New Delhi:
“Dilli ki Sanskriti” or “The Heritage of Delhi” will be the theme of an upcoming cultural festival titled, “Words in the Garden”.
Set to open at the India International Centre (IIC) here on Friday, the three-day annual festival aims to honour the “incredible creativity, imagination and ideas that Delhi, the capital city generates, sustains and embodies”.
Curated by eminent poet and literary critic Ashok Vajpeyi, the festival, now in its fourth edition, will explore Delhi’s heritage through several sessions and performances themed around capital’s cultural stalwarts like playwright Habib Tanvir, theatre director Ebrahim Alkazi, Kathak exponent Birju Maharaj, modernist Ram Kumar, writer-poet Sachchidananda Vatsyayan, popularly known as “Agyeya”, and designer Rajeev Sethi.
“This is a Delhi-based series that celebrates the capital city in all its creativity because of its rich repertoire of culture. Delhi, a cosmopolitan city, is a keeper of traditions and a seat of innovation and this series ‘Words in the Garden’ focuses not just on its traditional roots but also on the city’s contemporary creativity,” said Vajpeyi.
An evening of thumri rendition by legendary Kathak dancer Birju Maharaj, and a performance by Prerana Shrimali, who will present the ‘Poetry of Dance’ — an amalgamation of Kathak dance form with the poetry of legendary poets of Delhi such as Mir Taqi Mir, Amir Khusro, Mirza Ghalib and Daagh Dehlvi — are some of the highlights of the festival.
“A movie screening of ‘Ram Kumar: Nostalgic Longing’ directed by Laurent Bregeat will take the viewers into the world of the reclusive and introspective abstractionist Ram Kumar,” read the statement from the organisers.
There will also be discussions on varied topics by some of the eminent personalities of Delhi, including veteran photographer and photo journalist Raghu Rai and Gautam Anand, one of the most influential food industry professional.
The festival is being organised by Sanatan Sangeet Sanskriti in collaboration with IILM University and IIC.
In previous editions, the festival explored themes like ‘Meer Ki Dilli’, ‘Ghalib Ki Dilli’ and ‘Bapu ki Dilli’. The festival will come to a close on Sunday.
