North East on focus at annual arts fest of IIC

New Delhi, October 7, 2014: With a focus on the North East as well as the First World War, the week-long annual arts festival of the India International Centre is scheduled to kick off here from October 9.

A range of activities from dance to music, theatre to films and exhibitions to world cuisine is on the cards. “Plays and tribute performances to actress Suchitra Sen, writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Hollywood actor-comedian Robin Williams will also be a part of the fest,” Director of IIC Kavita Sharma said.

Traditional storytelling and recitations recreating Khasi and Jaintia traditions of the northeast are set to be portrayed through an opening instrumental concert by Meghalaya band, ‘Rida and the Musical Folks’.

A play on Mahashweta Devi’s acclaimed short story “Draupadi” by noted art theatre personality from Manipur, Heisnam Kanhailal figures in the line-up.

Poetry recitations and a chain of 11 international feature films on and around the Great War have been planned to mark the centenary of the outbreak of World War One.

Organisers say a series of paintings, graphics, movies and exhibitions on the War “will show the gravity of the pain and the experiences the people went through at the time” For art lovers, four major exhibitions in four different venues would be on display, which includes a photographic exhibition by British journalist Findlay Kember on the Stilwell Road, which runs from Assam to the Yunan province of China.

25 leading artists from eight SAARC countries, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka would showcase a ‘Jaisalmer Yellow’ exhibition.

“The IIC platform is a great chance for the people of Delhi in the engage and exchange in the ideas. There will be numerous arts forms with different flavours around,” said an artist. “My work on Jaisalmer will bring forward the aura of Jaisalmer as a city. The beauty of the city and how it is still untouched,” he added.

Japanese artists are scheduled to perform recitals using Koto, a 13-stringed traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument. Classical jazz and Carnatic vocal recital by Lalitha and Haripriya from Hyderabad would also be performed.

A mix of Indian and international cuisine on offer at the festival include Swedish Smorgasbord, European, Japanese, Brazilian and Russian food.

Source: The Shillong Times