Project – Qawwali Music Fusion
Project delivered in 2019-2020
If funding is available in the future we will be able to provide the following programme.
Qawwali music has existed since 13th century.
Qawwals of the late 20th Century such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and The Sabri Brothers have attracted Western attention to the genre and its popularity has increased even more in recent years through Bollywood films.
Qawwali is a unique representative of Pakistani culture and music.
Through the development of this project and this performance, we would like to highlight the cultural links between Pakistan and UK.
The project aims to:
- bring together local Sufi artists in fusion performance with local western musicians to exchange knowledge and skills of different traditions to make the music richer.
- bring together local singers to be trained in Chorus singing for performance
- engage performance poets to recite bilingual poetry so the audience can understand and engage with the performance
- engage Dervish Dancers to provide visual performance to express emotion and symbolise the human soul.
- engage new audiences from both sides of this cultural divide, rethinking the idea of what Qawwali might be, while bringing this unique and powerful music to experimental art audiences, and highlighting its rich history in Greater Manchester.
- develop of a Greater Manchester Sufi Music Focus Group
The project will enable community cohesion, and enable members of the community to enjoy, appreciate and explore South Asian Music and its culture breaking down barriers.
The Sufi music is not limited to just South Asian community, it has an appeal to the Western and other wide range of ethnic groups who appreciate world music and culture.
Performance
The live performance took place online.
Project supported by:
The Arts Council of England
