Heartland Film Festival Runs Through 23 October

Heartland, the annual 10-day celebration of international film, includes movies from Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Russian Federation, Rwanda, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan (and the United States).

For more information, including a schedule, go online.

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Develop Indy Travels to Europe

Develop Indy will lead a series of international trade missions throughout the next few months as part of its efforts to attract more jobs to Indianapolis.

First up: Paris, France, from 14-17 June, with a focus on aerospace/defense and renewable energy industries.

Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, and Sao Paulo, Brazil, from 5-15 July, with a focus on clean tech, motorsports, information technology, exports (Brazil to U.S.)

The International Air Show in Farnborough, England, from 19-25 July, for aerospace/defense.

Valencia, Spain and Rome, Italy, September 6-10, for the photovoltaic industry.

Develop Indy is Marion County's local economic development organization.

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Notre Dame law prof to help draft peace declaration

Douglass Cassel (pictured), professor of law at the University of Notre Dame, is one of ten experts from around the world invited by UNESCO and the Spanish Association for International Human Rights Law to help draft a proposed universal declaration of the human right to peace, according to the South Bend-based university.

Cassel, who serves as the director of Notre Dame Law School’s Center for Civil and Human Rights, is a scholar and practitioner of international human rights, international criminal law, and international humanitarian law.

The drafting committee, which convenes at the end of this month in Barcelona, Spain, consists of two international experts from each of the five geographical regions represented at the United Nations: Latin America and the Caribbean; Africa; Asia; Western Europe and other western states (including the United States); and Eastern Europe. Ultimately, a draft of the peace declaration will be submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council, with a recommendation that it be adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations.

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Dance Kaleidoscope: World Carnaval

"Play Mas" from Dance Kaleidoscope will be on stage at the Indiana Repertory Theatre 7-10 January. Billed as "a vibrant up-beat collection of dances inspired by Brazilian and Trinidadian Carnavals featuring large costume sculptures like those in a Carnaval parade, and the return of Food of Love, an exotic blend of international music, sensual dancing and sumptuous costumes," it features music from Argentina, Pakistan, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Spain and Africa.

Tickets are available IRTLive.com, and range from $6 (for the "mini-matinee at noon Thursday, 7 January) to $37 for the performance on Friday (8 January) January.

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Lotus Festival: World Music & Arts

The Lotus World Music & Arts Festival, set for 24-27 September in Bloomington, has so much going on it's hard to settle on just one aspect.

For example, here are just some of the performers scheduled to appear:

# Rahim AlHaj / Friday
Virtuoso Iraqi oud

# Bajofondo / Saturday
Electrotango from Argentina

# BLK JKS / Saturday
Psychedelic, Afro-futuristic rock from South Africa

# Cara Dillon / Friday, Saturday
Irish traditional song

# Forro in the Dark / Saturday
Northeastern Brazilian party music

# Hanggai / Saturday, Sunday
Folk music from Inner Mongolia & China

# Huun Huur-Tu & Carmen Rizzo / Friday
Electronica meets throat-singing from Tuva

# Kinobe & Soul Beat Africa / Friday, Saturday
Ugandan song, dance, & drumming

# Srinivas Krishnan & Madras Broadcast / Saturday, Sunday
Indian fusion

# Little Cow / Thursday, Friday
Ska/rock/funk/Gypsy fusion from Hungary

# Los de Abajo / Friday, Saturday
Salsa, punk, and rock from Mexico

# The Megitza Quartet / Friday
Roma and East European world fusion

# Occidental Brothers Dance Band International / Friday
Central & West African dance music

# Orchestra of Tetouan / Friday, Saturday
Traditional vocal & instrumental music of Andalusia & North Africa

# Parno Graszt / Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Hungarian Gypsy music

# Salaam / Saturday
Middle Eastern & North African traditional music

# Väsen / Thursday
Contemporary instrumental folk music from Sweden

# Vishtén / Saturday, Sunday
Acadian traditional music, song, and dance

# Watcha Clan/ Friday, Saturday
Global fusion from France

# The Zolfonoon Ensemble of Iran / Saturday
Classical Persian

Did you know that the festival honors Lotus Dickey (1911-1989)? The folk singer, songwriter, and musician from rural Orange County, Indiana, wrote tunes and songs that drew from his family and community, as well as from country singers and fiddlers he heard on the radio. Each year, the Lotus World Music and Arts Festival honors Lotus Dickey's memory with a set of music or an interactive workshop that introduces new audiences to his music and the old-time traditions of the United States.

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Grote Industries Moves from Spain to Germany

Grote Industries, a producer of LED lighting technology, has announced the relocation of its European headquarters from Spain to Niederwinkling, near Straubing, Germany. In addition to its world headquarters in Madison, Indiana, Grote maintains facilities in Canada, Mexico and Asia and had conducted its European operations from Spain since 2005.

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"Sacred Spain" Exhibit at IMA

The first exhibition to examine the religious visual culture of 17th-century Spain and Latin America will open at the Indianapolis Museum of Art on 11 October.

"Sacred Spain: Art and Belief in the Spanish World" brings to life the challenges faced by visual artists such as El Greco, Francisco Zurbarán, Alonso Cano, Franciso Ribalta, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Juan de Valdes Leal, Juan Correa, Cristobal Villalpando and others, who were charged with the creative task of making religious imagery that was "useful, truthful and moving".

The exhibition will feature 70 works — including paintings, polychrome sculpture, metalwork and books, many of which have never before been seen in the United States — that not only illustrate religious iconography and allegory, but also bring to light the significant role of the artist in 17th-century Spain. "Sacred Spain" will be on view through 3 January 2010.

A $1 million grant from the Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation to support the exhibition will allow the IMA to offer free general admission to "Sacred Spain".

A two-day symposium titled “Sacred and Profane in the Early Modern Hispanic World” will be held on 16 and 17 October, coinciding with the exhibit.

Symposium topics will include 1) The Irreligious, dealing with cultural production that rejected Catholic orthodoxy; 2) The Non-religious, in which the discourse of religion stands aside from cultural production; 3) Classical Myth and its engagement and/or distancing from Catholic culture; 4) Sacred Others: Jewish, Islamic and Pre-Columbian religious perspectives; 5) Empire and Religion, on the implication of religion into this expansive mindset; and 6) Text and the Sacred Image, investigating interrelationships among texts and the visual.

The first day will take place at the IMA, and the second day will take place at Indiana University Bloomington. The symposium, organized in conjunction with the Departments of Spanish and Portuguese and the History of Art at Indiana University, will bring together internationally recognized scholars from the fields of art history, literature, sociology, language and history.

There's more here.

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International Design Symposium

Designers, critics, scholars, manufacturers and dealers are participating in a two-day symposium at the Indianapolis Museum of Art in conjunction with the "European Design" exhibit on display 8 March through 21 June.

"Shaping a New Century: An International Design Symposium" will be held 6 and 7 March at the IMA to examine the present and future of European decorative and industrial design.

Four sessions will focus on creating, making, judging and designing.

Registration information is online. Cost is $150 for students and $250 for the public.

UPDATE:

Costs have dropped! It's now $50 for students and $100 for the public for both days!

Participants also have been announced. They are:
* Alberto Alessi (Director of Marketing Strategies and Design Management, Alessi s.p.a. – Italy)
* Jurgen Bey (Creative Director, Studio Makkink & Bey– Holland)
* George Beylerian (CEO & Founder, Material ConneXion - New York)
* Juli Capella (Director, Capella Arquitectura & Design, s.l. – Spain)
* matali crasset (industrial designer, matali crasset productions – France)
* Beatrice de Lafontaine (Director, when objects work – Belgium)
* Michele De Lucchi (architect, aMDL-architetto Michele De Lucchi Srl– Italy)
* Sylvain Dubuisson (Dubuisson Associes - France)
* Rolf Fehlbaum (Chairman, Vitra – Switzerland)
* Nasir Kassamali (Owner, LUMINAIRE® – U.S.)
* Eero Koivisto (Co-Founder, Claesson Koivisto Rune - Sweden)
* Didier Krzentowski (Owner, Galerie kreo – France)
* Susan Grant Lewin (President, Susan Grant Lewin Associates - New York)
* Catherine McDermott (Professor, Kingston University - United Kingdom)
* R. Craig Miller (curator, Indianapolis Museum of Art – U.S.)
* Cedric Morriset (independent journalist, curator and design consultant – France)
* Cilla Robach (curator, Nationalmuseum, Stockholm – Sweden)
* Jerszy Seymour (designer, Jerszy Seymour Design Workshop – Germany)
* Penny Sparke (scholar, Kingston University – United Kingdom)
* Dr. Josef Strasser (senior curator, Die Neue Sammlung--The International Design Museum Munich – Germany)
* Richard Wright (Director, Wright – U.S.)

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Spanish Music at IUPUI

Idilio performs at 7:30 p.m. 26 March in Room 152 of the Informatics and Communications Technology Complex at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis, 535 West Michigan Street, Indianapolis.

Guests from Las Guitarras de Espana, a Flamenco sextet, also will perform. Admission is $5 at the door.

For information, contact Michele Thompson.

Fall Forum on the Social Consequences of Immigration

The Fall Forum on the Social Consequences of Immigration will be held from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. tomorrow (13 October) in CE450, Campus Center, Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis.

Sponsored by the IUPUI Mexico Interest Group and the Office of International Affairs, the forum will explore the impact of Mexico-Indiana immigration on both Indianapolis and the sending communities in Mexico. It includes a session on Spanish immigration exploring the similarities and differences of immigration to Spain and immigration to the U.S.A.

Mardirossian Joins IU School of Music Faculty

The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music has announced that violin virtuoso and world-renowned teacher of the instrument Kevork Mardirossian (pictured) will join the faculty this fall.

A former concertmaster of the Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra (Bulgaria), Mardirossian performed as concerto soloist and recitalist throughout Bulgaria, the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe before moving to Europe, where he developed an impressive solo career, with tours of England, Wales, Italy and the U.S., including debuts in London and New York's Carnegie Recital Hall in 1992.

He has appeared as guest artist at international music festivals in Cheltenham, England; the European Cultural Months; the International Chamber Music Festival in Plovdiv, Bulgaria; the Czech Festival in Trento, Italy; and the Sofia Musical Weeks, Bulgaria.

Between 1988 and 1990, Mardirossian was concertmaster of the Baton Rouge Symphony, after which he was appointed artist-in-residence in violin at the University of Central Arkansas. In 1995, he was appointed as violin professor at the College of Music and Drama at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

As a member of the prize-winning Mardirossian-Phillips violin-piano duo, Mardirossian has toured the U.S., England, Bulgaria, Italy, France, Spain, Japan and China. Mardirossian is also a member of the Kapelle Piano Trio, with which he founded the Strings and Piano Chamber Music Festival in Heber Springs, Ark. He joined the faculty of the International Institute at Round Top, Texas, in 2001.

Mardirossian conducts violin master classes for advanced violinists in Bulgaria, held yearly in the D. Petkov Conservatory. He also presents regular master classes at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Boston University, Longy College, Oberlin Conservatory, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Seville, Granada and Cadiz Conservatories in Spain, Shanghai Conservatory and Sofia Musical Weeks Festival Academy.

Purdue Researchers Assess Socioclimatic Exposure

Researchers have taken a first step toward quantifying the "socioclimatic" exposure of different countries to future climate change, according to the Purdue University News Bureau. A research team from Purdue and the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy, found that China, India and the United States face substantial exposure relative to other nations, but that every area of the world faces high exposure in at least one category. The research will be published online this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Regionally, the most exposed nations are China, Bangladesh and Myanmar in Asia; western Sahel and southwestern nations in Africa; Brazil in South America; the eastern United States in North America; and the Mediterranean nations (including France, Italy and Spain), Russia and Scandinavia in Europe. The study found that the climatic and socioeconomic variables together determine the international variations in socioclimatic risk. The Purdue Climate Change Research Center is affiliated with Purdue's Discovery Park. The center promotes and organizes research and education on global climate change and studies its impact on agriculture, natural ecosystems and society. It was established in 2004 to support Purdue in research and education on regional scale climate change, its impacts and mitigation, and adaptation strategies. The center serves as a hub for a range of activities beyond scientific research, including teaching, public education and the development of public policy recommendations. The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics was founded in 1964 by Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam. The center operates under a tripartite agreement among the Italian Government and two U.N. agencies, UNESCO and IAEA. Its mission is to foster advanced studies and research, especially in developing countries. While the name of the center reflects its beginnings, its activities today encompass most areas of physical sciences, including geophysical and environmental sciences.

Purdue Vice President in Barcelona

The vice president of real estate and research park development for the Purdue Research Park will speak this week at the 24th World Conference on Science and Technology Parks, reports Inside Indiana Business.

Gregory Deason's presentation is expected to focus on creating incubators for small and startup companies, owning a debt-free facility and planning long-term strategies.

Delaware County lands a touch of Spain

According to Inside INdiana Business, a Spanish company has announced it will establish its first presence in the U.S. in Delaware County.

Miasa Automotive LLC will invest more than $1.4 million to locate its new production facility northeast of the City of Muncie at 3100 East, County Road 350 North, creating 12 new jobs.

Miasa Automotive LLC will manufacture gearbox components for New York-based Magna Powertrain, an international supplier of engine and driveline components to General Motors, Ford, Honda, Toyota and BMW.

Founded in Spain in 1968, Miasa (formally known as Mecanizados Industria Auxiliar, SA) designs, develops and produces gearbox components for vehicles through the casting and machining of light copper and aluminum alloy. The company, based in Pamplona, Navarra, currently exports its gearbox components, selector forks and transfer case actuators to Portugal, United Kingdom, France, Romania, Germany and Brazil.