Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Shyam Benegal to participate in creativity symposium

Renowned author Gopalkrishna Gandhi, fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee, and Italian filmmaker Sergio Scapagnini will be among the eminent speakers set to participate in an upcoming international symposium here.

'Creativity And Freedom', organised by Kolkata-based CIMA Gallery and Ashoka University, will feature a varied line-up of speakers including academicians, filmmakers, museum directors, who will talk about "creative freedom, especially in today's polarized climate".

The two-day seminar is scheduled to be held on February 5-6 at the India International Center here.

Symposium director and art historian Alka Pande said the symposium will bring together all realms of creativity including fine arts, visual arts, cinema, literature, design as well as popular culture.

"Artists, thinkers, academics, designers and innovators need to regroup and work as incubators for fashioning and re-imagining a world order of inclusiveness.

"It is time again for dialogue and discussions, for debates and discourses to sow seeds of a new knowledge for peace, stability and a new system of sustainability," she said.

According to organisers, the event, presented in partnership with IIT Kharagpur and Agah Khan Foundation, also aims to create a system of knowledge that can question governance and polity alongside, sensitization of students, artists and professionals.

"Creativity and freedom form the bedrock of every modern civilisation. This symposium, therefore, is extremely important for the freedom of the mind and a holistic vision of life and arts," Rakhi Sarkar, Director CIMA, said.

Other prominent speakers at the event will include director Shyam Benegal, Hindustani classical singer Meeta Pandit, Chairman of Victoria And Albert Museum Nicholas Coleridge, Deputy Director of Musee d'Art Moderne in Paris Catherine David, and Director of The Courtauld Institute of Art in London Deborah Swallow.