A string of cultural activities has been planned on January 1, 2009

JOIN US 20th Safdar Hashmi Memorial
1st January 2009, Thursday
1.30 pm onwards at Constition Club Lawns, Rafi Marg, Near Metro:Central Secretariat Patel Chowk
STREET THEATRE*MUSIC*DANCE*PUPPETRY* POSTER EXHIBITION RELEASE of BOOKS & CALENDAR*

India TodayLATEST NEWS Fest to mark 20 years of SAHMAT
Twenty years is a milestone for any organisation. The end of 2008 marks the completion of 20 years of activities of the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT).
It was formed in January 1989, a few weeks after Safdar Hashmi was brutally murdered in Delhi. SAHMAT became a platform for artists, cultural activists and intellectuals to intervene in crucial political and cultural debates, through activities aimed at defending cultural spaces, opposing divisiveness in all forms and strengthening the bonds of artistic unity.
In the last 20 years, the members of SAHMAT have published books, presented plays and organised art exhibitions, held seminars and voiced concerns on important social issues. A string of cultural activities has been planned on January 1, 2009. They include Kabir Bani by Prahlad Singh Tipania from the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, the Manganiar repertoire of Rajasthani folk and Sufi music by Anwar Khan and Ghazi Khan Barana and Group, music performances by Rabbi Shergill, young Hindustani classical vocalist, Sunanda Sharma, Jasbir Jassi, Vidya Shah, Madangopal Singh, contemporary dance by Astad Deboo, a puppet play by Dadi Pudumjee and a performance by Maya Rao.
On January 8, you can participate in the Lecture by Akeel Bilgrami (Columbia University) on the possibilities of a radical alternative to standard liberal orthodoxies about democracy at Constitution Club. On January 15, don't miss the exhibition - Image Music Text. It maps the trajectory of the 20-year cultural journey of SAHMAT at M.F. Husain Gallery, Jamia Millia Islamia University.
The exhibition will showcase SAHMAT projects over the last 20 years like Artists Alert, Janotsav, Images and Words, Hum Sab Ayodhya, Postcards for Gandhi, Art on the Move, Ways of Resisting, The Making of India, Making History our Own, in the contexts of the times they were conceived.
Stage backdrops, videos, street banners, posters, mobile exhibitions and the books published by SAHMAT will be a part of the display. There will also be a series of lectures, performances and street plays during the month-long exhibition. The exhibition will be on view till February 14, 2009.