Indian (baul fakir) instrument workshops with Katalin Burns
The workshops will introduce the audience to the musical instruments of the Baul Fakirs of West Bengal. The mystical songs of the Bauls, with Hindu or Muslim themes, are known east of Calcutta and even in Bangladesh.
The Baul fakirs often perform their sung poems and mystical verses standing upright, strumming a single-stringed instrument (ektara) in their right hand, with a drum (dugi) with a guttural sound attached to their left hand, and with a rattle (ghungru) on their ankles, moving in space with a strong emotional intensity. This 'one-man band' represents spirituality, divine revelation and detachment from everyday life in village communities, the baul singer connects the earth with the sky in the eyes of the community. The other essential instrument of Bengali folk music is the dotara, which provides a more melodic accompaniment than the instruments mentioned above.
Kati Burns has been studying Baul music for seven years as a regular participant in artist-in-residence programmes, and has collected Baul music and performed with Baul performers in Calcutta, Gorbhanga, Joydeb and Santiniketan.
The dotara demonstration workshop will use some familiar Bengali tunes to learn about the tuning of the traditionally two-stringed (now more like six-stringed) dotara, the parts of the instrument, the history of the 'peacock' shaped head, and interactive exercises to allow the audience to try out the dotara.
Participation fee: 2500 HUF / person
No discounts apply.
Ticket is also valid for the exhibition on the day of the programme.
Max. number of participants: 20
Attendance with pre-purchased online tickets exclusively: