Science Beyond Borders: Connecting dots between India & France

Date: 06/07/2022 – 31/07/2022

Time: 3:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Venue: Rabindranath Tagore Centre, ICCR
Address: 9A, Ho Chi Minh Sarani, Kankaria Estates, Park Street area,

Kolkata, West Bengal 700071.

Registration link: https://forms.gle/bd4txbQN9Gk5UP5KA

Did you know that India’s space ties with France began as early as 1963, when Dr Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian Space programme, met Jacques Blamont, the first Scientific and Technical Director of the French Space Agency (CNES-Centre National d’Études Spatiales), which then went on to support ISRO’s sounding rocket programme during its nascent stage? Or that the Indian Railways adopted the 25 KV AC system of electrification as a standard in 1957 while the French National Railways (SNCF) provided initial technical assistance and consultancy? Or that the discovery of helium had an Indo-French connection? This exhibition will take you on a journey into this extraordinary past and the stories of exchanges between the top minds of the two countries across centuries right until the modern day. This relationship will be unraveled through narratives, texts, interviews, photographs, objects, audio-visual material and archival resources. The approach is interdisciplinary and the nuggets of information are accessible to all. At the end of it all, this history and shared relationship is about people. This exhibition, accompanied by numerous workshops, will promote scientific temperament and the value of collaborative research, give an impetus to STEM studies, highlight the role of industry and the interdependence of academia, government and industry as well as foster academic exchanges and professional mobility. It definitely salutes the great scientific minds of both countries and the world at large and reiterates the role of scientific knowledge in ensuring a safe and healthy world and a better life.