Sarod Maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Kham among prominent Indian artistes are due in the capital as the 15th edition of Abu Dhabi Festival (ADF) selected India as the Guest of Honour Country….reports Asian Lite News
India was declared as the ‘Guest of honor country’ for the prestigious 15th Abu Dhabi Festival (ADF) to be held in March 2018 in Abu Dhabi.
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. The 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. Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, one of the 20th century’s greatest masters of Sarod, will perform at the event. Other programmes are ‘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.
The programme also contains 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; and 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.”
Speaking about India’s role as Guest of Honour, Ambassador Suri continued, “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”.
The Indian Ambassador hoped that ADF 2018 will provide opportunity to non-Indians to enjoy Indian culture and Indians to enjoy cultures of many participating countries.
