Alliance School of Liberal Arts is hosting the Inaugural edition of the Alliance Literary Festival (ALF), taking place on the 20th & 21st of May 2022 in the vast green campus of Alliance University.
As the first literary festival in India conceived and hosted by a University, the ALF hopes to reimagine the university campus as a place where the pressing problems of the day are pondered and solved by thinkers from all walks of life, and literary festivals such as this become the forum for practical and engaged education in the 21st century. By bringing together more than 65 of the most eminent pioneers and leaders from various fields of thought, from politics, literature, and law, to cinema, art, and technology, they hope to create an amalgam of inter-disciplinary, inter-sectoral, inter-cultural, and inter-industrial ideas, indeed, ideas fit to contend with the grave challenges and unprecedented opportunities that face us today.
Given the scope and ambition of the ALF, the participation of a highly intelligent, curious, and engaged community of observers in young minds and the public at large is expected to explore with us, Ideas for a Brave New World – the theme for the first essay of the ALF.
The two-day extravaganza would witness a gallery of speakers like Shashi Tharoor, Barkha Dutt, Tony Joseph, Rahul Pandita, Pratibha Nandakumar, Vasudhendra, Manu S Pillai and Usha Uthup, among many others; performances by Kenny Sebastian, Indian Ocean; a workshop on creative writing by Anita Nair, a stand-up comedy workshop by Preeti Das, and an advertising workshop by Prathap Suthan. It is giving enough exposure to the kannada literature too through Prathibha Nandakumar, Mamta Sagar to name a few.
Abhay G. Chebbi, Pro-Chancellor, Alliance University said of the festival “ The Alliance way has always been unique, and since its inception, has forged a path to a holistic transformation of education in India. He invited all to attend the event and experience the legacy that Alliance in set to create”.
Anubha Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Alliance University said “Alliance is cognizant of its role in driving the local, regional and the creative economy, Alliance through ALF is presenting art and culture as essential for economic development; strengthening curricula; improving the quality of life; addressing issues of sustainability; and inviting, preserving, and retaining creative talent”
The Associate Dean of the Alliance School of Liberal Arts, Anirudh Sridhar spoke “The Alliance Literary Festival is the full manifestation of Bengaluru’s growing appetite for art and culture. Standing at the crossroads of classical civilisation and modern innovation, Bengaluru is the ideal place to find new meaning for creativity in the 21st century. The ALF redefines the ‘literary’, bringing together diplomats, entrepreneurs, judges, and journalists, and ‘festivals’, by not only celebrating but tackling the great topics of our age. He stated that the ALF will be the forum for a clash of ideas and titans”
Theme of the Edition – IDEAS FOR A BRAVE NEW WORLD
Up the road, in his shack, the old man was sleeping again. He was still sleeping on his face and the boy was sitting by him watching him. The old man was dreaming about the lions. – The Old Man and The Sea.
Ernest Hemingway gives us here an antidote to what the Roman philosopher Lucretius once observed: ‘Life is one long struggle in the dark.’ History might be unveiling one long and great tragedy but its motoring force has always been the indomitable spirit of man to survive. The old man was brave enough to dream of lions.
On many fronts today, we are faced with moral, physical, economic, creative, and political cul-de-sacs. We emerge from the latest wave of disease only to be threatened with the actual waves of a rising sea-level. Though we are stirring from the trauma of the last two years, we must stir into action as we enter a brave new world.
Aldous Huxley foresaw in his Brave New World a dystopian society wherein human beings are managed by biotechnology, machines automate their labour and their mind, citizens have no relationship with nature or natural processes, and all this comes about after a great war and economic collapse. Sound familiar?
We need ideas for our brave new world. However bizarre the future looks, we need to follow the old man Santiago and dream of the lions.
At the Alliance Literary Festival 2022, we seek ideas for a Brave New World.
ALF will be more than a festival but an immersive experience where the curious of India can explore the verdant university campus in vernal bloom.
The campus will be transformed into a bamboo forest of delights with art installations, bookshelves, diverse culinary carts, and handicraft and loom.
More details and registrations are on www.allianceliteraryfestival.com.
Venue: ALLIANCE UNIVERSITY, Alliance School of Liberal Arts
Chikkahagade Cross, Chandapura – Anekal Main Road, Anekal, Bengaluru – 562 106,
LOCATION – Google Map
Date: May 20th and 21st, 2022
For info contact: +91 80 4619 9000 / 9100, +91 80 4129 9200
Email: lit.fest@alliance.edu.in
