The Council extended its good wishes to the readers of this Newsletter on the auspicious occasions of : Ram Navmi (5th), Id-ul-Zuha (8th), Mahavir Jayanti (9th), Good Friday (10th), Vaisakhi (13th), Vishu (14th), Bohaag Bihu (14th) and Mesadi (14th) ** A special colourful cultural programme was arranged (15th) by the Council at the residence of the Vice-President of India/ President of the ICCR to mark the New Year's Day being celebrated in several States in the country
Artistes and troupes visited PDR of Korea, Syria, Tanzania, Cyprus, Romania, Italy, Germany, Denmark, USA, Canada, Colombia and Surinam
Travelling exhibitions sponsored by the Council opened in New York (USA), Vienna (Austria) and Durban (South Africa)
Artistes from Mauritius, Oman, Syria, Egypt, Hungary, and Spain visited India for performances in the Capital and other cities
The ICCR had the honour to host distinguished visitors from several countries including Bhutan, Bangladesh and Kenya. The Council also facilitated the travel of Indian scholars to Uzbekistan, South Africa, France, Sweden and the U.S.A. for lecture tours and interaction with their counterparts during exhibitions and international conferences
In its Retrospectives series, the Council presented an evening of classical and devotional songs by Sumitra Guha on 7th April at Tagore Hall
The Horizon series continued to provide a platform, on Fridays at Tagore Hall, to young artistes empanelled with the Council. Presentations in April comprised gazals (17th) and an Odissi dance recital (3rd)
Spur of the Month:
A conclusion is what you reach when you get tired of thinking.
Events in New Delhi
* 3rd April : Tagore Hall : Horizon Series : Odissi dance recital : Leena Mohanty
*7th April : Tagore Hall :Retrospectives Series : Sumitra Guha : Devotional songs
*15th April : Vice-President's Residence : Baisakhi and New Year celebrations : folk dances and music from various States
*17th April : Tagore Hall : Horizon Series : gazals: Shobhana Rao
*21st April : Siri Fort : Zanoubia Folklore Troupe from Syria
*22nd April : Siri Fort : Aswan Folkloric Dance Troupe : Egypt
*23rd April : IIC : Lecture-demonstration on Flamenco : Spain
*27th April : Kamani: Theatre group from Mauritius: Play in Hindi
*28th April : Siri Fort : Folklore troupe Al-Majd from Oman
Events in Other Cities
Hungarian Gypsy group "Kalyi Jag" concludes its visit with presentations in Jaipur & Udaipur
Aswan Folkloric troupe from Egypt : in : Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai, Bangalore & Mumbai
Syrian Folklore troupe : in : Bangalore, Mumbai, Calcutta
Theatre group from Mauritius : in : Patna, Lucknow, Gorakhpur & Mau
Events Abroad
* Durban, South Africa : Multifaceted exhibiton on Mahatma Gandhi, Khadi and Nelson Mandela : in collaboration with curator Haku Shah, the Village Gallery ( New Delhi ), the Eicher Gallery ( New Delhi ) and the Durban Art Gallery : inaugurated on 2nd April
* Vienna, Austria : Exhibition of Contemporary Graphics : inaugurated on 2nd April
* New York, USA : Exhibition of Cartoons :inaugurated on 2nd April
* Indian popular music and gazals group of Penaz Masani concluded its tour with presentations in Tanzania
* Theatre group of Bansi Kaul gave performances in an international theatre festival in Colombia and in Surinam
* Bharatanatyam exponent Alarmel Valli concluded her tour with performances in Cyprus, Italy & Romania
* Popular singer Padmini Roy participated in an international festival in PDR of Korea
> ICCR travel assistance was provided to Carnatic flute maestro M S Shashank for concerts in Canada, the U.S.A., Germany, Italy and Denmark.
Distinguished Visitors
*The Council's guests this month included a 17-member delegation from the School of Arts and Crafts, Thimphu (Bhutan), Godfrey Okoth : Professor of History from Kenya and Justice Mohd Habibur Rehman, Fellow of the B'Desh Academy and Asiatic Society from Dhaka.
*Distinguished scholars assisted by the Council to travel abroad during the month included Dr RC Agrawal & RK Verma from the Archaelogical Survey of India (to Uzbekistan), artist Prof Mrugank Joshi from Mumbai (to France), artist Mrinalini Mukherjee Singh to Sweden to participate in an exhibition of contemporary Indian art, Dr Maneesha Tikekar from the University of Bombay to the USA for a lecture tour, carnatic music exponents Dr Salem Jayalakshmi and Prof S Shanmuga Sundaram from Chennai to South Africa to attend an international music conference.
