Darbar | Arts Culture Heritage – Book

Darbar | Arts Culture Heritage Trust has published a book that brings together writing from musicians, journalists, music students, museum curators, and promoters to provide a snapshot of the state of Indian Classical music in Britain in the early twenty-first century.

Written by people who live and work in Britain, it portrays the changing face of Indian Classical Music. It addresses issues of heritage and culture, and how the music could be kept alive in a fast-changing world of information overload, and competing forms of arts and entertainment.

Aside from the articles the book is also a wonderful collection of photographs of artists performing and candid moments backstage at the Darbar Festival. The photographs, which are without parallel in this musical genre, bring to life what is a wonderful art form.

Each piece, from the personal journeys by Dr Ranjeev Bhangoo, Gurdain Rayatt and Soumik Datta; the overview by Simon Broughton; the state of music training by John Ball and a glimpse into the technological musical future by Dharambir Singh highlights a small piece of the bigger picture. The selection of the writers is designed to show that young people are deeply interested in this art form.  And, ultimately, it is young musicians who are going to keep the music live and relevant to the modern audiences.

Excerpts from the Book

“In the past, artists and promoters believed that British audiences did not have the background, training and the cultured appetite to appreciate and digest Indian classical music at its most refined and raw. With Darbar, we have found and grown that audience.” Sandeep Virdee

“There is certainly no shortage of UK-based musicians with a passion for Indian music, many of whom have had to struggle through a self-financed education in vocal music, tabla and other Indian instruments. As far as I am aware, all of the UK-based South Asian musicians have had to develop themselves without the support systems that are commonplace for musicians in western classical music.” John Ball

“Today, all Indo-Fusion music that keeps our youth happy in clubs and music festivals is derived from the giant library of Indian classical repertoire that existed years before our time. Without it, the long catalogue of British Asian Music sub-genres would be obsolete.” Soumik Datta

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