2005: India Photo Exhibit Opens at Georgia College and State University Museum

Author and Illustrator at the Photo Exhibit.

The India Traveling Photo exhibit opened to an enthusiastic audience on November 16, 2005 at the Georgia College and State University Museum in Milledgeville, Georgia. The exhibit will be on display until January 28, 2006. The opening was well attended by students, faculty, and people from the local community.

Robert Arnett and Smita Turakhia were invited to give India presentations and were kept very busy speaking entire day to all the seventh grade classes at Putnam Middle School. The next day they also spoke at the Museum to students attending GCSU.

2005: Indian Culture Highlighted at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.

Illustrator Smita Turakhia and author Robert Arnett were invited to the Multicultural Children's Book Festival held on November 5, 2005 at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. to bring alive aspects of Indian culture that is showcased in their multi-award-winning children's book Finders Keepers? The daylong festival, with estimated attendance of about 8,000 people this year, explores cultures from all around the world with interactive workshops by illustrators and readings by authors.

Turakhia presented a 45 minutes art workshop where she taught children how to make a toran. She also demonstrated how to wear a sari and explained why women wear a bindi on their foreheads. Then she tied a ten-yard-long Rajasthani turban on an American father as children watched in amazement that such a long piece of fabric was converted to a headgear for men.

The Kennedy Center gave away each participant in the toran workshop the poster: We Share A World. The illustration on the poster which is from Finders Keepers? truly captured the spirit of the festival.

2005: Robert Arnett and Smita Turakhia invited Speakers at the Georgia Library Association Conference

Author Robert Arnett and illustrator Smita Turakhia were invited speakers at the Georgia Library Association 2005 conference held on October 12-14, 2005 at Georgia Iron Works Convention and Trade Center. About 1,000 librarians from Georgia attended the conference. Arnett and Turakhia's joint author-illustrator presentation entitled A Journey Across India: Exploring the Oneness of the Human Spirit was extremely well-received by the audience. Librarians thought it gave them a greater understanding of the diverse culture of India and will help them effectively use information to incorporate diversity in classrooms or story times. The librarians found both the books, India Unveiled and Finders Keepers?, of tremendous interest for their libraries and many of them purchased copies for their school or public libraries.

The author-illustrator pair released their new poster emphasizing the importance of living in peace and harmony among people of different cultures, race, and religious background. The illustration of the poster is a painting by Turakhia from their award-winning children's book Finders Keepers?.

2005: Houston International Festival (Ifest) Spotlights India

Turakhia and Arnett with high school students and staff after India slide presentation. Houston, Texas

Robert Arnett and Smita Turakhia did slide presentations on India at several schools and colleges in the Houston area in conjunction with the Houston Ifest 2005 where the spotlighted country was India. The teachers, librarians, and the students found the presentations very educational. The talk generated many questions from students who seemed eager to get a better understanding of the distant land.

Turakhia and Arnett with friends

The author-illustrator duo also participated in various aspects of literature relating to India on both weekends of the Ifest that included book readings and book signings and included authors such as Chitra Divakaruni, John Shors, Bapsi Sidhwa and several local authors.

2005: Across India: Selected Photographs from Robert Arnett's India Unveiled opens at The Columbus Museum, Georgia

Arnett and Turakhia at the exhibit entrance. The Columbus Museum, Georgia

The Columbus Museum, Columbus, Georgia had a gala reception on February 5, 2005 that officially opened the photo exhibit entitled Across India: Selected Photographs from Robert Arnett's India Unveiled, on view from February 6 to May 8, 2005.

Arnett with friends during the exhibit opening. Columbus, Georgia

Across India presents more than 40 cibachrome photographs that feature a compelling portrait of India and its rich and complex cultural legacy. Arnett's images powerfully document the country's diverse peoples and religions while capturing its spectacular and dramatically varied landscape. Across India is an outgrowth of Arnett's internationally acclaimed book India Unveiled.

Arnett Speaker at the British Petroleum Heritage Day

Arnett giving India Slide Presentation at British Petroleum, Houston, Texas

Robert Arnett was invited speaker at the British Petroleum Heritage Day in Houston, Texas held on February 16, 2005.

Mr. Arnett gave two slide presentation on India and both the sessions were filled to capacity. The employees remarked how the presentation and the question and answer session gave them a better understanding about the people and culture of India.