The Diplomat
Casa de la India, based in Valladolid and one of only three cultural centers officially recognized by the Indian Government in Europe, has organized a program of activities in 2023 to celebrate its twentieth anniversary.
Casa de la India in Spain was legally constituted in Valladolid on March 17, 2003 as a cultural foundation with three founding patrons: the Republic of India, through the Embassy of India in Spain; the City Council of Valladolid and the University of Valladolid. It thus became the third cultural center supported by the governmental Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) in Western Europe, after those in London (Nehru Centre) and Berlin (Tagore Zentrum).
In these twenty years, as the City Council recalled, the Casa de la India has become a benchmark of cultural diplomacy thanks to its “intense interdisciplinary programming”, which has included cultural festivals, cinema, music and dance shows, business events, academic congresses, conference cycles, tourism promotion events, the signing of collaboration agreements with leading Indian and Spanish entities and European cooperation projects.
On March 10, the commemorative ceremony for the 20th anniversary was held, attended by the Ambassador of India, Dinesh Patnaik; the Mayor of the city, Óscar Puente, and the Rector of the University of Valladolid, Antonio Largo, among other personalities. “We could say that Valladolid has not only become the capital of Indian culture in Spain, but that the public of this city is the most expert in any of the disciplines that have to do with India: performing arts, music, cinema, society or figures such as Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore or Ravi Shankar,” said the mayor during the event. For his part, the ambassador said he was “proud” of what has been achieved in Valladolid during these twenty years because it represents “a model of cooperation with local institutions”.
To celebrate this anniversary, Casa de la India will organize throughout the year 2023 a series of activities in coordination with the entities that make up its board of trustees: the Embassy, the University, the City Council and the ICCR. The celebrations began this past March 18 in the Plaza de la India adjacent to the headquarters of the Casa de la India, with a day of opening to the street that included cultural workshops and performances of music and dance.
Also, and on the occasion of this anniversary, India will become the protagonist of the most important cultural events sponsored by the City Council of Valladolid during 2023: on the one hand, the 56th edition of the Book Fair will host from June 2 to 4, for the first time in Spain, an edition of the famous Jaipur Literature Festival (the most important literary festival in Asia), with the theme Words are Bridges and with the participation of leading literary figures and the world of culture of India, Spain and Latin America.
On the other hand, the 68th edition of the International Film Week of Valladolid (SEMINCI), to be held from October 22 to 29, and the VII World Tapas Championship City of Valladolid, to be held between November 6 and 8, will also have India as Guest Country. India is “a country with an unquestionable cultural attraction and enormous business potential that has one of the most prolific film industries in the world and is also known worldwide for its exotic gastronomic culture, very varied and based on spices, which has always been linked to trade routes,” said the City Council.
