How a Music Festival Connects the World, One Folk Note at a Time

Before a single note is played, a folk song is already a profound act of preservation. It is a language of the soil, a story whispered across generations, embodying everything from shared labour to collective spiritual philosophy. The concept of ‘World Music,’ first coined in the 1960s, was a revolutionary act, an attempt to dismantle cultural hierarchy and celebrate difference by acknowledging the intrinsic value of every indigenous musical form.

The 2025 edition, spanning three vital venues—Kolkata, Bannabagram Baul Ashram (Purba Bardhaman), and Goa—reaffirmed this commitment, bringing global melodies and local narratives into a powerful, necessary expression of unity.

 

The Secrets They Carry: Stories of Heritage and Ingenuity

Sur Jahan excels not merely at staging performances, but at curating moments of genuine anthropological insight. In the 2025 workshops, the international musicians delivered cultural facts as compelling as their melodies.

• Iceland’s Undiluted Heritage: The all-women ensemble, Umbra, offered a rare glimpse into the sheer durability of Icelandic culture. Due to their linguistic isolation, they shared that their people can still read manuscripts over 1,000 years old. Their music, therefore, is more than art; it is a direct continuation of a cultural timeline. Juxtaposed against this gravitas was the famously witty national proverb: “If you get lost in a forest, all you need to do is stand up,” a charming commentary on their vast, open landscapes.

• The Netherlands’ Working-Class Rhythm: The 50-year-old Dutch ensemble Folkcorn showed us how necessity breeds genius. They transformed the ubiquitous wooden shoe, traditionally worn by the working class, into a rhythmic instrument. This “clattering shoe” is a powerful sonic monument—a rhythmic artifact that carries the echo of the labourer, turning a simple utility into an act of musical expression.

• Sweden’s Global Versatility: The Ale Möller Trio displayed the boundless adaptability of folk music. Ale Möller, known for his transformative work on Scandinavian folk, moved seamlessly between a mandolin and an indigenous cowhorn, demonstrating that the most ancient instruments can still lead contemporary musical discourse.

The Daytime Dialogue: Workshops and the Language of Instruments

While the evening concerts provide the spectacle, the daytime workshops are the engine of true cultural exchange, upholding the principle that music is a conversation. These interactive sessions were specifically designed to make audiences, media, and participating artists aware of the deep history, instruments, and cultural context behind the performances. This is the mechanism through which the “stories of the soil” are transmitted.

The 2025 workshops were a masterclass in global cultural heritage, offering rare insight into instruments and traditions seldom seen together:

• The Icelandic Storyteller: Attendees were introduced to the Langspil, Iceland’s most important original stringed instrument. Traditionally played horizontally, often in old turf houses while stories were told, the Langspil holds a vital place in Iceland’s vocal and storytelling traditions. Its sound, like its history, reflects the country’s challenging environment and long isolation.
• Dutch Ingenuity and the Rommelpot: The Netherlands workshops showcased the history of music for the working class, particularly focusing on instruments made from inexpensive materials. A highlight was the Rommelpot, a traditional instrument made from wood and often a pig’s bladder membrane, which produces a distinctive vibrating sound when a stick is pulled through it—a brilliant example of folk innovation.
• Preserving the Mother Tongue: Beyond the instruments, the workshops underscored the importance of vernacular languages. For Iceland, where the language is spoken by only 400,000 people, learning about how they teach their children to read ancient texts demonstrates how linguistic uniqueness is protected through cultural practice. This shared dialogue celebrates the core essence of World Music: acknowledging and celebrating indigenous roots in all mother tongues.

The Rhythms of the Subcontinent: Celebrating India’s Roots

The 2025 edition was defined by its geographical scope, ensuring that the global exchange was rooted in India’s own stunning plurality.

1. Kolkata: The Grand Synthesis

At Golf Green Central Park (Jan 31–Feb 2), the international bands met the deep traditions of the subcontinent. We saw the spiritual depth of Baul music (Kangal Khyapa), the desert soul of the Langa community (Kassam Khan Langa), and the vibrant stage debut of the Durua tribe from Odisha.

Crucially, the cultural showcase of traditional crafts provided a visual cross-reference to the music. The Kotpad handloom fabric of Odisha, the first product from the state to receive a GI tag in 2005, stands as a testament to the same rooted, time-honoured artistry celebrated by the Durua tribe’s songs—a material and aural heritage intertwined.

2. Bannabagram: The Baul Akhra

The event at the Bannabagram Baul Ashram (Feb 4) was a pivotal cultural synthesis. This venue served as a collaborative laboratory where the Swedish, Icelandic, and Dutch artists actively collaborated with the Bauls of Bengal. This unique fusion moment highlighted Sur Jahan’s commitment to active exchange, not just passive performance.

3. Goa: The Fado and Ghumat Convergence

The finale in Goa (Feb 7–8), held at the Kala Academy in partnership with the state’s Directorate of Art and Culture, offered a coastal cultural exchange. The international ensembles were joined by Goa’s own champions:

• Sonia Shirsat: The acclaimed Fado singer, whose voice carries the poignant history of Goan connection to Portuguese musical traditions.
• The Ghumat Project: An initiative that foregrounded the Ghumat, Goa’s traditional percussion instrument, blending it into contemporary rhythms.
• Habib Khan and Sadiq Khan Langa: Bringing the continuity of Rajasthani folk to the coast.

This gathering of sounds, from the vocal traditions of Iceland to the rhythmic pulse of the Ghumat, demonstrated that music is the ultimate connective tissue, drawing over 10,000 attendees into a celebration of cultural diversity and peace.

The Echoes of the Future: Sur Jahan 2026

The dialogue continues. Sur Jahan (which evolved from the festival Sufi Sutra) has already hosted bands from 34 countries since its inception, and the 2026 edition promises new cultural horizons.

Set for Kolkata and IIT Kharagpur, the festival will introduce new voices from Latvia (a first-time participant), alongside bands from Spain, Hungary, and Denmark. What’s particularly compelling is the conscious evolution of the festival’s curation: 75% of the international participating musicians in 2026 will be women. This statistic is more than a number; it’s a forward-looking statement on the future of folk music, ensuring that the powerful and essential female voices of global heritage are heard, respected, and amplified.

Jopo and Ingeborg Poffet, two musicians from Switzerland travel the world as Duo Fatale. They focus on collaborations, network improvisations and musical research. They experiment with several instruments from all over the world, but Jopo patents the Clarinet and Saxophone and Ingeborg plays the Accordion. Duo Fatale play at International festivals, Club concerts and film music studios. They work with electronic, are producers and create nonstop new formations, compositions, concepts, multi-media-events (with projections, installations, chain-saws and movies), CDs & DVDs, scores, booklets and other projects. Both are composers, teachers and producers as well as soloists for different projects.Duo Fatale recently came to West Bengal to explore the heritage of the region and collaborate with local musicians. They extensively traveled through the state, absorbing different folk cultures and indigenous art forms of the locals as well as their lifestyles. In the course of their exploration they also collaborated with various groups of local musicians, including Bauls, Fakirs of Bengal and other urban musicians coming from various genres.  The collaborations comprised of many instrumental conversations between Eastern and Western cultures of music like a dialogue of Dotara and Saxophone, Accordion and Tabla. They visited some village festivals like POT Maya Festival, a Patachitra annual mela, at Pingla, Paschim Medinipur between 11th to 13th November, 2016, where they learnt about the heritage of patachitra paintings and interacted with the artists and in the evenings collaborated. They were at the Baul Fakir Utsav  in Gorbhanga, Nadia between 18th and 20th November, 2016. They felt that the bauls bring out the soul sound of Bengal. At Akhra @ Baitanik Duo Fatale did a collaboration concert on the 6th of November 2016 which was received very well by the audience.

What excited Ingeborg absolutely was the concert at the Bookaro Festival at the Indian Museum, Kolkata, 5th of November, 2016, where she played tunes from a series of children’s songs that she has composed on Rapunzel.

Their experience at a two day workshop they conducted with the students of Rabindra Bharati University was remarkable, where they did an impromptu jam. The enthusiastic students played various Indian instruments like Sarangi, Flute, Esraj among others while the Swiss musician duo taught them lessons on vocal chord structure and Western music.

Having interacted with local musicians and craftsmen, Ingeborg and Jopo are greatly moved at how the traditional local art forms are being continuously revived. Duo Fatale not only collaborated with local musicians across genres but also learnt quite a lot about indigenous art forms of Bengal. Overall it was an experimental experience for them, which they have documented to some extent and would like to work with elaborately as a project soon, with recordings and International concerts.

Watch their journey here

Sometimes clichés are indispensible since they are so apt. So we start with the cliché ‘Music transcends borders!’ This is what we witness every year at our World Peace Music festival, Sur Jahan, earlier known as Sufi Sutra. The festival in its 7^th year was no different.

Sur Jahan celebrates universal love and brotherhood.

It celebrates cultural plurality. Since its inception, it has showcased traditional music from more than 24 countries, presenting a wide variety of music genres ranging from the Mawlawiyah tradition of the whirling dervishes of Egypt to the pathos of Flamenco from Spain to the folks of Tajikistan and the Afro-Brazilian ritualistic traditions to the ever appreciative audiences of multi-cultural Kolkata and Goa.

The music connects the hearts, pulls its strings, strumming the core deep within for audiences and participating musicians alike. The phenomenon manifests itself in incidents like an emotional Benjamin Abbras from the Brazil team of Sufi Sutra 2014 upon witnessing the Sidi Gomas of Gujrat playing a Berimbau at the daytime exchange workshop, stirring his childhood memories, of his African origin. And we continue to witness such phenomena year after year.

Even for us, as the organizers, these are the high points for which we work for the whole year preparing to surround ourselves with joie de vivre, happy meetings, smiling faces and, above all, nonstop music that flows from the concert and workshop stages to the hotel rooms and lobby, and even the terrace. Sometimes, as for Sur Jahan 2017 in Goa, a moonlit sky with the glittering Mandovi river right across providing the perfect setting for the pure joy that we all witnessed that night and all the other nights of the festival. And here we witness the real impact of the words of Mr Alle Moller, the seven-time Grammy winning world music stalwart from Sweden, when he said on stage that this festival is a melting pot of cultures, creating opportunities for musicians,

both local and international, to meet each other. You witness the musicians and the organizing team-members alike breaking into traditional Danish dance led by Mia Gulhammer of Virelai, on the rhythm from Mexico and the Czech Republic. You experience what might be called a dance challenge of the opposite genders, as per the Viking tradition, led by Mia and Jacob Lund. Incapable of resisting, you give in to the craziness of the moment and laugh your heart out, sweating profusely, especially to the challenges of none other than Moller himself. And while we took a break to relax our tired feet, the maestro randomly picked up a water pipe from the terrace and made it play the tunes in his head.

No less magical has been witnessing the impromptu jamming session between Tarak Khyapa from Joydeb, Kenduli, Birbhum and members of the Ale Moller Quartet. It was sheer joy for the audience to hear Tarak strumming on his Dotara, giving cue and encouraging Ale Moller to join him with his Mandola. The Khyapa (mad man) then picks up his Khamak and goes to Ole, the Swedish Folk Academy elite percussionist, and eggs him on to join his beats.

And these are such moments for which, we the organizers strive for. To create platforms for our ever so talented rural traditional musicians to connect to the world, share the stage to bask in the glory that they truly deserve.  It is heartening for us to see the fruits of our labour shape into bookings for the traditional folk artists of Bengal by our visiting international guests like Mr Ken Day of the respected Urkult festival. It makes it all worth it. Being in the audience and hearing Dr Zougbhi from the UN, who came all the way from Palestine to attend Sur Jahan in Kolkata, saying on stage that the festival has warmed his heart and given him hope as he hailed our year-long work with the marginalized communities for improvement of their lives and strengthening their identities using culture, it was the true validation of what, as a tribe, we believe in and practice.

We wish to continue on this path. And while at it, we continue to search for the tunes that Sur Jahan 2017 kept us all humming. We hope to pick up in Sur Jahan 2018 what was initiated by Sur Jahan 2017. Till then, let music do the talking and strive to make the world a better place!

India is a confluence of cultures and has always been a nest for relevant exchanges of the arts. Several artists from the world, across genres, covering various art forms have come to the different parts of the country in search of meaningful collaborations. Over the past months, between October and December a few International collaborations happened in West Bengal. Some musical groups from different parts of the world like Switzerland, Italy and Belgium came to have dialogues with local musicians of the region and explore the varied traditional art and craft practices.

Swiss musicians Duo Fatale comprising Jopo and Ingeborg Poffet, recently came to West Bengal to explore the heritage of the region and collaborate. They extensively traveled through the state, absorbing different folk cultures and indigenous art forms of the locals as well as their lifestyles. In the course of their exploration they also collaborated with various groups of local musicians, including Bauls, Fakirs of Bengal and other urban musicians coming from various genres.  The collaborations comprised of many instrumental conversations between Eastern and Western cultures of music like a dialogue of Dotara and saxophone, accordion and table. Duo Fatale also visited the village festivals POT Maya in Pingla and Baul Fakir Utsav in Gorbhanga where they played music and built discourses with local artists.

Sicilian trio group Oi Dipnoi traversed across Bengal to explore the cultural nuances and collaborate with the local musicians. They jammed with Dotara, Khamak, Tabla bringing in Western tunes from Diatonic Accordion, Bagpipe and Mouth harp. They travelled to

 Tepantar village festival and had a great experience amid the greenery of a Theatre and performance village, where they also played music. The highlight of their musical experiments was with Sumanta Das Baul, who according to a member of Oi Dipnoi, was using minor scale with lower second grade in his singing, which was quite interesting and fresh to the Western structure of music. They felt a sense of familiarity with the sounds of some instruments, like the Harmonium, which they related to the Accordion. They also did an improvisation concert with Surma Dohar Trio.

Louvat Bros, a Bluegrass group from Belgium recently came to play experimental music with several musical collectives and solo musicians of Kolkata. With Babu Fakir, they jammed with Fakiri music, contriving new tunes. With classical songs by Argha Kamal, an urban musician, they improvised playing bluegrass music. They also experimented with other genres like Rabindra Sangeet, Shari Songs (songs of high-tides) and composed a collaborative song with influences from Bhatiali (boatswain’s music). A five string experiment was the high point of all their travelling and collaborations, wherein they jammed with five different Western and Eastern string instruments like Mandolin, Banjo, Bass guitar, Guitar and Dotara. They also played the inaugural concert for Black Box Theatre Hall opening at Tepantar Village.

 

 

The collaborations open the avenues for variable possibilities of cultural exchange of Eastern and Western indigenous as well as contemporary traditional art forms.

Collaborations with International Musicians hosted by banglanatak dot com

Louvat Bros journey in India

Duo Fatale journey in India 

Oi Dipnoi journey in India

 

 

India is extremely rich in traditional cultural art forms that have centuries old history and tradition. Folk music is integral to the lifestyle and living of the artists. Realizing the overarching potential of music in bringing about social, economic, cultural empowerment of indigenous communities, as well as inclusive growth, banglanatak dot com has been working with music as a driver of sustainable development. Banglanatak started working with music as part of its ‘Art for Life’ programme that commenced as a pilot project in 2005, and have evolved into a proven model demonstrating how culture can be used as a resource for pro-poor growth, and sustainable development of rural traditional artists, and build resilient communities. Banglanatak has organized its activities, outputs and outcomes in terms economic, social and cultural impacts, along with its vision for ‘Music and Development’ through its division of MusiCal – an initiative to foster music entrepreneurship, social well-being, universal values and human rights based on the principle that music is a cornerstone of universal development.

West Bengal in eastern part of India is very rich in its diverse genres of folk music integral to the lifestyles of many traditional rural communities. Among them are Baul-Fakiri, Bhawaiya, Bhatiyali, Jhumur. Though these music have been popularised by renowned singers and musicians through the entertainment industry, the economic and social returns from the musical products have not benefitted the traditional practitioners directly. To address the challenges, banglanatak undertook a multi-pronged approach aiming to revive and revitalize musical traditions of rural Bengal.

Guru Sishya Parampara or teacher-disciple method of learning was emphasized upon while energizing continuity of authentic music traditions for renewed market opportunities Between 2006 to 2019 BNC revived the traditional community-based teaching methods and rejuvenated folk music traditions andsystematic practice and transmission of skills within the rural artist communities. https://youtu.be/hT1zRlTD7Tw

In addition to the inherent quality of music, singers and instrumentalists, a range of allied skills are required to make a mark in the highly competitive world music industry. Banglanatak undertook not only a behavioural intervention but also an international festival-oriented training intervention with flexibility keeping the nature and lifestyle in mind using various methods including showing videos of their master singers at international platforms and interactions of other stalwarts with global players.

The capacitated folk artists were directly linked to festivals, events, networks, etc. to open up multiple avenues of local, national and international market opportunities. The process facilitated not only professional performances but also exposure, knowledge exchange, understanding different types of audiences and different formats of presentations, etc. It also inspired aspiration among the previously marginalized singers and musicians, especially the youth, to undertake their traditional folk music as a professional career option.  https://youtu.be/k04j_OqitmE

To create international opportunity, banglanatak promoted these art forms at different international platforms through participation in festivals and events, and creating its own international festival and collaboration spaces. Since 2014 these musical forms have been promoted at WOMEX with a dedicated business stand for linkages with various music industry stakeholders and actors.

Folk music of different genres represent a rich storehouse of folk stories, diverse melodies, themes, song structures, instruments, and community practices that add to the intrinsic value of such music. However, either such knowledge is not documented or is held with specialized institutions engaged in research or archiving. Owing to lack of public knowledge of these music genres, and about the original artists, there is rampant commercial exploitation of these musicians and their creativity by the organized entertainment industry.

Today’s globalized world brings the advantage of digital connectivity and its immense potential to expand outreach across borders, promote musical products and their creators, and establish direct linkages and interaction with audiences, fellow musicians, industry stakeholders, etc. However, there are also challenges of remoteness of the rural singers and a huge digital divide that jeopardizes their growth. Banglanatak has systematically developed and archived digital information about these folk music genres, their artists, cultures, histories, etc., which are freely accessible online. https://youtu.be/8EmDHxKeqDw

Cultural tourism is widely accepted as an immensely potential industry to alleviate poverty, reduce migration and generate equitable growth for the local artist communities. Looking at the potential of cultural tourism as a major driver of grassroots economic, cultural and social development, banglanatak in 2009 started a new vertical of community-led cultural tourism within the larger framework of sustainable and inclusive development. Music community rural hubs were transformed into music tourism destinations in West Bengal. Today, these music villages are popular destinations for music lovers, musicians, and visitors at large. Community organized village festivals have been an important element in promoting rural cultural tourism.  https://youtu.be/ToDlTMeTqiA

Protecting IPR of musicians is a major concern of the industry. In a country like India, where enforcement of regulations on IPR is weak even in the organized industry, it is very difficult to protect the creations of traditional rural musician communities who are unaware of their own rights, and lack capacities to negotiate and fight for fair returns. To address the challenges of misappropriation of traditional musical assets banglanatak worked on empowering the artists of their own rights and developing their negotiation capacities. The community’s authentic musical heritage have also been recorded in audio and video formats directly by the traditional singers and musicians, and have also been published through music apps, CDs, Youtube, etc. with names and locations of these artists, under the Creative Commons license. 

Community development and creation of decent livelihoods through traditional skills of music generated economic resources, social cohesion, and a sense of identity and pride for the musicians. The collective community experience of economic, social and cultural empowerment, national and international exposure, growing performance opportunities and increased appreciation created a shared sense of purpose and value. The previously unknown and marginalized villages transformed into well known musical hubs of talented and respected musicians. This transformation led to a sense of collective well-being, social inclusion, and mutual solidarity.

The foundational principle of banglanatak is creating opportunities and access to resources for all, to ensure that every individual or social group can have the same possibilities and opportunities to fulfil themselves. banglanatak has tried to create a level playing field for the cultural practitioners so that they can grow and realize their full potential in an autonomous way, as well as enjoy human rights and dignity fully. Focused and strategic approaches were undertaken to ensure inclusion of women in the entire development process. https://youtu.be/JcApGhDWdeE

Dominant values and cultures have always existed and pushed against indigenous, and non-mainstream cultures leading to a more conservative and authoritarian society. However, folk music has always been the vehicle of ideas and expressions of pluralism, universal love and celebration of humanity. BNC’s work with folk music genres and the rural indigenous musician communities addressed their existing cultural marginalization along with social and economic ostracization. With the aim to promote cultural diversity and pluralism, banglanatak advocated for the vision of cultural democracy through widespread folk performances of the artists at local, national and international platforms, exchange and collaboration with different music genres and folk cultures from around the world, popularising their songs, tunes, instruments through social media and digital tools, and educating the mass audience on the openness, syncretism and richness of these music traditions. Sur Jahan, celebrating diversity, pluralism and openness, was conceived in 2009 and its first edition was organized in 2011 in partnership with various international embassies. The resulting event was unique because it was free for all and it provided an unconditional and unrestrained space for performers, musicians, and audiences to interact with each other, know about respective cultures and musical traditions, jam together and enjoy the diversity and confluence of creativity in one place. https://youtu.be/bvbvJkNc2Rc

Authors : Dr. Madhura Dutta & Debalina Bhowmick