Asia Society to Hold THE CHINDIA DIALOGUES November 3-6

Asia Society is pleased to present The "Chindia" Dialogues November 3-6, bringing together established and emerging writers, thinkers, and performing artists from China and India to engage in a vital cultural dialogue. The event is part of Asia Society's inaugural Asian Arts & Ideas Forum which invites artists and audiences to explore the transformative power of literature and the arts to frame pressing national and worldwide issues.

Intellectual ties between China and India have stretched back for millennia and are particularly relevant to understanding the history of the world's two most populous countries and their contemporary political and social concerns. Through one-on-one conversations, panel discussions and musical performances, The "Chindia" Dialogues explore the role that literature and the arts have played - and continue to play - in the shared values and interests that link these two nations to each other, and to the rest of the world.

The forum takes place in conjunction with the Asia Society Museum exhibition, Rabindranath Tagore: The Last Harvest (on view through December 31, 2011), celebrating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Asia's first Nobel laureate in literature - his extraordinary achievement as a writer, composer, and visual artist, and his visionary commitment to Asian cultural dialogue and global citizenship.

For this inaugural four-day event, a wide range of authors - featuring Amit Chaudhuri, Siddhartha Deb, Amitav Ghosh, Yu Hua, Zha Jianying, Ha Jin, Meena Kandasamy, Amitava Kumar, Andrea Lingenfelter, Suketu Mehta, Sharmistha Mohanty, Allan Sealy, Jonathan Spence, Su Tong, Xu Xiaobin, and Murong Xuecun, among others - will bring their unique perspectives on the shared Sino-Indian heritage and how literature can address India and China's most pressing social and economic challenges. Paying tribute to the internationalist legacy of Rabindranath Tagore, "poet and citizen of the world," the ten public talks will cover a range of topics including: the cyber writing phenomenon in China; a new genre of "undercover" literary reportage; the commercialization of culture; cinema and literature; and the ravages of corruption, environmental degradation, and massive internal migration.

The musical dimension of the Sino-Indian connection will also be explored through two evening concerts. On November 4, Chinese-American pianist Dave Liang's innovative electronica band, The Shanghai Restoration Project, performs with vocalist Zhang Le, followed by Indian-American composer, singer, and double violin player Gingger Shankar. On November 5, The Amit Chaudhuri Band returns to New York with its unique mix of jazz, rock, pop and classical Indian music. The band will appear in a joint evening with Qian Yi, the Kunqu opera star most recently seen in Amy Tan's opera, The Bonesetter's Daughter, reenacting a segment from Slaying of the Tiger General, set to music by avant-garde composer/keyboardist Du Yun with Li Liqun (yangqin), Brad Henkel (trumpet), and Theo Metz (drums).

The "Chindia" Dialogues are co-sponsored by the Center for U.S.-China Relations, the Asian American Writers' Workshop, and the India China Institute at the New School University in New York. Major Support provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, Aashish & Dinny Devitre, Mridul Pathak, Erpf Foundation, Weedon Foundation, Arthur Loeb Foundation, China Energy Fund Committee, and other generous Asia Society supporters.

All programs are held at Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue (at 70th Street, New York City). For updates and details, please visit AsiaSociety.org/artsandideas or call 212-517-ASIA. All information subject to change.

 

 

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