ICCR’s Swami Vivekananda Cultural Center( SVCC) in Durban is dedicated to strengthen Cultural relations between India and South Africa. ICCR aims to foster and strengthen cultural relations and mutual understanding & to promote cultural exchanges with other countries and people. September was the Heritage month of South Africa. ICCR(Durban) in association with Institute of Social and Cultural Studies (ISCS) India and African
Music Project celebrated the cultures and rich heritage of South Africa and India from 22-24 September 2020 with some interesting discussions on the shared heritage and some eclectic performances which showcased the rich culture of both the nations through virtual system.

 

In the inaugural session the respected guests presented themselves were H.E. Shri V Murulidharan ji, Honourable Minister for state for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs, Government of India, H.E.. Shri Jaideep Sarkar ji, High Commissioner of India in South Africa and Lesotho and H.E. Shri AnishRajan ji, Consul General of India, Durban, Dr. Patricia Opondo, Senior Lecturer, University of KwaZulu, Natal and MMr. Arindam Mukherjee, Director, Institute of Social and Cultural Studies, India. In the day 1 programmme on discussion titled Heritage of Knowledge – AMAGUGU OLWAZI, the guest speakers were Prof. SihawuNgubane, University of KwaZulu, Natal, Dr. V. Ananda Reddy,Director,Shri Aurobindo Centre for Advance Research, Puducherry,Dr. Noel Solani, Direcctor, DitsongMuseums of South Africa, Ms. Gugu Mkhize,University of KwaZulu, Natal and Dr. Kanchan Gupta, Chairman, Raja Rammohan Ray Library Founndation (RRRLF), Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
The chair of the session had good sum up of the presentations by the speakers on the titled subject .

The day 2 started with the deliberations on the titled theme Heritage of Creativity – AMAGUGU OBUCIKOKWENZA. The guest speakers presented were Prof PitikaNtuli, Sculptor, Poet, Academic, South Africa, Ms. Alakananda Roy, Eminnennt Dancer and Social Reformist, India, Dr. Abraham Serote, Director of Social Cohesion, National Department of Art and Culture, South Africa and Dr. Ashwin Mahesh Dalvi, Ex-Chairman, Rajjasthan Lalit Kala Academy, India, Faculty, Banasthali and Maharaja Swajirao University, Baroda, India. All the speakers expressed their views and that made the session more charming. The last day session was on the subject Heritage of Help and Happiness – AMAGUGU EMPILO NNENJABULO to celebrate the heritage of South Africa. Respected speakers in thissession were Ven. Swami Atmapriyananda, Pro Chancellor, Ramkrishna Mission Vivekananda University, Belur Math, India, Dr.GcinaMhlophe, Executive Director, GCINAMASIKO Art and Heritage Trust, South Africa, Prof. Joy Sen, Principal Investigator, Sandhi Initiative and Varanasi/ Future of Cities Initiative, IIT Kharagpur and Prof. Musa Zulu, Executive Director, Heritage Development Trust, South Africa.

 

There were cultural programmes in all three days immediately after discussion part was over. A vote of thanks was given by the organizers at the end.