Symposium Session I

DR BHAU DAJI LAD MUSEUM & ART DECO ALIVE! PRESENT TWIN-CITY SYMPOSIUM  Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum & Art Deco Alive! present a day of ideas exchange, inspiring debate and driving conversations around heritage advocacy and preservation in a new, developing India by bringing together leading voices in architecture, design, policy making, academia, and the arts. Through a series of illustrated presentations and discussions, we hope to acknowledge the lasting influence of the timeless Art Deco movement on our urban landscape and modern living.

Welcome Address by Art Deco Alive! Founder Smiti Kanodia, and Miami co-founders Gayatri Hingorani Dewan and Salma Merchant Rahmathulla

Keynote Address by Tasneem Zakaria Mehta, Hon. Director and Managing Trustee, Dr Bhau Daji Lad Museum 

TALK 1: The Long Afterlife of Deco in Bombay: The recognition of Art Deco buildings in the city have been through systems of signification that frequently override the stereotype of surface decoration. What are the confluences, technologies, allusions and significations that make a Bombay Art Deco building distinct? 

Speaker: Dr Mustansir Dalvi is an architect, academician, urban commentator and poet. He is Professor of Metropolitan Architecture at Sir JJ School of Art, Architecture and Design (de-novo, deemed to be a University), and is on the Board of Governors of the MMR Heritage Conservation Society. He is the editor of 20th Century Compulsions: Modern Indian Architecture from the MARG Archives (2016). Dr Dalvi writes and lectures on architecture, culture and urbanism.

Followed by Q&A with the audience.