The NMACC is bringing style, spice, and spectacle to NYC—straight from India

This September, New York’s Lincoln Center will play host to a rare kind of cultural crossover: a three-day showcase of Indian culture—the arts, crafts, performance, and design of India—curated by the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC). Titled the 'NMACC Weekend', the event marks the first time the Mumbai-based cultural institution will travel abroad, bringing with it a full spectrum of India’s creative identity—from classical dance to couture, and sitar to street food.

At the centre of it all is Nita Ambani, whose cultural philanthropy has gradually built toward this moment. As founder of the Reliance Foundation and the force behind the NMACC’s 2023 opening in Mumbai, her ambitions for Indian culture have always been international in scale. Now, with the Lincoln Center collaboration, that ambition becomes tangible.

The weekend begins with the Grand Swagat, an opening night that pairs a runway presentation by designer Manish Malhotra—featuring handloom-driven pieces from his Swadesh line—with a menu by Vikas Khanna, who reimagines regional Indian dishes with fine-dining flair. Think textiles and thalis with equal weight.

Performances across the next two days will feature vocalists Shankar Mahadevan and Shreya Ghoshal, as well as rising sitar artist Rishab Sharma. The centrepiece is The Great Indian Musical: Civilization to Nation, a theatrical production directed by Feroz Abbas Khan that charts 7,000 years of Indian history in a highly stylised, large-scale format. Originally staged at the NMACC’s launch, it arrives in New York with over 100 performers and a full complement of sets, costumes, and choreography.

The programming spills out into Damrosch Park, where an open-air cultural fair will feature yoga sessions with Eddie Stern, Bollywood dance classes led by Shiamak Davar’s team, a panel discussion on Indian cricket, and a curated Swadesh pop-up selling artisanal goods sourced directly from Indian craftspeople.

In Ambani’s words, the idea is to put “India’s artistic legacy on the world map”—not just through performance, but by creating spaces for dialogue, movement, and craft.

One of the more unexpected moments of the weekend is set to come from Ambani herself, who will return to the stage with a classical Bharatanatyam piece during the opening night. A former student of the dance form, her performance is less a spectacle and more a personal gesture—connecting the dots between where her journey with Indian arts began and where it’s brought her today.

Tickets for the NMACC Weekend go on sale later this June, with more details expected soon. But what’s already clear is that this isn’t just a celebration—it’s a considered attempt to frame Indian culture not as heritage alone, but as living, evolving and ready for the world stage.

Keep an eye out for those tickets, here.

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Photo credits: NMACC