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It was in the 60s that the West began to open up to Indian music.  Thanks to several artists of renown – including Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar Khan, Vilayat Khan and Zakir Hussain –  Indian music progressively pierced music lovers’ consciousnesses in Europe and in America.  The infatuation and fad that this gave birth to has never really ceased, and the rise of Bollywood that followed soon added to the scene with its songs and choreographies, which are resolutely contemporary.

The aspirations of the Roads of India festival are seen in its diverse programme, where the regional expressions of Rajasthan, Kashmir and Bengal compete with a selection of impressive song, dance and classical instrumental performances.   There is a programme for the younger public, four films, a conference and a workshop.  Diverse activities complete the offerings, not to mention the exhibition ‘The Savour of the Arts: From Mughal India to Bollywood’ that is currently showing at Geneva’s Musée d’ethnographie in Conches, which allows for a deeper experience of the Indian arts.

Laurent Aubert
(translated by Emma Johnson)

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