontaneous flow of European jazz. Their rich compositions and intimate improvisations reflect the essence of Advaita – the unity of diversity
Organised in collaboration with Italian Embassy Cultural Centre; and Embassy of Luxembourg; and Embassy of the Netherlands
The Two Families and an Archive that Launched Pete Seeger
Illustrated lecture by Anthony Seeger, Curator and Director Emeritus, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings and Distinguished Professor of Ethnomusicology Emeritus, University of California, Los Angeles Chair: Courtney CJ Woods, Public Diplomacy Officer, Embassy of USA How did Pete Seeger (1919-2014) become the charismatic banjo-playing musician that had such a large impact on music and musicians around the world, including India? His start can be traced to two families and a unique group of field recordings collected for the United States Library of Congress. One family was Pete’s own, comprised of his musicologist father Charles Seeger and composer stepmother Ruth Crawford Seeger as well as their children Mike, Peggy, Barbara and Penny. The other family was the Lomaxes: folklorist/collector John, and his children, especially Alan and Ness. The archive was called the Archive of American Folk Songs. Its first honorary curator was John Lomax; its first employee was his son Alan. Its first paid intern was Pete Seeger. The two families changed how American music, as distinct from European music, became part of the educational system and cultural life of the United States. A contemporary once said: “Charles Seeger and Alan Lomax provided the fuel, aimed him in a certain direction, and Pete took off like a rocket.” Tony (Anthony) Seeger, one of Pete Seeger’s nephews and himself an archivist, will describe the remarkable combination of circumstances, musical influences, institutions, and sounds that influenced Pete in his early years. Tony will illustrate his talk with photos, and recordings, as well as songs on his 5-string banjo. He hopes his audience will join him on a few of them (Collaboration: Archives and Research Centre for Ethnomusicology, American Institute of Indian Studies) YouTube link: https://youtu.be/KjBq9daLEbU |
Ghulam Rassul Galwan: The Ladakhi Explorer Extraordinaire
Illustrated lecture by Brig. Ashok Abbey, a veteran climber, who has climbed extensively for over 43 years in the Karakoram, Great Himalaya, and adjoining mountain ranges who will retrace Galwan’s fascinating life, journey and travels.
With select photographs from the personal collection of Amb. Shyam Saran, President, IIC
Speaker: Dr. Janet Rizvi, Cambridge educated independent scholar who has specialised in Ladakh. Her two seminal books, Ladakh: Crossroads of High Asia; and Trans-Himalayan Caravans: Merchant Princes and Peasant Traders in Ladakh are well-known. She has also written numerous papers and articles on Ladakh, Kashmir and the wider are of Western Himalayas.
Chair: Amb. Shyam Saran, President IIC
Moderator & Host: Ms Ahtushi Deshpande, travel journalist, photographer and author of Speaking Stones: Rock Art of Ladakh (2024)
DR. C.D. DESHMUKH MEMORIAL LECTURE 2025
Time of Monsters, Time of Possibilities: Reflections on an Interstitial Era
Speaker: Dr. Amitav Ghosh, well-known writer, recipient of the Jnanpith Award in 2018, the Erasmus Prize in 2024 and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Chair: Shri Shyam Saran, President, IIC
Ours is an era of multiple intersecting crises and transitions - of geopolitics, financial structures, and, perhaps most importantly, of environmental and ecological regimes that are slowly but surely pushing the planet towards catastrophe. And yet, the paradox of this interstitial era is that it has also made it possible to contemplate, and even embrace, possibilities that were denied or rejected during the age of high modernity. This lecture explores some of these paradoxes and possibilities.