Confluence launches a new website which will engage audiences nationwide and host highlights and detailed information on this celebration of Indian art and culture.
Announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Australia in November 2014, the festival takes place over ten weeks through August – November this year, showcasing rich and diverse dance, music, theatre and visual arts from India. It also includes conferences and workshops that share insights into traditional and contemporary Indian culture and its confluence with Australia’s curious and congenial populace.
The six-city festival is the most significant exhibition of Indian arts and culture ever to be staged in Australia, involving world-class performers well beyond Bollywood alone. From the classical to the contemporary, Confluence is a showcase of the stunning and vibrant variety of India’s artistic cultures and traditions.
A key component of the festival is collaboration with Australian artists, such as a joint performance by the Indian spiritual music group Sonam Kalra & The Sufi Gospel Project and Australian musician Ashlee Clement along with a didgeridoo player. Renowned Indian cartoonist Ajit Ninan will discuss political humour with counterparts like David Pope and Mark Knight.
The website will draw attention to the festival highlights, which include theatre performed through life-sized puppets, an Indian take on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, an exhibition on the philosophy of Gandhi – the global icon of equality, nonviolence and peace, a musician who blends rock with Indian folk and a 5000 strong Bollywood flash mob on the Opera House forecourt.
Commissioner Suri said, “From the Opera House in Sydney to Federation Square in Melbourne, from QPAC in Brisbane to the Festival Centre in Adelaide, from the Old Parliament in Canberra to the State Theatre in Perth, the Festival of India will enthrall audiences, foster collaborations between our artists and create cultural bonds like never before,”
Confluence - the Festival of India in Australia will have a strong and positive impact on the bilateral relationship, fostering mutual cultural connections, promoting tourism and migration and highlighting business opportunities between Australia and India.
For more information, visit- www.confluencefoi.com
Edited by- Debjani Hazarika