Sahabhāva: A Virtual Indian Classical Music and Dance Festival

31 March to 2 May 2020 - Online
Sahabhāva is a Sanskrit word for coexistence, community and coming together.

This festival featured primarily Vancouver-based artists and scholars who performed and presented online to bring people together through artistic harmony. As our response to the COVID-19 pandemic and physical distancing measures recommended by health authorities, Sahabhāva was conceived as a way to support teachers, performers and scholars, with proceeds going towards providing honorariums for featured presenters.
Spanning five weeks, we featured two presenters every week with content ranging from a Carnatic vocal recital featuring a self-composed pallavi celebrating Sahabhāva​, to a lecture exploring the historical facets of Amir Khusrow.

​The audience engaged creatively and the presented immersed us in the arts. Everything was new; challenges were those that we had never faced before. Regardless, we continued our work with the goal to bring people together and to sustain the livelihoods of those engaging with the South Asian traditional arts and culture sector.
Schedule
​All dates and times listed in Pacific Standard Time.
​
31 March, 6:00pm: Utkarsha Kale | Performance: Hindustani Vocal
4 April, 6:00pm: Sharanjeet Singh Mand | Performance: Hindustani Sitar
7 April, 6:00pm: Arijit Mahalanabis | Lecture-Demo: Anjali Todi: Reconstructing a Rare Rāga from Limited Evidence
11 April, 6:00pm: Neeraja Aptikar | Performance: Hindustani Vocal
14 April, 7:00pm: Thomas Hunter | Lecture-Demo: Tuning, Time and Tonality in Hindustani Instrumental Music
18 April, 6:00pm: Srividya Sairam | Performance: Carnatic Vocal
21 April, 7:00pm: Ashvini Sundaram | Performance: Bharatnāṭyam
25 April, 5:00pm: Morgan Khan | Lecture: Amir Khusrau: A Bridge Between Worlds
28 April, 7:00pm: Prajakta Trehan | Performance: Kathak
2 May, 6:00pm: Arno Kamolika | Performance: Bharatnāṭyam
Media coverage

​Firstpost | Coronavirus Outbreak: Will Indian classical world's move online prompt offline paradigm shift, reimagining of future? (Devina Dutt, 22 April 2020)