Funoon London - Page 2 of 13 - 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…