Bangalore dons a festive cap

Kickstarting tomorrow, lend your ears to the jugalbandi of classical music maestros TM Krishna and Rashid Khan beside other stalwarts from the theatre, dance and music fraternity at the Bangalore International Arts Festival

They might be a mix of varied influences, choices and styles in music and dance, but the seven-day art fest, spread across two weekends, promises to bind you with one thread, which is their reverence for heritage and culture. The Bangalore International Arts Festival (BIAF) in its second edition in our green city is back with a bang. This time around lend your ears to Carnatic music maestro TM Krishna and Hindustani sangeet maestro Rashid Khan in a rare musical jugalbandi, along with plays and puppet shows.

Organised by the Artists Introspective Movement (AIM), this musical celebration comes with a packed seven-day schedule at seven different venues across the city. The theme of the festival this year is 'Harmony' to bring about awareness, especially in these times of turmoil and violence, as culture and art have long been building bridges between communities across countries.

"The festival aims at taking the arts to the next level for people who have a passion for it," says Veena Murthy Vijay, Director, BIAF, AIM. "We want the festival to be something that gets marked on the calendar, after Ganesh Chathurthi and before Dasara", she adds. Also part of the festival is a Go Green Bengaluru campaign where saplings will be provided to all those present to be planted on a particular day.
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Besides bringing together artists from across the country and abroad, the festival encourages talent from within the state to be a part of it. "We have our own talent that we need to nourish in the field of art," says Veena. The highlights of the festival besides the much-awaited TM Krishna-Rashid Khan Jugalbandi are a musical confluence between singer Unnikrishnan and classical pianist Anil Srinivasan. Also 28 dancers from Sri Lanka will be performing at this event to uphold the theme of artistic harmony.

Director and dancer Suma Sudhindra says, "This the first time we have groups all the way from Peru for performances. We want international artists to look at this as a coveted platform".

Schedule:-
October 1
6 pm, Sheesh Mahal Palace
B Jayashree and Troupe- Dance, Troupe from Sri Lanka - Dance, Kiran Subramanayam and group- Dance, Shobana and group - Dance, Ganesh andu00a0 Kumaresh- Violin
8 pm, Opus, Palace Cross Roads
Gerard Machado, Jazz Band

October 2
6 pm, Suchitra Film Society
Puppet Show by Anupama Hoskere, Rangamantapa's drama Gandhi Banda

October 3
6 pm, Freedom Park
MD Pallavi and troupe- Light Music, 'Krishna' by Pravin Godkhindi and group- Flute, Folk artists

October 8
6 pm, Mangala Mantapa
Sankshep, STEM Dance company, Kathak Kendra, Dance
6 pm, Chowdiah Memorial Hall
Pratibha Parhlad- Dance, Unni Krishnan and Anil Srinivasan- Vocal and Piano jugalbandi, ASPAT group, Peru- Dance

October 9
6 pm, Mangala Mantapa
Geeta Chandran- Dance, Anand Shankar Jayant- Dance, ASPAT group, Peru- Dance
7 pm, Opus in the Creek, Whitefield
Advaita, Electic Music Group
6 pm, Chowdiah Memorial Hall
English Theatre- WEDDING ALBUM - Directed by Lillete Dubey

October 10 to October 17
3.50 pm to 5.30 pm, Taj West End
Floored by Art" Initiated By Sunil Sethi Design Alliance in Association with Maneka Gandhi's People For Animals

October 11
6 pm, Chowdiah Memorial Hall
TM Krishna and Ustad Rashid Khan - Carnatic & Hindustani Jugalbandi