Five-day arts festival kicks off

The 16th edition of Bengaluru International Arts Festival (BIAF) will open in the city today. This year’s theme is ‘Celebration of harmony through arts’.

The festival will be held for five days over two weeks. “The festival promises to be a blend of classical music and dance performances,” said Veena Murthy Vijay, director, BIAF.

Organised by Artistes’ Introspective Movement (AIM), the festival kicks off with a jugalbandi concert featuring flautist Ronu Majumdar, veena player Suma Sudhindra, mridangam artiste B C Manjunath and others. It will be followed by a Karnatik vocal performance by Abhishek Raghuram and his troupe. Hindustani vocalists Sangeetha Katti, Venkatesh Kumar and Bhuvanesh Komkali are some other noted performers.

Among dance productions, Rama Vaidyanathan and her team will present a Bharatanatyam recital ‘Pratibodhana — The awakening’. A dance drama titled ‘Silapadhikarama’ has been conceptualised by Lalitha Das and choreographed by Veena. It will feature various Indian classical dance styles and a bit of martial arts. 

The edition also commemorates the birth centenary of classical singer Kumar Gandharva. On March 24, vocalist Nagaraj Havaldar will hold a lecture demonstration on Gandharva’s contribution to Hindustani music.

March 22 to 24, 6.30 pm at Chowdiah Memorial Hall, Vyalikaval, and March 30-31, 6.30 pm, at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Race Course Road. Tickets online. Schedule detail as on biaf.aim on Instagram.