IIC’s annual fest to be held from Oct 18

The India International Centre (IIC) will hold the 20th edition of its annual festival, ‘The IIC Experience: A Festival of the Arts’ from October 18 to October 22.

The festival’s theme ‘Kalpavriksha: The Nationalist Movement — Freedom and Identity’ will delve into the contours of India’s nationalist movement which shaped the nation’s identity and ignited a cultural revival across dance, music, crafts and the study of classical texts.

The festival will open with an exhibition on manuscripts and the movement of ideas across Asia and a keynote address by historian Sugata Bose. Historian Rudragnshu Mukherjee will speak on the topic ‘Bose and Bose: Making of the INA’.

Foreign and Indian films, including filmmaker Shyam Benegal’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero, The Great Dictator and Satyen Bose’s Chalti ka Naam Gadi, will be screened during the six-day festival.

The other programmes include ‘Poetry: Singing a Nation’, lecture on ‘Nationalism and Popular Cinema’, jazz concert by the ‘Buena Vista Jazz Band’ from Cuba, and ‘Didida’, a contemporary dance presented by artistes from Korea, exploring mythological texts. A solo dance drama based on the prison diaries of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh will be staged by choreographer Navtej Singh Johar.