a world peace music festival,
was started to bring
about a convergence of ideas on
truth, harmony, peace and divinity. In
its 6th edition,
the festival boasts
of an
impressive list of musicians from
India and abroad.
Scheduled
over five days, the
second day of
the festival, i.e. February 11,
2016, will see performances by
three groups, namely
American Sufi Project
(USA), East West Local
(India) and Karrossel
(Portugal).
“The festival
aims at connecting Indian folk artistes
to the world through cultural exchange and to promote cultural
pluralism. Cultural dialogues develop mutual knowledge on different
musical traditions and create scope for developing new
collaborations. Initiated in 2011 by banglanatak
dot com, a social enterprise, Sufi Sutra
has now evolved as an annual music festival in Kolkata and Goa,”
says Amitava Bhattacharya, Founder and Director of banglanatak dot
com.
Speaking
about the performers, Amitava
adds, “The American Sufi Project was started by a group of artistes
and seekers who meet at the weekly gatherings for Zikr (remembrance
of God) at the Dergah-Al-Farah in New York city. The group,
that plays Carnatic as well as Turkish music,
comprises Dan
Kurfirst, Gabriel Marin, Tomchess, Jeff Mann, John Ferrara and Maura
Tousignant. A
unique feature of the group is the use of the fretless guitar.”
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One of the members
from American Sufi Project, Maura Tousignant,
says, “Our group is excited to perform in Goa. Our group would be
performing Turkish music with dance.”
The intention of
this project is to transmit through music and art, a taste of the
divine love and interconnectedness that they have felt participating
in these spiritual and musical practices. They believe the Sufi
qualities of love, devotion and contemplation expressed through
creativity can elevate the culture of their times.
The
second group,
the East West Local, is
a collaboration between musicians
of West Bengal and Goa.
This initiative of banglanatak dot
com specialises in
Bengali folk based world
music. “The team has 7 members on stage
– Debalina
(vocal),
Elvis (acoustic
guitar),
Golan (vocal, dotara), Carlos Gonsalves (percussion), Mohan (flute),
Sonatan (dhol, kol) and Steve (bass guitar). Their album,
‘Trans Bangla’,
was the Indian pick of world music albums of 2014. Lead
vocalist Debalina Bhowmick
has also performed at many world
music festivals including the
one in Copenhagen in 2014 and at
Essouria, Morocco in 2015,” says Amitava.
Debalina adds,
“I have had several
performances in Goa
and this time too,
I am very
excited to be a
part of Sufi Sutra and perform
with Elvis and Carlos.”
The group
Karrossel, which
specialises in folk dance and
music, was born
in Oporto, Portugal in
2009. Based on collection and
research, the group teaches traditional European
dances, especially the dances of Portugal.
“In a spirit of celebration, Karrossel proposes a journey through
the world of traditional music, where the public is invited
to participate in a whirlwind
of dances! Starting with Portuguese dances such as ‘Vira
do Minho’
or ‘Fad
Batido’,
they pass through ‘Troika’
from Russia and throughout Britain, Romania, Lithuania, and many
other cultures, always returning to Portugal in a constant dialogue
with the public,” shares Amitava. The group has seven members
performing, namely
Hugo Osga, Nuno Encarnacao, Silvia Guerra, Sergio Cardoso, Diana
Azevedo, Andreia Barao and Ricardo Coelho.
Hugo Osga says,
“We had a great
performance
in Kolkata and we are
looking forward to a
good audience in Goa. This state is beautiful and it
is such an
honour to perform at Sufi Sutra here.”
BOX
ITEM
On February 11
American Sufi
Project (USA) at 6:15pmEast West
Local (India) at 7:15pmKarrossel
(Portugal) at 8:15pm
All shows will be
held at
Kala Academy’s Dinanath Mangueshkar Kala Mandir, Campal-Panjim
