The hills of Bhutan will soon be alive with literature as renowned authors and poets gather in the tiny kingdom to participate in a literary festival focussing on the magic and mystique of writings off and from the Himalayan regions.
Indian writers like Gulzar, Chetan Bhagat, Bulbul Sharma and Omair Ahmad will be joined by international names like British author Patrick French as well as local writers and poets from Bhutan for the three-day festival "Mountain Echoes" in Thimphu from 17th May.
The fabled kingdom of dragons known recently for its policy of promoting Gross National Happiness (GNH) over the economic Gross Domestic Product (GDP), provides the perfect setting for writers from different tracts of trans- Himalayan belt to sharing their ideas and literary traditions, say organisers.
"This is the first time that Bhutan is hosting a literary festival. It is a collaborative venture between the governments of India and Bhutan and will focus on the wealth of mountain writing from these countries as well as other international writers," Mita Kapur, who heads Siyahi, one of the organisers told a news agency.
The shortlist of speakers at the festival "Mountain Echoes" includes among others author and Indian ambassador to Bhutan Pavan K Varma, poet Temsula Ao, Namita Gokhale, Omair Ahmed, Bulbul Sharma, Urvashi Butalia and Leila Seth.
Conceptualised by current Indian ambassador to Bhutan, Pavan K Varma "Mountain Echoes," is held under the India Bhutan Foundation.
The foundation was established in August 2003, with the objective to enhance exchange and interaction among the peoples of both countries, through activities in the areas of educational, cultural, scientific and technical fields.
Sessions at the festival include Bhutan through the Ages, Grandmother's Tales, History and Biographies, Language and Identity, Poetry and Archery, Shared Dreams and Shared Metaphors, Writing about Mountains, Architecture and Heritage, Music, Love, Poetry, These Hills called Home, Beyond the Frame, Of Women, By Women, Travellers and Magicians, Winds of Change, and Languages of Belonging which shares the stories, tales and folk narratives
Showing posts with label Music and Arts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music and Arts. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Where Three Dreams Cross
London's Whitechapel Gallery is currently featuring 'Where Three Dreams Cross,' an exhibition of photography from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. The show says a lot not only about the three countries, but also about Britain today.
The ambition in 'Where Three Dreams Cross' is both to be admired and treated with caution. Dealing with a land mass larger than Western Europe and a population of over 1.5 billion people is a challenge, especially with the complicated family history of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. It seems bound to disappoint by missing some particular event, region or body. So the fact that it does not is testament to the skill of the photographers and curators involved. It is not curated by border or nation.
Anita Khemka’s photographs of Jabalpur Station in India show the exuberance and anarchy of the railway station as market, bazaar and human playground, which anyone who has been to South Asia will recognise.
It is a history of our shared, not separate, cultures. This is an exhibition not just about Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, but the history of Britain.
For complete news please go to:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/culture/03-where-three-dreams-cross-a+stunning-success-ss-02
The ambition in 'Where Three Dreams Cross' is both to be admired and treated with caution. Dealing with a land mass larger than Western Europe and a population of over 1.5 billion people is a challenge, especially with the complicated family history of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. It seems bound to disappoint by missing some particular event, region or body. So the fact that it does not is testament to the skill of the photographers and curators involved. It is not curated by border or nation.
Anita Khemka’s photographs of Jabalpur Station in India show the exuberance and anarchy of the railway station as market, bazaar and human playground, which anyone who has been to South Asia will recognise.
It is a history of our shared, not separate, cultures. This is an exhibition not just about Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, but the history of Britain.
For complete news please go to:
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/culture/03-where-three-dreams-cross-a+stunning-success-ss-02
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Telugu Cultural Museum
A Telugu cultural museum, depicting Telugu culture, history and arts from the period of Satavahanas to the freedom struggle, is coming up atop Kailasagiri in Visakhapatnam.
The Telugu Culture and Heritage Museum, a joint endeavour of Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority( VUDA) and the World Telugu Federation (WTF),will be set up
The World Telugu Federation will showcase the evolution of Telugu language and culture. 32 to 38 episodes would be designed and placed in the museum in the form of artistic displays.
The evolutionary stages of Telugu language and culture starting from the period of Sathavahana to the present century would be brought live which will educate even the illiterate and non-Telugu people.
The Telugu Culture and Heritage Museum, a joint endeavour of Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority( VUDA) and the World Telugu Federation (WTF),will be set up
The World Telugu Federation will showcase the evolution of Telugu language and culture. 32 to 38 episodes would be designed and placed in the museum in the form of artistic displays.
The evolutionary stages of Telugu language and culture starting from the period of Sathavahana to the present century would be brought live which will educate even the illiterate and non-Telugu people.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
story telling tradition of Dastangoi being revived
storytellers called dastangos are striving to revive the Dastangoi- an ancient art of Urdu storytelling, which has got lost in the pages of history.
Under the practise two men dressed in white seated before the audience start narrating a story that conjures up a magical world of 'Aiiyars' (tricksters) and magicians who fight each other with the former always managing to outsmart the other.
Mahmood Farooqui, who has been working over the past few years to revive the art says, "It has been five years since I began. For my first show I did not have a clear sense of direction but was encouraged by the number of people who turned up to watch."
"We continued to perform dastans and people listened. I hope Dastangoi makes inroads in the street, in mehfils and there are dastans everywhere," he says.
'Tilism-e-Hoshruba' is the favourite 'dastan' of Farooqi, who travels with his companion and narrates in places in Delhi and Mumbai.
Translated it means 'enchantment that steals away the senses' this particular narrative follows closely the practice that evolved in 18th century in India and was popular both among aristocracy and the lay people in Lucknow.
The most famous 'dastan' version, the 'Dastan of Hamza' was printed in 46 huge volumes at the end of the 19th century in Lucknow. The illustrated manuscript created during the rule of Mughal emperor Akbar takes a look at the conflict between the righteous Amir Hamza and Laqa who falsely claims divinity.
Though parts of the Hamza Nama had been printed earlier, it was the famous Munshi Naval Kishore one of the early pioneers of printing in India who undertook the task of printing the whole dastan late in the nineteenth century.
Danish Hussein, who teamed up with Farooqui for the Dastangoi performance at the annual Journalism fest of Kamla Nehru College says, "I joined Mahmood in 2005 when Habib Tanveer introduced me to him in 2005 and it was very challenging for me as an actor.
Fortunately, we always found people receptive towards Dastangoi."
"In 1928, Delhi's last dastango Mir Baqr Ali died, I cannot say we perform dastans like the 'dastangos' of ancient times, we do it as per our understanding. We don't know how dastans were performed but all we know is we need to take it more beyond.
"It would be fun if there are more dastangos who can recite a 'Dastan' and spread this oral tradition," says Farooqi who picked up the 'Dastan of Hamza' lying with his Uncle SR Faruqi, said to be the only person who possesses a full set of 46 volumes.
With stalwarts like national award winning actor Naseerrudin Shah joining to promote the art, Dastangoi is set to catch the public interest.
But since the art of Dastangoi uses literal Urdu, was language ever a barrier to connect with the audience?
"Even if people don't understand the language you still can enjoy Dastangoi.There is no one who understands Urdu and even those who know the language find it difficult to comprehend the nuisances. The words have there audio sound which makes you understand the story," says Farooqi.
The duo have also tried to contemporarise the art form and make it a platform to raise contemporary issues in the society.
"There is direct conversation in dastangoi and we have performed dastans on Chattisgarh which is in turmoil and on Partition. For the Partition dastan we have taken excerpts from other writers and woven it to create the partition dastan.It depends on the dastango to take the art forward and create a dastan which can talk about politics and contemporary social issues, says Hussein.
"People go and see the opera even though not all of them would understand Italian. We want to take the the art beyond, I have heard about an epic 'Ganga Avtaran' in Sanskrit and we would love to perform that. We want people to listen to Ramcharit Manas and much more," says Farooqi.
Now, 'dastans' are being translated into English and the duo reckons that they have no problem if dastans are performed in English but they believe the orality has to be maintained in the translation. (BJ-05/10)
Under the practise two men dressed in white seated before the audience start narrating a story that conjures up a magical world of 'Aiiyars' (tricksters) and magicians who fight each other with the former always managing to outsmart the other.
Mahmood Farooqui, who has been working over the past few years to revive the art says, "It has been five years since I began. For my first show I did not have a clear sense of direction but was encouraged by the number of people who turned up to watch."
"We continued to perform dastans and people listened. I hope Dastangoi makes inroads in the street, in mehfils and there are dastans everywhere," he says.
'Tilism-e-Hoshruba' is the favourite 'dastan' of Farooqi, who travels with his companion and narrates in places in Delhi and Mumbai.
Translated it means 'enchantment that steals away the senses' this particular narrative follows closely the practice that evolved in 18th century in India and was popular both among aristocracy and the lay people in Lucknow.
The most famous 'dastan' version, the 'Dastan of Hamza' was printed in 46 huge volumes at the end of the 19th century in Lucknow. The illustrated manuscript created during the rule of Mughal emperor Akbar takes a look at the conflict between the righteous Amir Hamza and Laqa who falsely claims divinity.
Though parts of the Hamza Nama had been printed earlier, it was the famous Munshi Naval Kishore one of the early pioneers of printing in India who undertook the task of printing the whole dastan late in the nineteenth century.
Danish Hussein, who teamed up with Farooqui for the Dastangoi performance at the annual Journalism fest of Kamla Nehru College says, "I joined Mahmood in 2005 when Habib Tanveer introduced me to him in 2005 and it was very challenging for me as an actor.
Fortunately, we always found people receptive towards Dastangoi."
"In 1928, Delhi's last dastango Mir Baqr Ali died, I cannot say we perform dastans like the 'dastangos' of ancient times, we do it as per our understanding. We don't know how dastans were performed but all we know is we need to take it more beyond.
"It would be fun if there are more dastangos who can recite a 'Dastan' and spread this oral tradition," says Farooqi who picked up the 'Dastan of Hamza' lying with his Uncle SR Faruqi, said to be the only person who possesses a full set of 46 volumes.
With stalwarts like national award winning actor Naseerrudin Shah joining to promote the art, Dastangoi is set to catch the public interest.
But since the art of Dastangoi uses literal Urdu, was language ever a barrier to connect with the audience?
"Even if people don't understand the language you still can enjoy Dastangoi.There is no one who understands Urdu and even those who know the language find it difficult to comprehend the nuisances. The words have there audio sound which makes you understand the story," says Farooqi.
The duo have also tried to contemporarise the art form and make it a platform to raise contemporary issues in the society.
"There is direct conversation in dastangoi and we have performed dastans on Chattisgarh which is in turmoil and on Partition. For the Partition dastan we have taken excerpts from other writers and woven it to create the partition dastan.It depends on the dastango to take the art forward and create a dastan which can talk about politics and contemporary social issues, says Hussein.
"People go and see the opera even though not all of them would understand Italian. We want to take the the art beyond, I have heard about an epic 'Ganga Avtaran' in Sanskrit and we would love to perform that. We want people to listen to Ramcharit Manas and much more," says Farooqi.
Now, 'dastans' are being translated into English and the duo reckons that they have no problem if dastans are performed in English but they believe the orality has to be maintained in the translation. (BJ-05/10)
Sunday, September 20, 2009
AIR programme on ragpickers, homeless is nominated for a UN Award
A broadcast on the hopes and dreams of rag pickers and homeless children by Lucknow station of All India Radio (a state owned radio) has earned a nomination for a prestigious global award by a UN agency.
Other nominees for the International Children's Day of Broadcasting (ICDB) award include broadcasters from Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Germany, Ghana, Malaysia, South Africa, Togo and Ukraine.
The ICDB awards were launched by UNICEF in 1991 to encourage broadcasters worldwide to create awareness for children's issues.
Each nominees won a regional competition and now go on to compete for global honors, UNICEF officials said.
The winner of the 2009 ICDB Awards will be announced at a ceremony in New York on 10th November.
Other nominees for the International Children's Day of Broadcasting (ICDB) award include broadcasters from Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Germany, Ghana, Malaysia, South Africa, Togo and Ukraine.
The ICDB awards were launched by UNICEF in 1991 to encourage broadcasters worldwide to create awareness for children's issues.
Each nominees won a regional competition and now go on to compete for global honors, UNICEF officials said.
The winner of the 2009 ICDB Awards will be announced at a ceremony in New York on 10th November.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Vijay Tendulkar's play in Karachi
The Napa Repertory Theater Company presented its tenth play titles 'Khamosh! Yeh Adalat Hai' (Silence! The Court Is In Session) at the Arts Council Auditorium, Karachi between 16th to 25th May, 09. This Marathi play is translated into Urdu by Intizar Hussain. It is directed by Rahat Kazmi, who is a veteran stage and television actor himself. After starting his career with Pakistan Television in 1970, he set up his own company named Theater Walay and staged around 16 plays in the span of 5 years. This is his third play director associated with NTRC in Karachi.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Award for Doucmentary films by children
A set of four documentaries produced by children in India has won the Golden Cairo Award at the 19th Cairo Children Film Festival held in Egypt.
The package of four films was based on issues related to sexual harassment by teachers as well as how parents should behave. Chinh, a media trust, has been promoting production of documentary films among children in the country.
The package of four films was based on issues related to sexual harassment by teachers as well as how parents should behave. Chinh, a media trust, has been promoting production of documentary films among children in the country.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
National Drama Festival
10-day national drama festival is starting on 1st March in Thiruvanathapuram. Plays from different states and dramas in english and japanese will be held in the festival organised by Information and Public Relations Department. A specialty fo this festival is prominence of women directors. Plays of Veenapani Chawla, Culekha Chaudhari, Neelam Mansingh, Mayakrishna Rao are some of the attractions. eminent directors like Habeen Tanwir, Kanhaiya Lal, Shanmukh Raja, Sankar Venkateswaran.
- More on this thread as I get more.
- More on this thread as I get more.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Old singing of Pt Bhimsen Joshi released on CD
Rare and old recordings of Pt. Bhimsen Joshi has been released as CD album titled 'My Music - The SaaReGaMa Years'. (The company SaaReGaMa was previously known as HMV) This is a set of four albums having 2 CDs each. These contain more than 40 Raagas, some of which have been created and composed by Bhimsenji himself. Some of these recordings were earlier released on 78 RPM records by HMV. Some of these are 3 minute bandeeshes sung by Panditjee at his 24 years of age. These date back to recordings from 1946.
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