Join the EcoFestival...2-3 June, 2009

Come and Join the celebrations on the eve of the World Environment Day...the festival creates under one roof over 2 days, an exciting, meaningful and interactive space for expressions, discussions, insight, learnings, actions and more...
…ecohaat, ecoart, ecomovements, ecotalk, ecoreels, ecorhythms, ecocafe…

on 2nd - 3rd June 2009, 11.00 - 8 pm
American Centre, K.G. Marg, New Delhi

Programme Schedule
Tuesday, 2nd June 2009
12.00 noon – 1.00 pm: Opening of the EcoFestival
Ecohaat, EcoArt installations by Enrico Fabian, Pradip Saha, Pratibha Pande and others….earthern lamp lighting and planting the seed for change…

2.00 pm - 4.00 pm: EcoArt workshop 1 - Newspaper Bags CAN BECOME Gift Bags - Learn how!
Join this workshop and you will be surprised how 'arty' and environmentally friendly you can get… make your 'ecoart print'. Faciltated by Mrinalini Chawla from the Centre for Creative Expressions and Kriti team members.

4.00 pm – 6.00 pm: EcoArt workshop 2 - Completing the story…from waste to creation!
This workshop will provide you with materials and themes to share your creativity and thought on environment problems, solutions and actions! Facilitated by an eco heritage expert, Anjali Bharthari, Kokila Singh, friends associated with The Fuschia Tree and Kriti team members.

7 pm: Ecomovements – ‘Prakriti’, a contemporary dance performance by the In Step Dance Company, choreographed by Gilles Chuyen, with Emily Rasmussen, Raj Kumar, Rea Krishnatraye, Gilles Chuyen

Wednesday, 3rd June 2009

12.00 noon – 1 pm: EcoTalk - Slideshow and interactive session on Delhi’s Birds by Ranjit Lal

2.00 pm - 4.00 pm: EcoArt workshop 3: Creating your own expressions with Music!
Trying to save the environment starts with truly responding to it with gratitude and sensitivity. In this workshop, we start with music and our responses to it, with paints, brushes and more! Faciltated by Mrinalini Chawla from the Centre for Creative Expressions and Kriti team members.

6.00 pm: EcoReels – Premiere of ‘Kosi Katha’ by Jharna Anurag Singh

7.00 pm: EcoRhythms - Unplugged ‘green’ music by Nikhil Mawkin, Clarence Gonsalves, Sai Bhardwaj and others

Please see other posts on this blog for details!

This is an open for all festival. Please bring a photo id to facilitate entry into the American Center. The workshops are ion for children (12+) and adults. If you can register in advance for the workshops we can keep your seat for sure but but if you can’t register earlier don’t let that stop you from coming. A certificate of participation will be given. For further details contact 9910580589/ 26027845/ 9818525384/ space.kriti@gmail.com
Mark your ecofootprint on earth this June!

Kriti team is celebrating 10 years of creative expressions for social change!
For more information, contact 26027845/ 26033088/ 2347-2289, space.kriti@gmail.com

ecoMovements on 2 June, 7 pm...at the EcoFestival

Prakriti…a contemporary dance performance
by the In Step Dance Company

choreographed by Gilles Chuyen
with Emily Rasmussen, Raj Kumar, Rea Krishnatraye & Gilles Chuyen

2nd June 2009, 7 pm onwards
@ The American Center
24, Kasturba Gandhi Margi, New Delhi

about the performance
The energy which flows through me as a Human being is not different from the energy flowing through a tree, through a bird, through water and the earth. When I disrespect nature, I disrespect myself. We are all part of the same grid of energy, we are all connected. Prakriti (nature) is a platform for us to rediscover nature within us, the tree, the bird, but also the elements, and also Tamas, Rajas and Sattva, Inertia, movement and Peace, connecting to the universal life force. Through the movements in dance, interspersed with music and some poetry, we can see that we have a relationship with nature and the environment, which needs to be treasured and nurtured. If we are making a contribution in destroying the environment, we need to also be part of the solution.

The performance being presented by Kriti team for the World Environment Day celebrations is based on the principle of saving the environment from threats of climate change and human-made destructive practices; while also helping us see the ‘connect’ we have with nature so that our attitudes, behaviour and actions can be sustainable and friendly for the larger benefit of our ecosystem.

about the performers
Gilles Chuyen is the choreographer of this performance. He is a dancer, actor and choreographer of French/ Vietnamese/ Spanish/ German origin. Gilles has been working in India for the last 14 years, combining Indian theatre and dance traditions with contemporary perspectives. He has major choreographic pieces and plays to his credit, which took him to Pakistan, Singapore, China, Australia, South Africa, the Seychelles, France, the U.K., Germany and South America. He is involved in finding the deeper meaning of life and healing through movement. Director of the In Step Dance Company, he runs his own dance institute in New Delhi, Studio Magenta.

Emily Rasmussen, an American citizen is one of the lead dancers in this performance. She began her classical ballet training with Maggie Banks and Cheryl Bruce at the Nevada Festival Ballet in Reno, Nevada. After training with the San Francisco, Joffrey and Pacific Northwest Ballets, Ms. Rasmussen joined the latter’s Professional Division from 1999-2001, where she performed with the company in The Nutcracker, Snow White and Don Quixote. Ms. Rasmussen went on to perform leading roles in The Nutcracker, Snow Queen, Sleeping Beauty and Pas de Quatre with various companies in Reno, Nevada, Los Angeles, California, and most recently, New Delhi, India. She has choreographed and danced in the contemporary works Rock Ballet, Ja, and Duet Contemporain, in Los Angeles, Prague, and Hong Kong, respectively, and currently teaches ballet and Pilates classes in New Delhi, India, where she also works as a freelance dance journalist.

Rea Krishnatraye’s training in dance began with jazz at the Danceworx Performing Arts academy. She then joined renowned ballet maestro Fernando Aguilera of Argentina as the lead female dancer and member of the company. Besides majoring in Classical Ballet she also mastered Jazz and other Latin styles such as salsa, Flamenco and tango. She later experimented at “Sadhya-A Unit Of Performing Arts” and trained under Sensie Rashed Ansari. Working as a freelancer, she instructs in ballet and expression through movement and Latin dances (for adults & children), as well as working on experimental dance productions with Gilles Chuyen & Varun Narain, and theater, etc. with Teamwork Films and the India Fernando Ballet Company.

Raj Kumar’s first training has been Bollywood dance in Delhi. He has been performing with various troupes till he joined Gilles Chuyen’s group. He has been working on various projects: performances in jazz, fusion and contemporary. Core member of the In Step dance Company, he teaches dance and fitness programs (Yoga-Pilates-Meditation) at Studio Magenta. He has a great ability to connect to energies and has a fantastic potential for acrobatics.

In Step is a Dance Company that aims at reconnecting with the essence of dance. Human beings have forgotten the true meaning and power of dance. Dance is far more than just form, dance is about the energy flowing into the various layers of Human life, not only physical, but also mental, emotional and more over spiritual. Dance has this tremendous potential of connecting; connecting people to their true self; connecting audiences to new vibrations. Dance is a platform to connect to energies.

about the presenting group
Kriti team is a development support group that applies creative expression to processes of social, developmental and environmental change. Kriti team has been using performing arts to connect with mainstream audiences across Delhi and NCR and parts of India for the past decade, so that they can make their contributions towards making India a human and environment friendly nation. In doing so, the Kriti team is also introducing performing arts professionals to the field of social, development, environment and human rights issues so that together we can make a better world for the present and future generations. We see these forms as being very powerful to raise consciousness, spur people to engage and act on issues that are central to their lives.

- The American Centre is at walking distance from Barakhamba Metro Station.
- Parking is available at the adjacent Parikrama building and in the outer circle of CP
- To facilitate your entry into the American Centre please carry a photo id. Mobile phones and laptops are allowed within the American Center. However, for security reasons, photography through mobile phones is prohibited.

The EcoFestival by Kriti team brings together an ecoHaat; ecoArt; ecoReels; ecoTalk, ecoRhythms and even a small ecoCafe…Make Your ecofootprint at this festival!

Kriti celebrating 10 years of creative expressions for social change!

011-26027845/ 9910580589/ space.kriti@gmail.com/

ecoArt workshops...at the EcoFestival

Come and dabble with paints, brushes or just use your hands to make newspaper art, musical art and express yourself environmentally and artistically on waste paper, cloth, mitti and more...take a break from your work routine, discover and rediscover yourself!

@ The American Center
24 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi



2nd June 2009
2.00 pm - 4.00 pm: Newspaper Bags CAN BECOME Gift Bags - Learn how!
This workshop will take you through the magic of converting mere newspapers first into bags and then into beautiful pieces of art - using different kinds of waste resources like soap wrappers, old invites, waster paper, your fantastic imagination and some paint! You will be surprised how 'arty' and environmentally friendly you can get. You will have a ready to use paper bag replacing plastic bags and thus making your 'ecoart print' to celebrate the World Environment Day. The workshop will be facilitated by Mrinalini Chawla from the Centre for Creative Expressions along with Kriti team members.

4.00 pm – 6.00 pm: Completing the story…from waste to creation!
This workshop will provide you with materials and themes to share your creativity and thought on environment problems, solutions and actions! Paper, Newspaper and Canvas; Cardboard and Fabric; Earthern materials with paints, brushes and more! Come make your own ‘ecoart print’ to celebrate the World Environment Day! The workshop will be facilitated by an eco heritage expert, Anjali Bharthari, Kokila Singh and other artists along with Kriti team members.

3rd June 2009
3.00 pm - 5.00 pm: Creating your environmental expressions with Music!
Trying to save the environment starts with truly responding to it with gratitude and sensitivity. If we can't, saving it becomes just a clinical exercise, no? So in this workshop, we start with music and our responses to it - and it is those feelings and ideas that we will try to put into art using newspaper, canvas, cardboard, fabric, paper, earthern materials etc - with paints, brushes and more! Come make your own 'ecoart print' to celebrate the World Environment Day! This workshop will provide you with materials and themes to share your creativity and thought on environment problems, solutions and actions!

The workshop will be facilitated by Mrinalini Chawla from the Centre for Creative Expressions and other artists with Kriti team members.

Note: All workshops are free and open for children (12+) and adults. If you can register in advance it would be great so we can keep your space, but if you can’t register earlier don’t let that stop you from coming. A certificate of participation will be given. Contact 9910580589/ 26027845/ 9818525384; space.kriti@gmail.com

- To facilitate your entry into the American Center please carry a photo id. Mobile phones and laptops are allowed within the American Center. However, for security reasons, photography through mobile phones is prohibited.

The EcoFestival by Kriti team brings together an ecoHaat; ecoArt; ecoReels; ecoTalk, ecoRhythms and even a small ecoCafe…Make Your EcoFootprint at this festival!

Kriti is celebrating 10 years of creative expressions for social change!

011-26027845/ 26033088/ space.kriti@gmail.com

ecoART installations...at the EcoFestival

Walk along an exhibit of Glaciers & Earthy installations as you express yourself artistically!

2nd and 3rd June 2009, 11 am – 8 pm

Hard Times
a video installation by Pradip Saha
Thousands of Delhites will be looking for their next bigger car. There will be another few thousands looking for their first cars, most likely of the smallest variety. We can expect a few more millions private cars on Delhi road in coming times. HARD TIMES presents to you what Delhites have to say about traffic jam, the strongest flavour of mobility.

Tracing Waste
by Enrico Fabian
New Delhi, Gazipur, Seemapuri and other locations in Delhi 2008/09..what happens after we throw away our plastic bottle? where does it go? Will it be recycled? Who are these people who are picking up our garbage? Images capture the story of Kabadi walas, the waste pickers who literally live with and from the waste we generate!

Birds and Trees of Delhi
by Pratibha Pande
Have you seen the trees of Delhi in spring, summer, autumn and winter as they give us oxygen to breathe in an ever-polluting environment? Have you smelt the fragrance of their fruits and flowers as you walk or drive around the city? Have you tested their unfailing medicinal value? Have you thought of what would happen if they ceased to exist? Do you watch as the birds of Delhi twitter about in search of food and water in the summer heat? Have you heard the bird calls amidst winter mornings and monsoon rains? If not these prints will definitely inspire you to look at your city’s natural heritage!

The EcoFestival by Kriti team brings together an ecoHaat; ecoArt; ecoReels; ecoTalk, ecoRhythms and even a small ecoCafe…Make Your ecofootprint at this festival!

Kriti team celebrates 10 years of creative expressions for social change!
011-26027845/ 9910580589/ space.kriti@gmail.com

ecoHAAT...at the EcoFestival

Go Green! Go Organic! Shop for natural products!
…display and outreach of environmentally friendly products
by community based groups

2nd and 3rd June 2009, 11 am – 8 pm
@ The American Center
24 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi

- Jute and Cane
- Cotton clothing
- Handmade paper stationary
- Organic food and herbs
- Green Books, Films, Posters and Music
- Ecobins
- ecoCafe...food and drink for a healthy living!

…Gestures Docushop by Kriti team; Vriksh; ecoExist; Conserve; Abhudaya; Lakshya and more..


Kriti team has been supporting community produced, handmade and eco-friendly products for livelihood enhancement of poor rural and semi-urban women’s groups and street children for the past 10 years. We have organized stalls, haats (local marketplace gatherings); melas (airs) and exhibition events involving several such grassroots groups across schools, colleges and other institutions over the years. Through such efforts we want people to move towards sustainable consumption processes and also buy products where money earned goes directly to the producers.

- The American Centre is at walking distance from Barakhamba Metro Station.
- Parking is available at the adjacent Parikrama building and the outer circle.
- To facilitate your entry into the American Centre please carry a photo id. Mobile phones and laptops are allowed within the American Center. However, for security reasons, photography through mobile phones is prohibited.

The EcoFestival by Kriti team brings together an ecoHaat; ecoArt; ecoReels; ecoTalk, ecoRhythms and even a small ecoCafe…Make Your ecofootprint at this festival!

Kriti celebrating 10 years of creative expressions for social change!
011-26027845/ 9910580589/ space.kriti@gmail.com

ecoTALK...at the EcoFestival: 3rd June 2009

Spend a summer noon watching an interactive slideshow on Birds in & around Delhi...

by Ranjit Lal
well known Naturalist and Birder

12 – 1 pm, 3rd June 2009
@The American Center
24 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi

about the Speaker
Ranjit Lal was born in Calcutta in 1955, and educated in Mumbai, graduating in Economics and Sociology. Ranjit is interested in natural history with a leaning towards birds and birding, and in photography (especially birds and nature). As a freelance writer and columnist over the last 25 years, he has had well over 1000 articles, short stories, features and photo-features published in over 50 newspapers and magazines in India and abroad. His areas of interest include humor, satire and automobiles, on which he writes for both adults and children.

He is the author of several books. The Crow Chronicles (Penguin, 1996), his first novel, was a bird-based socio-political fable, based in India’s premier bird sanctuary at Bharatpur. The Life and Times of Altu Faltu (IndiaInk, 2001) followed; this time a fable ostensibly based on Delhi’s large population of rhesus monkeys, rather enigmatically and ambiguously called ‘Delhizens’. A novella for children, That Summer at Kalagarh (Tulika, 2001) based in Corbett National Park was followed by three more children’s novellas, jointly published as The Bossman Adventures (Harper Collins, Publishers 2001).

He has also written Enjoying Birds (Clarion, 1998), an illustrated book on birding, and contributed the chapter on Delhi’s flora and fauna to The Millennium Book on New Delhi (Oxford University Press, 2001). A collection of natural history based articles appeared under the title, Mostly Birds, Some Monkeys and a Pest (Ravi Dayal Publisher, 2001).

A personal favourite was Birds From My Window (Tulika 2002), an illustrated introduction to common garden birds written for children. This was followed by Birds of Delhi (Oxford University Press, 2002), an illustrated guide and introduction to the whereabouts of around 150 species of birds found in Delhi. Bossman and the Thrown Away Family (Rupa, 2003) appeared in 2003, followed by The Caterpillar Who Went on a Diet and Other Stories (Puffin 2004), a collection of fourteen insect-based stories, featuring among others, the said caterpillar, a cockroach head over heels in love, an ambitious gang of ‘leather and black metal’ dung beetles, an ant with capitalist ambitions and a housefly with a fetish for cleanliness. When Banshee Kissed Bimbo, (Puffin 2005) a collection of bird stories based in Goa appeared in 2005.

In the continuing Bossman series, Bossman and the Kala Shaitan (Rupa 2005) appeared in 2005. The Small Tigers of Shergarh (Roli/IndiaInk) appeared in 2006, as did Waterbirds (Rupa), a sort of sequel to Birds From My Window. The Battle for Number 19 (Puffin), for teenagers, was published in 2007. The Simians of South Block and the Yumyum Piglets (Roli/IndiaInk) and Wild City (Penguin) were published in 2008.
Ranjit Lal lives in Delhi.
Note: Natural History prints of Birds & Trees of Delhi by Pratibha Pande will also be on display.

- The American Centre is at walking distance from Barakhamba Metro Station.
- Parking is available at the adjacent Parikrama building and the outer circle.
- To facilitate your entry into the American Centre please carry a photo id. Mobile phones and laptops are allowed within the American Center. However, for security reasons, photography through mobile phones is prohibited.

The EcoFestival by Kriti team brings together an ecoHaat; ecoArt; ecoReels; ecoTalk, ecoRhythms and even a small ecoCafe…Make Your ecofootprint at this festival!

Kriti celebrating 10 years of creative expressions for social change!

011-26027845/ 9910580589/ space.kriti@gmail.com

ecoReels......at the EcoFestival

Kriti Film Club invites you to the premiere of a documentary...

Kosi Katha

by Jharna Anurag Singh
(30 mins/ English)

3rd June 2009, 6 pm @ The American Center, 24, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi

about the Film
A film on the Kosi floods, it tells the story of people, livestock, land and homes devastated. The latest government figures as of 24th Feb ‘09:`5 districts, 35 blocks, 33.29 lakh people, 9.97 lakh live stock. Affected area 3.68 lakh hectares; 2.37 lakh houses destroyed; 19,323 loss of cattle & 527 human deaths. These are official figures of government of Bihar and relate only to Kosi floods. The government has been spending Rs. 15 - 200 crores annually on all the embankments within the state. Minimising losses is a subject in itself but accountability of maintaining the structures is a crucial point to avoid disasters like the one that happened in Aug ’08. It is a very complex question & an even more complex story of human failing.

about the Film maker
Born to middle class non-political parents in Bombay in 1964, Jharna turned out to be a rebel in her own right. Still considers herself a city bred romantic with a critical eye. Jharna has a M Phil in Sociology and deeply interested in art, cinema, theater as a tool for social transformation & resistance. In 1992, she traveled to rural India for the 1st time to de-school herself of many urban myths. Since then she has been making films and actively involved in media activism. She is currently based in Delhi.

about the Kriti Film Club
An independent initiative by Kriti team, we screen documentaries regularly as a research and awareness generation medium on different social, environment, development and rights issues. Our screenings are open for all and have no commercial value attached to them. Most films are screened in the presence of the film maker.

- The American Centre is at walking distance from Barakhamba Metro Station.
- Parking is available in the outer circle and in the Parikrama building next to the Center.
- To facilitate your entry into the American Centre please carry a photo id. Mobile phones and laptops are allowed within the American Center. However, for security reasons, photography through mobile phones is prohibited.
The EcoFestival by Kriti team brings together an ecoHaat; ecoArt; ecoReels; ecoTalk, ecoRhythms and even a small ecoCafe…Make Your EcoFootprint at this festival!

Kriti celebrates 10 years of creative expressions for social change! Contact 011-26027845/ 26033088/ space.kriti@gmail.com

ecoRhythms...….at the EcoFestival

Come and listen to some unplugged ‘green’ music!
by Nikhil Mawkin and Clarence Gonsalves, accompanied by Deepa Bajaj

3rd June 2009, 6 pm
@ The American Center
24 Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi

about the performers
Nikhil and Clarence form an avid team together bringing together their vast experiences of ten years as musicians. They have both travelled the world and performed with various artists at various levels. While Nikhil spent his time training at the worlds prestigious Berklee College of Music, Clarence traveled a world tour with artists such as Anoushka Shankar. They love to spend their time making music, playing music, and teaching music. Music to them is the clearest means to spread messages on the present situation of a chaotic world of the planet which is really meant to be a beautiful place for all living beings to live and explore. And sound is a part of nature which creates a change to the core of things.

Deepa Bajaj is a trained contemporary dancer who will perform along with the musicians to some poetry that’s part of a work in progress by the Kriti team members, Charu Shankar and Aanchal Kapur.

- The American Centre is at walking distance from Barakhamba Metro Station.
- Parking is available at the adjacent Parikrama building and the outer circle.
-To facilitate your entry into the American Centre please carry a photo id. Mobile phones and laptops are allowed within the American Center. However, for security reasons, photography through mobile phones is prohibited.

The EcoFestival by Kriti team brings together an ecoHaat; ecoArt; ecoReels; ecoTalk, ecoRhythms and even a small ecoCafe…Make Your ecofootprint at this festival!

Kriti team celebrates 10 years of creative expressions for social change!

For further details contact: 011-26027845/ 9910580589/ space.kriti@gmail.com