Indian Cultural Festival
August 4, 5, and 6
Indian Cultural Festival
About
Illinois State University, in collaboration with Heartland Community College, will be hosting a week-long Indian Cultural Festival the week of April 1st through April 6th. This festival will feature lectures and demonstrations of traditional Indian arts and crafts, including intercultural practices such as mindfulness, street food, body art, etc. These events are free to attend and are open to the community.
Schedule
The first two days of the festival will take place at Heartland Community College, with events being held at the Astroth Community Education Center (ACEC) and at the Heartland Main Campus (1500 W. Raab Road, Normal). On Thursday, April 4th, the festival will shift to Illinois State University with events taking place at Vrooman Center (213 W. Mulberry Street, Normal) and the State Farm Hall of Business (410 S University St., Normal)
Tuesday, April 2
Guest lectures, meditation, painting Henna, fashion artwork, a religious studies panel, and more.
9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Wednesday, April 3
Guest lectures, meditation, painting Henna, fashion artwork, a religious studies panel, and more.
9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Thursday, April 4
Welcome presentation by Fulbright Scholar Dr. Priti Samyukta - (This event is fully booked!)
12 p.m. - 1 p.m.
The Eleanor Kong Room in 104 Vrooman Center.
Henna, Rangoli, Indian snacks, and a cricket demonstration.
1:30 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Marilyn M. Boyd International House in 105 Vrooman Center. No RSVP needed.
Iftar Dinner - (This event is fully booked!)
Join us as we break the fast together with a halal meal while also learning about Iftar from Dr. Iftikhar Haider.
7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
OIE Lobby on the Second Floor of Fell Hall.
Friday, April 5
Textile presentation by guest speaker Professor Pratibha Mishra - (This event is fully booked!)
12 p.m. - 1 p.m.
The Eleanor Kong Room in 104 Vrooman Center. (seats limited to 50)
Henna, Indian snacks, fashion, dance performances, and a cricket demonstration.
1:30 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Marilyn M. Boyd International House in 105 Vrooman Center. No RSVP needed.
Keynote reception and presentation by Dr. Deepshikha Sharma - (This event is fully booked!)
5:30 p.m. - 8 p.m.
State Farm Hall of Business. (seats limited to 100)
Saturday, April 6
NOTE: Holi celebration hosted by ISU's Indian Student Association has been cancelled due to unfavorable ground conditions and colder than expected temperatures.
Anyone with questions or concerns regarding accommodation at Heartland Community College should contact Student Access and Accommodation Services at accommodations@heartland.edu or call (309) 268-8259.
Anyone with questions, concerns, or regarding any accommodation at Illinois State University, please contact Emmy Buonomo at ecbuono@IllinoisState.edu or call the Office of International Engagement. Kindly allow time for the accommodation, thank you.
Keynote and Presenters
Dr. Deepshikha Sharma – Associate Professor and head of the Department of Fashion Design at Manipal University in Jaipur.
Dr. Sharma has been an educator and textile and fashion designer for over seventeen years. She takes a multidisciplinary approach to her work, believing that clothing and textiles are an excellent medium for exploring and expressing cultural identity.
“Textiles, clothing, and crafts have a deep connection with emotional design because they are intimately connected to our bodies and our personal sense of style and identity. Because of this, I am working towards emotional design and user experience design in textiles, clothing and crafts.
I am also into the educational pedagogies and education psychology of design.”
Recently, she has been learning about the textiles and crafts of Portugal and exploring the differences and similarities between Indian and Portuguese crafts and textiles.
Dr. Priti Samyukta – Fulbright Scholar, Associate Professor of Painting, and Chair of the Department of Painting, College of Fine Arts, JNAFA University, Hyderabad
Dr. Samykta completed her master's degree in painting and fine afts from the University of Hyderabad, and her PhD at Gulbarga University.
She has participated in several group shows and art camps in India and abroad. She was a part of the Venice Biennale in 2013, and has held six solo exhibitions and curated eleven art shows including: “Visual Conversations” (2010), “Blue Butterflies” (2011) in Texas, “Untitled” (2016) in Sri Lanka, “Untitled” in Texas (2017), “Beyond Borders” in China, Japan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka (2019-2022).
She was awarded the Fulbright-Nehru Post-Doctoral Fellowship in 2022-2023.
Sponsors
This event is funded by Illinois State University's College of Business, the Office of Equity and Inclusion, and the Office of International Engagment.
This event is also funded in part by a grant awarded to Heartland Community College from The Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER) at Indiana University. The program is intended to bridge the humanities and business worlds to show that working artists and craftsman need and apply both humanities and technical education.
Special Thanks
The Office of International Engagement would like to express our deepest gratitude to Professor Archana Shekara and the students of Design Streak for creating the marketing and publicity materials for this event.