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Cultural fiesta on its way to Delhi

A Rare bouquet of art: The Delhi International Arts Festival opens in the Capital this Friday

NEW DELHI: Cutting across geographical barriers and looking beyond cultural stereotypes is the first edition of the fortnight-long Delhi International Arts Festival (DIAF) that opens here in the Capital this Friday.

Describing DIAF as a rare bouquet of art, culture and literature that unifies the globe into one aesthetic, festival director Pratibha Prahlad says the event is not just the Capital’s but the entire nation’s first such initiative. “With this, DIAF offers India its own signature festival. The beat of the drums at Tihar Central Jail will herald the start of the festival. It will culminate with an evening of ghazals in the heart of Chandni Chowk.”

Stating that aesthetics are never compartmentalised by forms or controlled by countries, Pratibha says: “Creativity is a notion constantly in search of new contents and forms. We at DIAF look forward to inviting art projects from other parts of the world and opening new avenues for explorations of different approaches to the development and creation of artistic works.”

A multi-activity annual festival comprising visual and performing arts, films, poetry and cuisine, DIAF will bring global perspective in terms of aesthetic and artistic experience into the city. It will help bridge the ever widening gap between performers, State funding agencies and the private sector.

As a public-private partnership endeavour, DIAF under one umbrella will have many streams such as a festivals of classical dance, classical music, theatre, a folk dance and art exhibitions besides performances by international artistes, a short film festival, western music, poetry session, ‘kavi sammelan’ and ‘mushaira’ and a youth festival in different parts of the city.

While Sufi music event will see performances by the famous Wadali Brothers of Punjab and Warsi Brothers of Hyderabad, Indian classical dance festival will see a Kuchipudi performance by Raja and Radha Reddy.

Presented by the Forum for Art Beyond Borders, the arts festival has been conceived as an annual event to make Delhi a world-class cultural hub, projecting it as the future culture capital of the world.

The festival is being organised in collaboration with the Union Culture and Tourism Ministry, Delhi Government, Sangeet Natak Akademi, India Tourism Development Corporation, Indian Council for Cultural Relations and the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts.

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