India will be the ‘Country of Honour’ in the Abu Dhabi Festival 2018, an event in March 2018 to mark Year of Zayed
India to showcase its rich cultural talents as the country was declared as the ‘Guest of honor country’ for the prestigious 15th Abu Dhabi Festival (ADF). A month long festival will take place in March 2018.
The Festival will be held under the patronage of His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, UAE Minister of Tolerance. ADF 2018 will be a month long festival celebrating art and culture. and selection of India as Guest of Honor country is significant in 2018 being celebrated as the ‘Year of Zayed’. ADF 2018 will gather more than 500 international artistes and 40 composers from 30 countries. Indian Artists of eminence will participate at the event and the highlights are:
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Sarod Maestro Amjad Ali Khan The Merchants of Bollywood’ an Indian theatrical extravaganza;
- ‘We The Living’ a classical Indian dance inspired by Rumi’s ‘The Human Being’ by Tanusree Shankar Dance Academy;
- Performance of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, one of the 20th century’s greatest masters of Sarod;
- Workshops by Gilles Chuyen, who has been trained in France in Folk, Modern Ballet and Contemporary dance styles and as choreographer and works extensively with Bollywood; and
- Collaboration between Rajeev Kumar and UAE’s Mohammed Mandi, both eminent calligraphists, from India and UAE respectively.
- Umm AL Emarat Park will showcase ‘The Raghu Dixit Project’ one of India’s most exciting live acts with some of the finest musicians.
“It is a matter of pride that India has been chosen as the Guest of Honour for the 2018 edition of Abu Dhabi Festival,” said Mr Navdeep Suri, Indian Ambassador to the UAE. “We look forward to working closely with Her Excellency Huda AlKhamis-Kanoo and her team to bring some of the finest elements of Indian culture to the arts loving people of Abu Dhabi.
“ Cultural effort that India or the Indian Community has made in this country has principally been directed toward the Indian Community. By collaborating with ADF 2018 we hope to supplement these efforts to take Indian culture mainstream and make sure that there is a much better understanding of an India beyond Bollywood. That is why the focus is on showcasing some of India’s magnificent diversity” He hoped that ADF 2018 will provide opportunity to non-Indians to enjoy Indian culture and Indians to enjoy cultures of many participating countries.”
