PA/69/10 10 November 2010
Australian festival of South Asian culture concludes
More than 50,000 Sydneysiders attended
The inaugural ‘Parramasala’ Festival of South Asian Arts has concluded in Sydney with many programs selling out, standing ovations, additional performances scheduled and more than 50,000 people attending free outdoor and indoor ticketed events.
Throughout the five-day festival, Parramatta’s Church Street Mall was alive with the sights, sounds and flavours of South Asia – from markets, food stalls, free outdoor performances, art installations to spectacular building projections in the evening.
According to Parramasala Director Philip Rolfe, “We have had an overwhelming response to the first Parramasala festival from both audiences and artists. We were gratified to see strong crowds throughout the weekend, either enjoying the free entertainment, or attending one of our shows at Riverside Theatres.”
“This year’s inaugural event clearly illustrated the potential for Parramasala to develop into one of Australia’s most unique and vibrant international arts festivals. Parramasala is all about the sharing of artistic ideas, and one of the exciting outcomes was Nitin Sawhney deciding to make an impromptu recording with the traditional Rajasthani musicians at the new Switch Digital Arts Centre in Parramatta.”
Parramasala kicked off with the Australian premiere of Tap Kathak, featuring Indian kathak dance master Pandit Chitresh Das and Emmy Award-winning American tap dancer Jason Samuels Smith.
Australia's best natural outdoor concert venue, The Crescent Amphitheatre in Parramatta Park, showcased two of Parramasala's headlining acts. More than 3,000 fans danced the night away as hugely popular Indian musicians, Kailash Kher and Kailasa, and exuberant support band Swarathma from Bangalore made their Australian debuts.
A screening of the 1929 silent Indian film, A Throw of Dice, with a new score performed live by UK composer and musician Nitin Sawhney with his regular band and a 39-piece orchestra was also a success.
One of the hits of the festival was The Guru of Chai, presented by New Zealand’s Indian Ink Theatre Company. After the initial four performances sold out, an additional performance was added on Saturday evening. Other performances included The Chennai Tapes featuring the Australian Art Orchestra and India’s Sruthi Laya Ensemble, the world premiere of A Million Eyes with local dance legend Anandavalli and two Chennai musicians Anil Srinivasan and Sikkil Gurucharan, and Desert Wedding featuring three traditional Rajasthani music and dance ensembles.
Parramasala climaxed with Nitin Sawhney and his band showcasing his unique DJ artistry to a capacity crowd at Parramatta's iconic Roxy theatre. Sawhney’s Sound System performed everything from Asian break-beat to drum ‘n’ bass, featuring UK singer Tina Grace on vocals, Aref Durvesh on tabla and Ashwin Srinivasan on flute and vocals.
The Parramasala festival will be held again in Sydney in 2011.