India’s IndieEarth Exchange joins 13 other music festivals to bring together third edition of Online Music Festival
India’s IndieEarth Exchange joins 13 other music festivals to bring together third edition of Online Music Festival
Jihyun Park is aware that this weekend’s audience could include many people who have never experienced Korean traditional music before. With her musical partner Minyeong Kim, she forms the South Korean music duo Remidas, which will join 17 other independent acts from countries such as Mozambique, Chile, Canada, the US, India, Mexico, Portugal, and the third edition of Culturas. 360, an online music festival.
Over email from Seoul, she describes her instrument of choice that helps give her a contemporary edge to traditional music. Made from a hardwood tree native to Southeast Asia, “Gaygeum has a large rectangular base made of Paulownia wood. It originally had 12 silk strings, but these days it has been improved, hence the 25-string Gygeum have also been developed and are used a lot these days,” she writes.
On the other hand, his partner Minyeong Kim will unleash the magic of the geomungo, a six-stringed instrument. “It is a percussion instrument that makes sounds with bamboo sticks. Geomungo means ‘black string instrument’, so named because when the instrument was first invented, a black crane used to fly and used to dance,” says Jihyun.
Remidas in Seoul
Both are deliberate in their quest to create improvised contemporary music with the use of traditional Korean instruments, while drawing influences from many current and ancient cultures, including their own. It is a motif similar to that of the Rahmat-e-Nusrat, a qawwali group based in Uttarakhand, India, which pays homage to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and other greats, while also creating its own compositions and carrying forward the story of the qawwali. Is. In today’s time.
Sarvjit Tamta, founder and lead singer of Rahmat-e-Nusrat, reiterates Sufism’s role in promoting peace, and explains how, in today’s environment, simply embracing the music of qawwali is not enough. Since its formation in 2014, the group has made it to major stages across the country, including at major social and literary festivals. However, this weekend, Sarvjeet is eager to sit back and take in the magic of musical forms that he has not experienced before.
Rahmat-e-Nusrat and Remidas (later backed by Chennai-based Inco Center) are two musical talents brought to the platform by Indian festival IndieEarth Exchange. The third and final act on its roster is the Mauritius-based fusion sege (a mixture of reggae with sega, the traditional music of the Mascarene Islands) band Jerry n the Resistance.
Other acts include Qunu, a Toronto-based orchestra featuring musicians and instruments from countries other than Ukraine, Pakistan, Burkina Faso, Cuba, Greece and Peru. Sometimes referred to as the Global Orchestra of Canada, the Kuna consists of musicians who come from all those countries and more, but are currently living in the greater Toronto area.
Culturas 360 will go live on March 26 and 27 at 8.30 PM IST. For details, visit culture360.com.