After a successful first edition of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (VK-I), Kolkata
Centre for Creativity (KCC), spearheaded by Richa Agarwal as the Centre’s Chairperson, is all set to
hold the second edition of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (VK II), it’s Annual Conference. VK II will be
held from 24th- 25th January 2020 at KCC.
This year’s conference, co-curated by Dr Kalyan Chakravarty and Shwetal A. Patel, will invite
contributions from leading practitioners from India and around the world such as Dinesh Vazirani,
Shalini Passi, Gayatri Sinha, Dr Tara Douglas, Deepika Sorabjee, Aric Chen and Feroze Gujral to
name a few. The initiative is an effort to build high quality partnerships in Civil Society for joint
contemplation with action, advocacy and engagement to promote a sustainable and inclusive society sought through UN’s 2030 17 Sustainable Development Goals (UN 17 SDG’s).
The philosophy of the conference is to provide a free and accessible platform to investigate and
probe the meaning of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (“The world is one family”) in light of growing
environmental degradation and resource depletion.
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – II will explore art’s relation to the environment through panels such as
Art, Culture & Activism in India with keynote speaker Ravi Agarwal, and panellists Parul Zaveri
(Architect, Abhikram), Siddhant Shah (Heritage Architect), Dr. Tara Douglas (Animator); Reviving &
Inventing Sustainable Approaches to Art and Architecture with Dr. Kalyan Chakravarty (Convener),
Siddhant Shah (Heritage Architect), and Vikas Dilawari (Architect) moderated by Anupam Sah
(Conservationist) and Visual Art Today with panellists like Gayatri Sinha (Art Writer & Critic), Aric
Chen (Curator) and Prof. Rashmi Sawhney (Academician).
With relation to Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, Dr Kalyan Chakravarty says, “The aim of the conference
is to initiate a conversation about creative initiatives and to build a data bank for accommodating a
diverse corpus of best opinions, practices and strategies in a consensual framework”.
Richa Agarwal, Chairperson, KCC said, “The brilliant response that we received to the first edition of
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam held last year, encouraged us to present the 2nd edition of our Annual
Conference of Kolkata Centre for Creativity, with all the right ingredients to make the it a very
enriching experience. I am eagerly looking forward to the diverse list of eclectic speakers from the
fields of culture, academics, media, architecture, history, art & creativity who will share their
thoughts over two days to provide a platform for engaging discussions.”
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam coincides with Bose Krishnamachari’s ongoing solo exhibition The Mirror
Sees Best in the Dark at Emami Art Gallery (located on the ground floor of KCC) in Kolkata. In his latest series, Bose returns to art-making, through experimenting with form and material as he confronts the increasingly extreme discourses that shape our consciousness.
Emami Art will also be showcasing artworks of eminent artists of national & international stature like Jogen Chowdhury and G Ravinder Reddy and Bengal artists, who work in representational and nonrepresentational genres like Anjan Modak, Soma Das, Bhlonath Rudra, Arindam Chatterjee, Tamal Bhattacharya and Arunima Chowdhury at the India Art Fair which is scheduled to take place in Delhi from the 30th January till 2nd February.
Image courtesy : Emami Art Gallery
