Welcome back to our VOICES India Up with People blog series, where you can find all of the details about the destination stops on our upcoming VOICES India tour!
Dates: October 1-October 15, 2024
Partner(s): The Design Village (TDV)
In Weeks 3 and 4 (October 1-15), the Cast will be hosted in Noida, a highly developed city in the state of Uttar Pradesh. The Cast members will integrate with our university partner, The Design Village (TDV) and their students, faculty, artisans, and community living in informal settlements.
The daily schedule will include curriculum sessions, facilitated interactions, and hands-on activities with ongoing social design projects within The Design Village for Cast and TDV students. Creative design projects will include aspects such as Animation, Product Design, Transportation, Fashion Design, Space, and more.
The Cast will collaborate on Capstone projects and community service with the local community. Cast members will participate in workshops with local artists and artisans, thus learning about contemporary, traditional, and diverse elements of arts and crafts in the region.
Cast members will get to travel to Fatehpur Sikri, Agra, and Mathura for two days to share, learn and build cultural understanding of history, art, wildlife protection, and diversity of India.
1. Fatehpur Sikri (UNESCO World Heritage site) From UNESCO:
“Fatehpur Sikri is located in Agra District in the State of Uttar Pradesh in northern India. It was constructed southeast of an artificial lake, on the slopping levels of the outcrops of the Vindhyan hill ranges. Known as the “city of victory”, it was made capital by the Mughal emperor Akbar (r. 1556-1605 CE) and constructed between 1571 and 1573. Fatehpur Sikri was the first planned city of the Mughals to be marked by magnificent administrative, residential, and religious buildings comprised of palaces, public buildings, mosques, and living areas for the court, the army, the servants of the king and an entire city.”
2. Agra, which includes Taj Mahal and Agra Fort:
Taj Mahal, from UNESCO:
“An immense mausoleum of white marble, built in Agra between 1631 and 1648 by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife, the Taj Mahal is the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world’s heritage.”
Agra Fort, from UNESCO:
“Near the gardens of the Taj Mahal stands the important 16th-century Mughal monument known as the Red Fort of Agra. This powerful fortress of red sandstone encompasses, within its 2.5-km-long enclosure walls, the imperial city of the Mughal rulers. It comprises many fairy-tale palaces, such as the Jahangir Palace and the Khas Mahal, built by Shah Jahan; audience halls, such as the Diwan-i-Khas; and two very beautiful mosques.”
3. Mathura (Wildlife SOS):
“India’s first and only Elephant Conservation and Care Centre (ECCC) was established in 2010 in the district of Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, in collaboration with the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department. The primary objective behind establishing the centre was to rehabilitate severely abused and exploited elephants. ECCC is now home to over 30 rescued elephants and is a living, breathing conservation education platform to change public perception to support elephant conservation. All elephants at ECCC were rescued from extreme distress. Some were privately owned and had a cruel history of being used for begging, while others spent a lifetime in captivity and confinement as temple elephants or were being coerced to perform in circuses.” – Elephant Conservation and Care Centre (ECCC).
In addition, the Cast members will continue to practice for the UWP Global Citizens Show and prepare the integration of local artists and TDV students into the run of the show, which will conclude with a performance on October 12.
No Comments yet!