Mohile Parikh Center for the Visual Arts

We will host two presentations by the historian Indira Chowdhury on March 26 and 27, 2009 at 6.30pm at the Little Theatre of the National Centre for the Performing Arts. This program is free and open to all.

Indira Chowdhury was formerly Professor of English at Jadavpur University, Kolkata. A PhD in History from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, her book The Frail Hero and Virile History (OUP, 1998) was awarded the Tagore Prize (Rabindra Puraskar) in 2000. She also compiled the Supplement of Indian English words published in the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary in 1995. In 2004, she published The First Promise – a translation of a major Bengali novel into English. She is based in Bangalore and works as a Consultant Archivist for several institutions among them, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, IIT Kanpur and Naandi, Hyderabad.

Lecture I: Collective Memory, Institutional Archives and the Writing of Contemporary History

Lecture II: The Promise of Women’s Writing: Ashapurna Debi, a hundred years on

We will host a performance and art symposia titled Addressing the ABC of Art (Artists/Beliefs/Curatorial Impulses/Innovation) on March 22, 2009 from 6.00 pm - 9.00pm at NGMA Auditorium, National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai.This program is free and open to all.

Artists/Panelists: Sharmila Samant, Surekha, Mithu Sen, Monali Meher, Kaushik Mukhopadhyay, Justin Ponmany, Tushar Joag and Anita Dube

Chair: Arshiya Lokhandwala (Independent Curator)

We will host a presentation titled Lifestyle China: The Global Rise of China’s Creative Industries by Philip Dodd (Chairman, Made in China) on March 12, 2009 at 6.30pm at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) Auditorium. This program is free and open to all and has been organized in collaboration with the Asia Society India Centre and the National Gallery of Modern Art, Mumbai.

The Mohile Parikh Center for the Contemporary (MPCC), will screen the film God, the Universe and Everything Else (Documentary) on March 5, 2009 at 6.00 pm at the Little Theatre of the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai. Free passes are available at the Mohile Parikh Center.

God, the Universe & Everything Else (1988) is an educational colloquium, attempting to uncover a grand unified theory of the laws that govern the universe. This enlightening program delves deep into topics such as the Big Bang Theory, the expansion of the universe, black holes, extraterrestrial life and the origins of creativity. This gathering of perhaps the three greatest scientific minds of our time, gives the viewer a unique opportunity to share their thought provocative insights.

Stephen Hawking is a British theoretical physicist who has dedicated much of his life to probing the laws of time and space described by Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.

Carl Sagan was an American astronomer who played a major role in the development of the American space program, as well as his contributions to planetary science and his acclaimed television series, Cosmos.

Arthur C. Clarke is a British author, most famous for the science fiction classic, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and his optimistic vision for mankind exploring the galaxy.

We will host a film screening and panel discussion titled Jehangir Sabavala: DVD and CD-Rom on the life and work of Jehangir Sabavala directed by Arun Khopkar on March 4, 2009 at 6.30pm at the Godrej Dance Academy Theatre of the National Centre for the Performing Arts. The dancer, Alarmel Valli will present a special performance and the panelists are Jehangir Sabavala (Artist), Arun Khopkar (Filmmaker) and Ranjit Hoskote (Cultural Theorist and Curator). This program is free and open to all and has been organized in collaboration with Sakshi Gallery, Mumbai.