FROM OUR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR : NEW BRITISH ASIAN MUSIC HITS BELL SQUARE
This weekend, Anhad returns for its third year. Hounslow’s festival of South Asian outdoor arts has been a hit since it started. It showcases some of the most interesting and exciting artists, placing them full centre in the High Street, and inviting everyone in our community to come and enjoy.
This year, the focus is music – a fantastic mix of live artists and DJs through the afternoon and evening.
South Asian artists have been underrepresented in mainstream music for decades, despite pioneering new genres and styles. Things are changing, however, and over the last few years, there has been a global rise of South Asian music.
Big changes at the world’s most famous music festivals have been a revelation. Many have been renowned for their predominantly white male headliners for years. Coachella, the US’s flagship music festival in the Southern Californian desert, drew acclaim last year for its presentation of Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh and Pakistani singer Ali Sethi. The festival followed up this year with AP Dhillon and rapper Nav, as well as Carnatic musician, Sid Sriram.
Then a few weeks ago, Glastonbury made news with the launch of Arrivals, a new dedicated space for South Asian music within the famous Shangri-la area of the festival. This was not a one-night performance but a celebration of music genres from across the entire South Asian region throughout the whole festival. Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Nepalese, Sri Lankan artists played electronic, dance, house, techno, sometimes interwoven with bhangra and Bollywood. Globally-known artists like DJ Ritu and Bobby Friction headlined different nights. And the younger generation were there in force – Gracie T, Anish Kumar, Nikki Nair, Nabihah Iqbal and many more.
In the UK, this boom in Asian music has been driven by the long, determined efforts of people like Bobby Friction and his Going South festivals and events. But more recent collectives of younger British Asian creatives have also had a significant impact with groups like Daytimers and Dialled In bringing a new energy to the scene.
Anhad 2024 will celebrate and showcase this stream of new, contemporary, authentic British Asian culture for all to enjoy.
There will be sets from DJ Rizmi, Shifa Ligero and DJ Priya. And there will be live performances from Tommy Khosla, Shivum Sharma, Jitwam and Karma Sheen.
It will be immense.
It’s on from 3.00 pm to 10.00 pm, Saturday 20 July. That’s right – 7 hours of fabulous music. You don’t need a ticket and it’s free for everyone – just turn up and join us.
Where else are you going on Saturday?
