Other Topics : Art Culture - Fashion - Tourism

Latest & Hot News about our Art and Culture

Return to current news about Art and Culture

'Building Bridges' celebrates 60 years of India, UN
Indo-Asian News Service

New Delhi, Oct 19 (IANS) "Whatever else we might or not be, India is certainly a cultural superpower," says diplomat Pawan Varma of "Building Bridges" a five-day festival that kicks off Monday to showcase the country's cultural heritage and celebrate 60 years of the UN.

As the name implies, the festival is also about the fusion of Indian culture with the best the world has to offer.

"There are great areas of overlap in culture," Varma, who assumed office as director general of the Indian Council of Cultural Relations last month, explained at a media preview of the event here Wednesday.

"There are points of entry where cultures intersect. We have to find these areas of overlap to discover how your culture can find resonance in other cultures. Once that happens, you create dialogues between countries through culture," he said.

Thus, Bharatnatyam exponent Geeta Chandran will be collaborating with Dutch cellist Saskia Rao-de-Haas, while Kathak dancer Shovana Narayan has choreographed a symphony of Hindu and Buddhist chants for world peace.

Musician Amit Chaudhuri will be presenting "This is not fusion", a musical journey through the blues, jazz, rock and ragas, while designer J.J. Valaya will have models sashaying down the runway in fabrics that combine Peruvian, Turkish, Tibetan and Indian weaves.

Capping it all will be the debut screening in English of the Aamir Khan starrer "The Rising" that relates the story of Mangal Pandey and India's first War of Independence.

"We are celebrating differences and yet finding common ground," explained Chandran of her offering, titled "Syncretism".

Inspired by the five concentric circles that surround the map of the world in the UN logo, she has choreographed a dance that looks at the five spaces that impact the life and existence of an individual: the wide world, the immediate region, the country, the family and the individual.

"There'll be traces of (Russian composer Piotor Ilyich) Tchaikowsky's 'Sleeping Beauty' and 'Nutcracker' (ballets). We've found a lot in common between the two idioms," Chandran offered tantalisingly.

Narayan's "Sound of Emptiness and Harmony" is an artistic and spiritual encounter combining the emotional and dynamic intensity of Kathak to the Buddhist Yamanataka and Mahakala rites.

"It's about creating harmony by purging oneself of vices, of hatred, of ego and of extremisms of desire," Narayan explained.

Said Chaudhuri of his offering: "The aim is not only to take advantage of the musical intersections between Western folk melodies and Indian ones, but to attempt to create a language of music and performance out of them."