Kennedy Center

Kennedy Center Celebrates India

By Stephanie Green

This month you can travel across the globe without even updating your passport.

Maximum INDIA is the Kennedy Center's celebration of the culture, cuisine, music, literature, and even jewelry of India that have fascinated the world for centuries.

Arts Blog caught up with Alicia Adams, vice president of international programming and dance at the Kennedy Center, and curator of this festival, for an online Q & A.

Arts Blog: What is it about India that is so enchanting, especially to Americans?

Adams: So much about India is fascinating. When I was planning the festival, I thought maximum INDIA was a fitting title because everything about India is maximum: the intensity of color, heat, people; the gods, the spices in the food, the languages. . . We hope to represent the vibrancy and richness of the culture and its people.

Arts Blog: How will the various artistic mediums be presented and exhibited for guests?
Adams: There will be exhibitions/ installations throughout the building by major Indian visual artists. They will be in the major halls including Hall of States, Hall of Nations plus in all public spaces on the Terrace level. We have even had an Indian architect to redesign the jazz club into what we are calling the Monsoon Club. He created a carpet in the ceiling using 1 million threads to create the effect of a monsoon frozen in time. Film and literature series will be presented in our theaters and there will be forums and various education programs to augment the actual screening of the film.

Arts Blog: What can people learn about India that they did not know before, even people who have been lucky enough to visit?
Adams: India is a country of 1.2 billion people with unimaginable beauty, humanity and diversity. We hope to have people come away from this festival with more knowledge about the country and the culture through participating in the wide range of arts that we are presenting.

Source : The Washington Post