UC Davis Religious Studies Program and The Indian Council for Cultural Relations proudly presents

Indian Folksingers and
Award-Winning Filmmaker on UC Davis Campus

Sunday, May 3, 2009 at 4:00 PM
(Film Screening with Q&A at 4 PM / Concert at 7 PM)
ARC, Ballroom B (For driving directions, please see below)

A film and a concert by five folk musicians from North India is an introduction to the poetry of the great fifteenth century Indian poet, Kabir. He continues to be a vibrant presence in South Asian music, religion, and society today. Kabir was a provocative and challenging figure who can’t be pinned down by any religious label. He was and continues to be admired by Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, secularists, and atheists, as well as by followers of the Kabir sect who claim him as a God. A profound mystic to some, a biting social critic to others, a Dalit hero to others, Kabir is all of these things and more.

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For Parking Information and Driving Directions:

From San Francisco: Take Interstate 80 to Highway 113 North toward Woodland. Take the first exit, which is Hutchison Blvd. Turn left onto La Rue Road. Then turn right on Orchard Road which will become a parking lot.

From Sacramento: Take Interstate 80 to Highway 113 North toward Woodland. Follow the directions listed above.

From Davis: Drive south on Anderson/La Rue. Turn left at Orchard Rd, and the ARC is on the right side.

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Film Screening with Question and Answer Session
4:00 PM - 6:30 PM


The event will begin with a film by award winning filmmaker Shabnam Virmani, which will be followed by a question-answer session with Shabnam Virmani.

FILM: SOI KUNTA HAI - Journeys with Ram and Kabir (105 min.)
Kabir defied the boundaries between Hindu and Muslim, refusing to be labeled himself and sharply criticizing sectarianism. His name and upbringing were Muslim but his poetry often uses Hindu concepts and Hindu names for God, especially Ram. This film journeys in search of the “Ram” invoked in Kabir's poetry, delving into the heart of divisive Hindu-Muslim politics of religion and nationalism, encountering singers and lay people in India and Pakistan, probing the forces of history and politics that have created disputatiously diverse Rams, while also spawning many Kabirs.

About the Director: Shabham Virmani
Award-winning filmmaker VIRMANI has spent the last six years producing four feature length documentaries on living Kabir culture, focusing on music and musicians, all embedded in various social, political and religious contexts. Along with these films she has produced ten remarkable audio CDs and a set of beautiful books to accompany CDs and DVDs. This work has been generously supported by Ford Foundation and by Srishti College of Art, Design, and Technology in Bengaluru, where Shabnam is artist-in-residence. Two of these films were recently broadcast on NDTV-Delhi.Had-Anhad: “Bound Unbound” was one of two films selected to share first prize at the recent One Billion Eyes Film Festival in Chennai. For descriptions, please go to www.kabirproject.org.

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Concert with the five Folk Singers, lead by Prahlad Singh Tipanya
(7:00 PM - 9:00 PM)

About the Artist: Prahlad Singh Tipanya
Tipanya lives in Lunyakhedi village in the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, near the cities of Dewas and Ujjain. A rural schoolteacher, he began singing in the late 1970s after being attracted by the sound of the folk tambura. His rare talent, passion, and insight have caused him to be increasingly recognized as a remarkable exponent of Kabir’s music and meanings. Among many other honors, he received the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 2008. (Sangeet Natak, India’s national academy of music, dance, and drama, gives eight annual awards to musicians, only one of which is reserved for a non-classical performer.) Tipanyaji is one of the main artists featured in Shabnam Virmani’s films. A grant for the musicians’ international travel has been generously provided by the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

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Indian Council for Cultural Relations

The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) was founded on 9th April 1950 by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, the first Education Minister of independent India.

The objectives of the Council are to participate in the formulation and implementation of policies and programmes relating to India’s external cultural relations; to foster and strengthen cultural relations and mutual understanding between India and other countries; to promote cultural exchanges with other countries and people; to establish and develop relations with national and international organizations in the field of culture; and to take such measures as may be required to further these objectives.

The ICCR is about a communion of cultures, a creative dialogue with other nations. To facilitate this interaction with world cultures, the Council strives to articulate and demonstrate the diversity and richness of the cultures of India, both in and with other countries of the world.

The Council prides itself on being a pre-eminent institution engaged in cultural diplomacy and the sponsor of intellectual exchanges between India and partner countries. It is the Council's resolve to continue to symbolize India's great cultural and educational efflorescence in the years to come.