IIC's annual festival of Arts to focus on syncretic culture of Lucknow

The rich syncretic culture of Lucknow from the last 100 years will be the focus of the upcoming 16th edition of 'IIC Experience: A Festival of the Arts'.

The festival, which will open on October 11, will bring to the fore the language, food and crafts of the city of Nawabs.

The five-day event will showcase Lucknow's contribution to Indian art and cinema through exhibitions, film screenings, performances and more.

While 'Awadhse Chand Warq' will include an exhibition of photographs, artifacts, archival textiles, books and letters celebrating the diversity of people, places and material cultures of Lucknow; 'Husn-e-karigari-e-Awadh' will feature the craft traditions of Awadh accompanied with live demonstrations by master artisans.

'Filmi Duniya Mein Awadh' will showcase iconic Bollywood films, which either were shot in Lucknow or have the city as the backdrop.

These will include Satyajit Ray's "Shatranj ke Khilari", Guru Dutt-Waheeda Rehman starrer "Chaudhvin ka Chand", Meena Kumari starrer "Pakeezah", Shyam Benegal's "Junoon", Shashi Kapoor starrer "Shakespeare Wallah", and Rekha-Farooq Sheikh starrer "Umrao Jaan".

A performance of 'Soz Khwani' or songs of lament, and 'Awadhi Bawarchikhana' or Awadhi dinner will also be part of this segment.

"Conceptualised to bring together a wide array of talents in the visual and performing arts, the festival epitomises and encapsulates five decades of the Centre as a space for diversity, freedom, innovation, creativity, learning and entertainment," Kanwal Wali, IIC Secretary, said.

Besides the special focus on Lucknow, the festival will also feature an unusual Odissi recital by an all male troupe of artistes from Bhubaneswar's Rudrakshya Foundation, a concert by Sabor do Brasil, and a performance of letters, poetry and drama by Surnai Theatre and Folk Arts Foundation led by singer and thespian Ila Arun.

An exhibition, "Contextualising Progressive, Indian Art from the 20th Century", will re-focus on the works of some of the leaders of the Bombay Progressive Group and examine their legacies in the creation of a new idiom for modern Indian art today.

The show, curated by renowned artists Vijay Kowshik and Gogi Saroj Pal, will also look at the works of the early Bengal masters and other leading artists that followed.

It will also offer a slice of world cinema with screenings of movies from New Zealand, Mexico, Portugal, Italy, Palestine, Turkey, Germany, Poland and France.

For food lovers it has on offer 'Kannadiga Oota', a special Kannadiga lunch that will have food from North and coastal Karnataka on offer; the subtle flavours of an 'Odia Bhoji'; and a grand feast of Bengali delicacies.

International flavours include a Brazilian and an Italian spread.

The festival will close on October 15 with a Carnatic concert by T M Krishna.