F E ST I VA L
GUIDE
VICTORIA THEATRE
THE ARTS HOUSE
SATURDAY, 27TH APRIL 7 PM – 9:30 PM
SUNDAY, 28TH APRIL 11 AM – 5 PM
Aatish Taseer | Chetan Bhagat | Lady Kishwar Desai Mallika Sarabhai | Manu Joseph | Ambassador Nirupama Rao Shantum Seth | Shoma Chaudhury | Sunita Kohli
Produced & Curated by Maniza Jumabhoy & Preeti Dawra
Supported By
DAY 1 Ticket: SGD 80 | DAY 2 Ticket: SGD 100 | DAY 2 VIP Ticket: SGD 110 Tickets now on sale at www.apactix.com
Our Partners
Converse with some of India’s most influential writers, thinkers and artists. Celebrate the diversity of its arts and ideas in an exciting, live wire weekend at the Victoria Theatre and The Arts House. Partake of powerful performances, conversations, and interactions on arts, literature, history, politics, culture, and faith of India. Expose your mind to a world of new ideas and experiences in the company of like-minded lovers of literature and arts. Spark your mind and imagination. Meet our speakers. Chetan Bhagat Iconic Writer. Mallika Sarabhai Globally Renowned Dancer and Activist. Aatish Taseer Acclaimed Author & NYT Columnist. Manu Joseph Award-Winning Writer, Political Commentator & Satirist. Shantum Seth Pre-Eminent Buddhist Teacher. Nirupama Rao Former Indian Ambassador to the USA and Foreign Secretary. Sunita Kohli Leading Heritage Restorer & Designer. Kishwar Desai Writer & Chairperson of India's first Partition Museum.
The Festival of Indian Arts and Ideas will foster a one-of-a-kind dialogue to highlight the syncretic culture of India through the lens of arts and literature. Singapore is the natural place to host this festival as it understands the complexities of India while championing it's potential economically and politically. Connectivity to India via trade, faith, food, and culture is deeply embedded in Singapore today. The festival will seek to deepen these ties. The inaugural festival will spotlight the ideas that both unite and divide the nation. Our speakers will showcase their finest works with punchy stories and soul grabbing narratives of fiction, nonfiction, history, heritage, and culture. Issues that have tested the spirit and shaken the conscience of India will be spotlighted, alongside the irrepressible dynamism, humor, wit, and creativity of the country. It would be a testament to what arts and ideas can do to shape a nation and civilization.
S C H E D U L E
LOOKING BACK, LOOKING FORWARD OLD STORIES, NEW NARRATIVES SATURDAY, 27TH APRIL THE VICTORIA THEATRE, SINGAPORE 7 PM – 9:30 PM 7 PM – 8 PM
Mallika Sarabhai on the power of myth in molding a civilization's identity, humanity, and politics India's foremost dancer, choreographer, playwright, and social activist Legend. Fiesty. Committed. Courageous. Master Storyteller. 8 PM – 8 45 PM
Sunita Kohli on how 5000-years of Indian art, architecture, design, and cuisine have shaped the Indian subcontinent Globally acclaimed heritage architecture restorer and leading designer & author Culture Keeper. Aesthete. Avant Garde. Cutting Edge. Contemporary. 8 45 PM – 9 30 PM Dharmacharya Shantum Seth on the art of Buddism and leading Buddhist pilgrimages in India Writer, pre-eminent Buddhist teacher & scholar, and renowned guide for Buddhist pilgrimage sites in India Enlightened. Penetrating. Profound. Seeker. Sagacious.
SUNDAY, 28TH APRIL THE ARTS HOUSE, SINGAPORE 11 AM – 5 PM 11 AM – 12 PM
Chetan Bhagat on shaping a nation's imagination through storytelling Blockbuster author, screenwriter, & columnist; writer of nine best-selling books, four of whom have been made into successful Bollywood films. Phenomenan. Popular. Provocateur. Influential. Original. 12 PM – 1 PM
Manu Joseph on the art of satire in politics, the value of humor, and finding your voice One of India's most read political commentators & satirist, best-selling author, winner of The Hindu Literature Prize literary & former columnist for The New York Times. Irreverent. Ironic. Iconoclast. Out-of-the-box. Maverick. 1 PM – 2 PM | LUNCH 2 PM – 3 PM
Aatish Taseer on balancing the battles of borders, religions, nations, arts, and politics Globally acclaimed author and writer & contributing columnist for NYT; son of assassinated Pakistani Politician, Salman Taseer, and a celebrated Indian journalist, Tavleen Singh. Intellectual. Incisive. Outspoken. Unorthodox. Erudite.
SUNDAY, 28TH APRIL THE ARTS HOUSE, SINGAPORE 11 AM – 5 PM 3 PM – 4 PM
Ambassador Nirupama Rao on how India and Pakistan can step back from the brink of war Former Indian foreign secretary, and ambassador to the United States and China Strategist. Measured. Credible. Esteemed. Effective. 4 PM – 5 PM
Lady Kishwar Desai on India's first Partition Museum, a site of history and memory Leading Indian author and columnist. Chair of The Arts and Cultural Heritage Trust, which set up the world’s first Partition Museum at Town Hall, Amritsar, India. Custodian. Historian. Persistent. Dynamic. Spirited.
S P E A K E R S
Mallika Sarabhai on the power of myth in molding a civilization's identity, humanity, & politics SATURDAY, 27TH APRIL | 6:35 PM - 7:30 PM Mallika Sarabhai is India’s leading dancers and choreographer. She is the founder of the renowned Darpana dance company in Ahemadabad. Mallika first came to international acclaim when she played the role of Draupadi in Peter Brook’s The Mahabharata for 5 years, first in French and then English, performing in France, North America, Australia, Japan, and Scotland. She then created the first of her hard-hitting solo theatrical works, Shakti: The Power of Women. Since then Mallika has created numerous classical and contemporary stage productions which have been presented in India and over 50 other countries to raise awareness of Indian culture through dance and drama and also advocate for social awareness and change.
Sunita Kohli on how Indian art, architecture, design, and cuisine have shaped the subcontinent's syncretic culture
SATURDAY, 27TH APRIL | 7:30 PM – 8:15 PM Sunita Kohli is a globally acclaimed Indian heritage architectural restorer, interior designer and author. In 1992, she was conferred the Padma Shri by the President of India for contribution to excellence in national life in the field of "Architectural Restoration and Design", and also presented the Mahila Shiromani Award by Mother Teresa. She has restored and designed leading historical heritage buildings, hotels, forts, palaces, libraries, museums and residences in India, Egypt, Bhutan, Lahore and Sri Lanka. Through her singularly unique vision and work that has been lauded by national and international political leaders, including Prime Ministers and Presidents, Sunita Kohli has helped conserve many national architectural treasures that had significantly decayed. In the capital city of New Delhi, Sunita Kohli has notably helped restore buildings designed by the famous British architects, Sir Edwin Lutyens, Sir Herbert Baker and Sir Robert Tor Russell. These include the President's House, (nee Viceroy House), the Parliament Building, the Prime Minister's Office and Secretariat as well as the official residence of the Prime Minister. She is also the President of India's leading design firm K2INDIA and is the former Chairperson of the School of Planning and Architecture in Bhopal. Most recently, she co-authored the highly acclaimed ’The Lucknow Cookbook’ with her mother, Chand Sur, which presented traditional cuisine as an integral part of intangible cultural heritage.
Shantum Seth on the art of Buddism and leading Buddhist pilgrimages in India SATURDAY, 27TH APRIL | 8:15 AM – 9:00 PM Shantum Seth is the foremost teacher and guide to the sites associated with the Buddha. A Buddhist practitioner, he is an ordained teacher (Dharmacharya) in the Zen tradition of the Vietnamese Master, Thich Nhat Hanh. He teaches in India and other countries and has been leading well acclaimed pilgrimages "In the Footsteps of the Buddha" since 1988. In the last few years he has been leading inter-faith, educational, cultural and spiritual journeys to diverse regions of India. At the same time, he has been deeply involved with social and ecological development issues for over 20 years. He is a consultant to the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation to help promote Buddhist circuit tourism in India. He is also on the Government of India’s expert committee for the Promotion of Buddhist teaching and learning (including advising on the development of the Buddhist sites for pilgrimage/tourism) and has trained Government of India and UNESCO. He has contributed to a number of books including 'Walking with the Buddha', 'I Have Arrived, I Am Home' and 'Volunteers Against Conflict'. He is presently working on a Hollywood production entitled 'Buddha'.
Chetan Bhagat on shaping a nation's imagination through storytelling SUNDAY, 28TH APRIL | 11 AM- 12 PM
Chetan Bhagat is the author of nine blockbuster books. These include seven novels—Five Point Someone (2004), One Night @ the Call Center (2005), The 3 Mistakes of My Life (2008), 2 States (2009), Revolution 2020 (2011), Half Girlfriend (2014) One Indian Girl (2016) and The Girl in Room 105 (2018) and two non-fiction titles— What Young India Wants (2012) and Making India Awesome(2015). Chetan’s books have remained bestsellers since their release. Four out his five novels have been already adapted into successful Bollywood films and the others are in the process of being adapted as well. The New York Times called him the ‘the biggest selling English language novelist in India’s history’. Time magazine named him amongst the ‘100 most influential people in the world’ and Fast Company, USA, listed him as one of the world’s ‘100 most creative people in business’.
Manu Joseph on the art of satire in politics, the value of humor, and finding your voice SUNDAY, 28TH APRIL | 12 PM – 1 PM Manu Joseph is one of the most popular political and social commentators of India. He is the author of the widely acclaimed and bestselling novels, Serious Men and The Illicit Happiness of Other People, which have been translated into many languages and have been nominated for several prizes. Among other honors, he is the winner of The Hindu Literature Prize and The American Pen Open Book Award, whose jury described him as ‘…that rare bird who can wildly entertain the reader as forcefully as he moves them’. The Tamil translation of 'Serious Men' won the Sahitya Akademi award. His most recent work is Miss Laila, Armed and Dangerous which has won several accolades and awards. Manu is the former editor of Open Magazine and is a columnist for the International New York Times and the Hindustan Times.
Aatish Taseer on the balancing act of battles of borders, religion, nationhood, art, and politics SUNDAY, 28TH APRIL | 2 PM – 3 PM
Aatish Taseer is an award-winning author and contributing opinion writer for The International New York Times. He is, most recently, the author of The TwiceBorn: Life and Death on the Ganges. Aatish is also the author of the memoir Stranger to History: A Son’s Journey Through Islamic Lands and the acclaimed novels: The Way Things Were; Temple-Goers, which was short-listed for the Costa First Novel Award; and Noon. His work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. He is the son of a prominent Indian Sikh journalist, Tavleen Singh, and Pakistani politician father, Salman Taseer.
Ambassador
Nirupama Rao on how India and Pakistan can step back from the brink of war SUNDAY, 28TH APRIL | 3 PM – 4 PM Ambassador Nirupama Rao is a former Indian diplomat, Foreign Secretary, and Ambassador to the United States. She is a global fellow at the Wilson center and counselor at the World Refugee Council Ambassador Rao was named to the Global List of the 100 Most Influential Women by foreignpolicy.com; and, has a following of 1.4 million persons on Twitter. She was India’s first woman spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi, the first woman high commissioner from her country to Sri Lanka, and the first Indian woman ambassador to the People’s Republic of China. She served as India’s Foreign Secretary from 2009-2011. At the end of that term, she was appointed India’s Ambassador to the United States where she served for a term of two years from 2011-2013. She is currently working on a book on India’s China relationship, entitled: “Telling it on the Mountain: India and China, 1949-1962”, due in June 2019. Ambassador Rao and her husband Sudhakar, have recently set up a Bangalore-based Trust called The South Asian Symphony Foundation to further the cause of peace and mutual understanding in South Asia through the medium of music.
Lady Kishwar Desai on India's first Partition Museum, a site of history and memory. SUNDAY, 28TH APRIL | 5 PM – 6 PM
Kishwar Desai is a leading Indian author, columnist, and historian. She is also chair of the Indian Arts and Cultural Heritage Trust, which recently set up the very first Partition Museum in Amritsar, at the Town Hall next to the Golden Temple. It has become a national landmark since. Her new book, Jallianwala Bagh, The Real Story, has been critically acclaimed by national and global critics. Ms. Desai helped set up the Gandhi Statue at Westminster Square inaugurated by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former British Prime Minister, David Cameron. She is married to Lord Meghnad Desai.
Shoma Chaudhury MO D E RATO R
Shoma Chaudhury is an award-winning Indian journalist, editor, and political commentator, known for her strong but nuanced stands on national issues. In 2011, Newsweek in the US picked her as one of 150 power women "who shake the world”. In 2018, she was invited to deliver the Gandhi Oration in Sydney, the first Indian to do so. She has been awarded the prestigious Ernest Hemingway Award for Political Journalism, the Mumbai Press Club award for political journalism, the Ramnath Goenka award and the Chameli Devi Award for Best Woman Journalist for -- in the words of the citation -- "going where angels fear to tread”. She has co-founded and was director of Algebra - the Arts and Ideas Club, a unique forum for critical conversation, constructed to spark new ideas and challenge perspectives. Over the past two years, she has hosted over 100 live stage events and more than 200 topnotch speakers at Algebra, from every discipline that impacts human affairs. Earlier, Shoma has been the managing editor and one of the founders of Tehelka, an iconic and highly acclaimed investigative and public interest newsmagazine, where she wrote and reported extensively on issues of justice, social equity, human rights, the media, law, and the fight over resources. Several of her stories, in defence of human rights workers falsely accused by the State, were instrumental in getting people out of jail. She also founded and was the editor-in-chief of CatchNews, a digital newsplatform. Most recently, she has curated the India Today Group’s prestigious National Conclave in Delhi.
James Crabtree MO D E RATO R
James Crabtree is a Singapore-based author and journalist, and an Associate Professor of Practice at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. His best-selling book, “The Billionaire Raj: A Journey Through India’s New Gilded Age”, was released in mid-2018. It was short-listed for the FT / McKinsey book of the year. Prior to academia, James worked for the Financial Times, most recently leading coverage of Indian business as Mumbai bureau chief, between 2011 and 2016. He is now a columnist for Nikkei Asian Review, and also a non-resident fellow at the Asia-Pacific programme at Chatham House. At the Lee Kuan Yew School, James teaches graduate courses on leadership and communication, as well as the impact of the 2008 financial crisis. He is also a fellow at the school’s Centre on Asia and Globalisation. Before joining the FT, James was a senior editor at Prospect, Britain’s leading monthly magazine of politics and ideas. He has written for a range of global publications, including the New York Times, the Economist, Wired, and Foreign Policy. Prior to journalism, James was a senior policy advisor in the UK Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit under Prime Ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He has worked for various think tanks in London and Washington DC, and spent a number of years living in America, initially as a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
P R O D U C E R S A N D C U R A T O R S
Maniza Jumabhoy P R O D U C E R & C U RATO R
Maniza Jumabhoy is the founder of Limelight Arts. It was established in 1994 and is devoted to bringing quality theatre, music, and art from India to Singapore. She is also a board member of The Arts House, the Asian Civilisations Museum, and the executive committee member of the Chinese Women's Association. Limelight Arts made its first foray into the theatre with “Tumhari Amrita”, starring Shabana Azmi and Farouque Shaikh and directed by Feroz Abbas Khan. Since then, it has delighted audiences in Singapore with premiere productions including “Saalgirah”, with Anupam and Kiran Kher, “Dear Liar”, with Naseerudin Shah and Ratna Pathak, “Bottoms Up” with Bharat Dhabolkar, “Gaslight”, with Sanjana Kapoor and “Kucch Bhi Ho Sakta Hai” with Anupam Kher and "Dinner with Friends" to name a few. Most recently, it brought the blockbuster musical “Mughal e Azam” to a sold-out audience at the Esplanade. Limelight Arts is committed to helping associations with a cause and has brought in “Kabeer”, to raise funds for the Chinmaya Seva Centre Singapore and Astad Deboo together with performers from the Clark School for the Deaf, to raise funds for their school.
Preeti Dawra P R O D U C E R & C U RATO R
Preeti Dawra is the founder of The Art of Communication, a strategic marketing, branding, communications, and events company. She serves as a board member of Princeton in Asia. Preeti has worked as the Head of External Relations at the National University of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. She was also an assistant speechwriter for the former President of UNDP in NYC; and Director of Strategy and Communications at Ogilvy and Mather in Singapore. She has been an advisor to Rockefeller Foundation, NYU, and Tina Brown Live Media. For four years, Preeti wrote a regular column for Mint Asia, titled Asian Conversation, with leading Asian business, political and policy leaders. Preeti has a Masters in International Relations from Columbia University, an MBA from the University of St Thomas, Texas, and a BA Economics from Delhi University. She is a student of philosophy, mythology, literature, poetry & Indian classical music, and dance.