Diversity of languages across the country is set to be explored in the fifth edtion of Indian Languages Festival - Samanvay 2015 that begins here tomorrow.
Five languages - Mizo, Tamil, Bangla, Marathi and Dogri - will be examined in detail in this edition of the festival, which aims to explore themes of writer liminality and linguistic-literary traditions.
Noted authors participating in the event at the India Habitat Centre include Ashok Vajpeyi, Urvashi Butalia, K Satchidanandan, Tenzin Tsundue and Arunava Sinha among others.
The central theme of the four day event "Insider/Outsider: Writing India's Dreams and Realities" will focus on a thematic exploration of 'Insider/Outsider' in the contemporary socio-political and cultural context of the country, organisers have said.
The festival is scheduled to open with a keynote address by Prof Aijaz Ahmad on "The Languages of a Union" followed by a session paying tributes to the late cartoonist R K Laxman and his unmatched legacy.
Beginning this year, the festival sports an art plaza titled 'Art-Articulations' whose design curation has been done by artist Riyas Komu.
Works by Komu and by artist-weaver Priya Ravish Mehra besides a performance photography exhibition curated by Kanika Anand are among the highlights of the plaza.
An array of slide shows, film streaming and video installations include those curated by painter V Ramesh, cartoonist E P Unny, Gati Dance Forum's Yellow Line project and cartoon critic and author Christel Davedawson's slide show of select political cartoonists.
Tamil writer Perumal Murugan's novel "Madhorubhagan" would be honoured with the fourth ILF Samanvay Bhasha Samman. Also eminent Malayalam poet and translator Attoor Ravi Varma would be felicitated for winning the debut Vani-Samanvay Distinguished Translator Award.
Performances lined up for the festival include 'Soul of the Mountain songs' from Tibetan singers, Jeet Thayil's band 'Still Dirty', a Carnatic music concert by T M Krishna and a closing performance comprising the last choreographic performance by late dancer Chandralekha.
Book launches at the festival include "Atmospheric Embroidery" by Meena Alexander, the Tamil translations of Saba Naqvi's book "In Good Faith: A Journey in Search of an Unknown India" of Mo Yan's "Change" and "Tinka Tinka Tihar". Other book launches include "Like a Pinprick to My Heart" by Shujy Dutta and "Andal: The Autobiography of a Goddess."
"Vaigai" a food plaza is set to offer delicacies from West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu besides a Chaat festival and a festival of food from Old Delhi.
