23 January,2011 09:45 AM IST | | Kasmin Fernandes
Today, the city plays host to a series of free musical film screenings and concerts inspired by saint-poet Kabir that explore the mystic's relevance in our times
After travelling in various avatars to Auroville in Pondicherry, Mussoorie, Kathmandu, the villages of Malwa and three metros, The Kabir Festival arrived in Mumbai last week. Envisioned as a festive yet critical immersion in the ideas of Kabir through a series of film screenings, live music concerts by folk, classical and Bhakti singers from different parts of India, panel discussions, an art exhibition and outreach events, the festival ends with a grand final ufffd at the Carter Road Amphitheatre this evening.
Mooralal Marwada will perform at the grand finale of The Kabir
Fest tonight
Many hands came together to put this free mystical fest together -- The Kabir Project (Bengaluru), AISF, Akshara, EKTA, Joan Memorial Trust and Citizens for Peace, and Shishuvan School.
"It's an opportunity for people to experience the joy of Kabir in song, while engaging with the radically transformative power of his poetry. It would offer a powerful encounter with the philosophy of Kabir, hopefully generating moments of critical self-awareness and reflection on ideas of cultural identity and social divisions, death and impermanence, and the nature of knowledge," says festival co-ordinator Priti Turakhia.u00a0
Today, catch screenings of three documentaries by Shabnam Virmani at Dr Bhanuben Nanavati Kalaghar in Goregaon and Digital Academy in Andheri. The filmmaker and artist in residence at the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology in Bengaluru grew interested in Kabir in 2002. "I was living in Ahmedabad when the Godhra riots happened and I witnessed the anti-Muslim pogrom which unfolded in Gujarat. Immediately, Kabir seemed to call out, 'Sadho, dekho jag baurana! (Oh seekers, see the world's gone mad!)' I instinctively felt, yes, this man is saying what I feel," says Virmani.
In 2003, she set out on a series of journeys, camera in hand, venturing into diverse socio-cultural, religious and musical landscapes, "meeting people who sing, love and make meaning of Kabir for a living." Six years later, some of these experiences found expression in four documentary films, several music CDs and books.
Nudged by Kabir himself, each of her films journey across a boundary of some kind. Koi Sunta Hai probes the boundaries we create in the realms of knowledge, art and music. "Gharanas often get encrusted with snobbery and exclusivity and in the film, we see how renowned singer Kumar Gandharva had the courage to 'burn' down his citadel of classical learning," says Virmani.
Chalo Hamara Des follows a friendship between a rural Dalit folk singer, Prahlad Tipanya and an American scholar, Linda Hess -- a friendship between the Kabir of rural Malwa and the Kabir of an American scholar-translator who practices Zen Buddhism.
Kabira Khada Bazaar Mein probes the ironies, compulsions and contradictions that unfold in the life of Prahlad Tipanya who, while being part of the activist secular group Eklavya, also decides to join the Kabir Panth as a mahant (cleric of the sect).
The grand finale will offer a classical dance performance by Rajendra Chaturvedi, followed by Kabir music in folk traditions by Mir Mukhtiyar Ali, Prahlad Tipanya and Mooralal Marwada. Ali, a Mirasi folk singer from Bikaner, sings the poetry of Kabir, Mira and other Sufi poets like Bulleh Shah. Mukhtiyar represents the 26th generation of this humble community which has successfully kept alive the oral tradition of Sufiana Qalam.
Tipanya is one of the most compelling folk voices of Kabir in India today. He combines singing and explanation of Kabir bhajans in the Malwi folk style from Madhya Pradesh. The 56 year-old is acknowledged as the man who has deeply influenced and contributed to a resurgence of oral traditions of Kabir singing in Malwa region, in Madhya Pradesh.
For today's schedule, log on to www.thekabirfest.com/schedule.php.
Entry is free and open to all on a first-come-first-serve basis. There are no passes or tickets.
For details, visit https://www.thekabirfest.com/
