The thing about culture is that one would always find something to appreciate, if one looks for it. In today’s times, when people are easily offended or repulsed , it is but fitting that governments take the initiative to bring their people together through cultures. This past week, Australia's High Commissioner to India, Harinder Sidhu unveiled what is going to be a six month long festival of arts, culture, food, sports, literature and science. Called Australia Fest, it will continue till 30th March 2019, showcasing 75 events across 20 cities in India.
Says Sidhu, “It has long been my conviction that connections between people will be the defining feature of the Australia-India relationship. With Australia Fest, we aim to deepen the engagement between our two countries and further strengthen our people-to-people ties.”
One of the highlights of the festival will be the tour of Bangarra Dance Theatre, an Aboriginal and Torris Strait Islander organisation and one of Australia’s leading performing arts companies. Their dance technique combines more than 65,000 years of Aboriginal culture embodied and portrayed through contemporary movements. Each artiste of the company has an Aboriginal and/or Torris Strait Islander background. Headed by Artistic Director Stephen Page, the repertoire is “created on the Country and stories gathered from community Elders”.
For their Fest tour, Bangarra will perform in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai, alongside holding community outreach workshops in Aizawl, Purulia and Bhopal through October and November 2018.
Another performance to look out for is “Ants” by Polyglot Theatre, an interactive and participatory theatre for children and families. Polyglot “creates imagined worlds where audiences actively participate in performance through touch, play and encounter.” South Australia's Singsby Theatre Company will present its award-winning production “Emil and the Detectives” in Delhi, Jaipur and Mumbai in January 2019. Comedians Daniel Connell, Mel Buttle, Guy Montgomery and Aaron Chen will hold shows in Mumbai, Pune, Kolkata and Bangalore in November.
The three ambassadors for the six month long Fest are chef and restaurateur Gary Mehigan, one of the judges of the cult show MasterChef Australia, renowned Australian author John Zubrzycki and musician Raghav Sachar.
“When it comes to food, the people of India must be the most passionate I've met. I'm very excited to return to India, where we'll be showcasing a selection of the freshest and tastiest ingredients Australia has to offer,” says Mehigan.
Musical collaboration
In music, the Three Seas, a cross-cultural musical collaboration of Australian jazz and West Bengali folk music will tour Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Siliguri and Darjeeling in December. The group is led by Australian composer and saxophonist Matt Keegan and master folk singer Raju Das Baul. Some of the other performances will be by bands like Hiatus Kaiyote, Sleepmakeswaves and West Thebarton.
Australian World Orchestra and acclaimed soprano Deborah Cheetham will conduct a series of masterclasses and workshops as well in Chennai, Kochi, Mumbai and Delhi.
Renowned contemporary artists Julie Gough and Brook Andrew will present their works at the upcoming Kochi-Muziris Biennale at Fort Kochi.
This apart, there will also be film screenings, fashion collaborations and author tours to mark the festival. Full details about the schedules and events can be found at www.australiafest.com.