A Festival of India set to charm Argentina

Buenos Aires: Argentine dancers performing Bharatanatyam and Odissi, recital of Rabindranath Tagore´s poems by an Argentine scholar, Indian food, films and a yoga show that will see the participation of 15,000 people will be some of the highlights of the fourth Festival of India to be held here.

The Indian embassy will hold the Festival of India in Buenos Aires from Dec 3 to 13 following the success of the three previous festivals in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Bharatanatyam, Odissi and Kuchipudi dances will be performed by professional Argentine dancers, who teach these dances in Argentina. Also, Bollywood dance will be performed by professional Argentine groups, said an embassy press statement. Forty Indian companies will participate in an exhibition being organized by the Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts at the Borges Cultural Centre, a prestigious venue in the heart of the Buenos Aires city. Six artisans from India will do live demonstration of handicrafts making. To mark Tagore`s 150th birth anniversary celebration, an event will be held Dec 10 at Villa Ocampo, the residence of Argentine literary personality Victoria Ocampo. Tagore had visited Buenos Aires in 1924 and stayed for two months as the guest of Victoria Ocampo. Tagore wrote a series of poems called `Purabi` based on his experience of stay in Argentina. Victoria had inspired and encouraged Tagore to start painting and organised his first painting exhibition in Paris. There will be recital of Tagore´s poems by Gustavo Canzobre, an Argentine scholar, a talk by Axel Maimone, an Argentine expert, and a Rabindra Sangeet concert. A four-member Rabindra Sangeet Group led by Sreyashi Mitra will give concerts at the Borges Centre as well as in other venues. The festival will also see the Manipuri dance group of Priti Patel performing. On Dec 4, a mega Yoga show will be organized with a large group of 15,000 people at the Planetorium Park. This is being done in collaboration with the various Argentine Yoga Schools and the city government. There will be seminars on Indian culture, literature, Ayurveda and spiritualism. Also, Indian films with Spanish sub-titles will be shown every day during the festival period in one of the auditoriums of the Borges Centre. A Bollywood film production company, UTV Pictures of Mumbai, has shown interest in introducing Indian films in Argentina. The UTV representative will give a talk on the Indian film industry to Argentine film distributors and film industry people. A food festival will be held at the Hotel Sheraton, Buenos Aires. IANS