Funoon London - Celebrating London's Cultural Collisions

The magical, meditative khayaal gaiki of Ustad Naseeruddin Saami
17 November 2019

بره بره… الفسد والحسد ما بقى أمانة

Out! Out! Sadness, hate and the reign of arbitrary

These lines from Rachid Taha’s hit number Barra Barra echoed through the speakers in the moments leading up to Ustad Saami’s 11pm performance at the 2019 WOMAD Festival earlier in the year. A clever choice for pre-show playlist. Like the Ustad, the late Rachid Taha was a towering figure in global/fusion/world music. Fitting words too – for what was also the first weekend of a Boris Johnson government.

The huge, beautiful Siam tent is full as…

Funoon London’s Summer Soulstice with the Saami Brothers
4 August 2019

Har cheez ko apni asl ki tarf lautna hai.’

Everything will always return to its source.

A sacred reminder from the Saami Brothers as they speak about why Qawwali has endured and flourished since Amir Khusrau trained the Qawwal Bachay – from whom the brothers are descended – as the first proponents of the genre in 13th century Delhi. “We may wander for long periods”, they said in a 2015 interview, “or become distracted, but when we hear…

Empire of the Sikhs
On at the Brunei Gallery until 23 September 2018

We went to see the eclectic ‘Empire of the Sikhs’ exhibition at the Brunei Gallery last week – which tells the story of Sher-e-Punjab Maharaja Ranjit Singh, his reign, his army, his family and court, and how the Sikh Empire nearly ended British rule.

Once past the giant howitzer which marks the beginning of the exhibition, there are the lovely drawing and painting marking the transformation of Sikhs from ‘sparrows to hawks’, followed straight after by a brilliant wall where the…

The magical, meditative khayaal gaiki of Ustad Naseeruddin Saami
17 November 2019

Funoon London’s Summer Soulstice with the Saami Brothers
4 August 2019

Empire of the Sikhs
On at the Brunei Gallery until 23 September 2018

Of space, time and feeling: Waqas Khan exhibits in Manchester
Until 25 February 2018

Remembering the Grunwick strikers: ‘We are the Lions, Mr Manager!’
21 – 25 November 2017

Back in London: Faiz Ali Faiz qawwals
9 December 2017

‘The Survivor’ at the Imperial War Museum Short Film Festival 2017
20 – 25 November 2017

Madame D: A lip-smacking journey through the Himalayas

The Lahore Literary Festival returns to London
28 October 2017

The Funoon Salon presents
Sounds of Kolachi at the Bloomsbury Festival
21 October 2017

‘Echoes of Contemplation’ – Veeda Ahmed’s new exhibition infuses contemporary art with tradition
Until 20 October 2017

Review: Child of the Divide – Partition stories of love, loss and lassi
October & November 2017

Proportion in Music and Mughal architecture
13 November 2017

6 desi food fixes not to miss in 2017

Book review: The Things I Would Tell You – British Muslim Women Write

India on Film: Death and Deception
October & November 2017

‘Illuminating India’ at the Science Museum
October 2017 – March 2018

South Asia at the BFI London Film Festival
4 – 15 October 2017

Bayadère: The Ninth Life – Orientalist fantasy re-imagined
16 & 17 October 2017

A South Asian film feast
September 2017

Little known histories: The British Library’s South Asia Year of Culture
Until October 2017

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