Panelists: Dr. Sudha Gopalakrishnan, IIC-International Research Division; Prof. Naman P. Ahuja, School of Arts & Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Dr. Preeti Bahadur Ramaswami, Ashoka University; and Dr. Geeti Sen, art historian, author of several books on Indian art and formerly Chief Editor, IIC Publications Division

Closing Remarks: Dr. Ananya Vajpeyi, Fellow and Associate Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies 

Chair: Shri K.N. Shrivastava, Director IIC

Professor B.N. Goswamy (15 August 1933 – 17 November 2023) was a world-renowned authority on Indian painting, whose writings had seminal influence on our understanding of art. His works included, The Mughals and Jogis of Jakhbar (co-author, 1967), ‘Pahari Painting: The Family as the Basis of Style’ (1968), A Place Apart: Painting in Kutch, 1720–1820 (co-author, 1983), Pahari Masters (co-author, 1992), the multi-volume Indian Costumes in the Calico Museum of Textiles (1993–), I See No Stranger: Early Sikh Art and Devotion (co-author, 2006), The Spirit of Indian Painting (2014), Oxford Readings in Indian Art (2018) and The Great Mysore Bhagavata (2019). He collaborated on curating such path-breaking exhibitions as ‘Essence of Indian Art’ (San Francisco, 1986), ‘Pahari Masters’ (Zürich, 1990), ‘Domains of Wonder’ (San Diego, 2005–06) and 'The Word is Sacred, Sacred is the Word' (Frankfurt, 2006). He was Professor Emeritus at Panjab University, and visiting professor at the universities of Heidelberg, Pennsylvania, California, Texas (Austin) and Zürich. 
 

I am Sirat (Canada)
(87 min; 2023; English)

Directed by Deepa Mehta and Sirat Taneja who will introduce the film

Caught between duty and self-determination, Sirat Taneja is a transgender woman who must act as her mother’s son when at home in New Delhi, but can be the woman she really is with her friends and at work with the Government of India.

Screening will be followed by a Conversation on Gender, Gaze and Society: The Role of Human Rights Cinema over the Years in Shifting the Gaze

With Deepa Mehta and Sirat

Introduction: H.E. Ms Marisa Gerards, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to India

Moderator: Myna Mukherjee, Director, Engendered

Organised in collaboration with Engendered Transnational Arts & Human Rights, I-View World Film Salon Series; Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; Embassy of Belgium; and Naz Foundation

Shapmochan

Rabindranath Tagore’s popular dance drama presented by Gaaner Tori, New Delhi

Directed by Trina Bhattacharya

Shapmochan which loosely translates as ‘Breaking the Curse’ is about a king who has a complex about his physical appearance, so much so that he sends a veena to represent him at his own wedding ceremony. He meets his wife only at night and impresses her with his soulful music, sensitive words and dance. Even though his wife, a Princess is eager to his him physically, he insists that she must first like him for his inner beauty

(Collaboration: Impresario India)
 

A duet between Sujoy Prasad Chatterjee and Shibashish Bandopadhyay (keyboard) through spoken words, dramatized readings and music

Readings from Rabindranath Tagore to Bob Dylan, from Leonard Cohen to Shankho Ghosh interspersed with music

Purulia Chhau
By Susanta Mahato and group from Purulia, West Bengal
 
The Chhau dance of Purulia district is one of the most vibrant and colourful art forms. Emerging from martial practice, the Purulia Chhau is a vigorous form of dance drama that draws its themes from the two great Indian epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata
 

(Collaboration: NCZCC, Prayagraj, Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India)

Hindustani Flute Recital
By Pt. Chetan Joshi

Accompanied by Babar Latif on tabla

 
Followed by

Dhrupad Recital
By Ustad F. Wasifuddin Dagar
Accompanied by Pt. Mohan Shyam Sharma on pakhawaj
 
(Collaboration: Dagar Brothers Memorial Trust)
 

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. 
 

Sergej in the Urn
(102 min; 2009; with English subtitles)
Director: Boris Hars-Tschachotin

The film will be introduced by Prof. Mahalakshmi Rakesh

Charismatic, erratic, egocentric, almost forgotten…Sergej Tschachotin was scientist of international repute, friend of Pavlov and Einstein, revolutionary and pacifist. Sergej in the Urn tells the story of Sergej Tschachotin’s epic existence - from 1883 to 1973 - through the memories of four of his sons. Speaking openly for the first time, they tell of Tschachotin’s role as a cancer researcher, his participation in anti-totalitarian propaganda movements, and his crusade against the arms race. But each son also exposes his conflicted relationship with a colossal fatherly shadow.

Filmmaker Boris Hars-Tschachotin, Sergej’s great-grandson, weaves together an intimate, tortured family saga that mirrors the myriad contradictions and possibilities of the 20th century.

A Tribute to Sangita Kalanidhi Dr. T.K. Murthy, Centenarian Living Legend and his contribution to the world of music
Conceptualised and presented by Prof. T.K. Venkatasubramanian
 
Chief Guest: Shri R. Venkataramani, Attorney General of India

The Contribution of Dr. T.K. Murthy to Indian Rhythms
Illustrated lecture by Prof. T.K. Venkatasubramanian, historian and accomplished mridangam player who is a disciple of Dr. T.K. Murthy

Prof. Venkatasubramanian’s presentation will be accompanied by Carnatic vocalist, T.K. Jayaraman who will sing some musical forms

Honouring the Centenarian Legend
 
Followed by performance

Carnatic Violin Recital
By Vidwan M.A. Sundhreswaran
With Vidwan K.P. Parameswaran on mridangam

(Collaboration: Lakshmi Kuppuswami Trust, Chennai)
 

Programme Details

Coordinated by Prof. Rekha Saxena, Department of Political Science, University of Delhi; Senior Advisor, Forum of Federations, Canada; and Hon. Vice –Chairman, Centre for Multilevel Federalism, New Delhi

Presentations by Prof. Sandeep Shastri, political scientist, Director - Academics, Nitte Education Trust since 2023; Prof. Ashutosh Kumar, Professor, Dept. of Political Science, Panjab University, Chandigarh; Dr. Hilal Ahmed, Associate Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies; Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay; Dr. E. Sridharan, Academic Director and Chief Executive of the University of Pennsylvania Institute for the Advanced Study of India (UPIASI), New Delhi; and others