Cultural exchanges

CULTURAL EXCHANGES
 
- Visit to Colombia:  Odissi group led by Aruna Mohanty (Sept 2002); Flute maestro Raghunath Seth (Sep 2002); Kathak group led by Vaswati Misra (June 2003); Bharatanatyam group led by Ms Radhika Shurajit and Shobana Balachandra (Aug 2003); Sitar/Sarod duo Ustad Kirit Khan and Ms Shree Gangopadhyay (Aug 2003); Odissi group led by Guru Durga Charan Ranbir (April 2004); Bharatanatyam group led by Ms Kanaka Srinivasan (Aug 2004); Theatre group led by Mr. Nissar Allana (April 2006); Gujarati folk dance group led by Shri Kalpesh Dalal (October 2006).  A Bharatnayam dance troupe led by Ms. Priyadarsini Govind visited Bogota (November 2008).A Kathak dance troupe led by Ms. Mahua Shankar visited Bogota in first week of June 2009, they performed in an event celebrating 50 years of  India-Colombia relationship and also inauguration of month long cultural festival Bogota International Espectacular.

 - Visits to India :

During 2003, Colombia organised the visit of a cultural troupe, an art exhibition at Lalit Kala Akademi and participation in the International Film Festival of India. It has been actively pursuing cultural diplomacy in India since then by regularly organising photo-exhibitions, film shows and drama presentations.
- Academic Exchange:  Two professors from NSD visited Colombia in August 2003 and conducted a two week drama workshop for Colombian professors and students. JNU professor Shri S.P. Ganguly visited in October 2004 and held conferences in a few universities on topics of political, social and cultural interest. In November 2008 Prof. Jayati Ghosh from JNU was to come to Bogota but she cancelled her visit at the very last moment because of which this mission had to face embarrassment. Prof. V.Chandrasekar from Indian school of Business visited during the 2nd week of June to do a Summer Course at the Management School of University of Los Andes, Bogota.
- Bollywood Film Festival: 15 renowned Bollywood films were screened in the International Film Festival in Bogota in October 2007. The films had earlier been screened in the University of EAFIT in Medellin in September 2007. India has been invited to be guest of honor for the 26th edition of Bogota International Film Festival to be held 1-9 October 2009.
  Photo Exhibitions: Two photo exhibitions were organized in the University of Javeriana, Bogota and in the Museo de Museos, Bogota in November and December 2005 respectively. A photo exhibition on Jammu & Kashmir entitled “A Paradise on Earth” was organized at many Universities and cultural institutions all over the country.
  Festival of India: The Embassy in collaboration with the India Tourist Office, New York and ICCR, organized Festivals of India comprising of Indian food, dance, music and films in October-November 2007 and October 2008 in Cartagena, Medellin and Bogota. Three Indian chefs from the Ashoka Hotel in Delhi and 5 dancers participated in the festival.
  Cultural publications: The Embassy published a book on Indian classical dances for distribution amongst the people in Colombia and Ecuador. The Embassy in association with Temis Publishers Ltd. published the first Colombian edition of the Autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi—My Experiments with Truth—in Spanish that was launched by the Vice President of Colombia on 8 October 2007. The prologue of the aforesaid autobiography was written by the Colombian President, Mr. Alvaro Uribe Velez.