Nagaland extends handshake to Indonesia through music

The troupe from Nagaland with Pt Vishwa Mohan Bhatt after the concert in Indonesia

The Handshake concert of Nagaland, which has toured major cities of the country and Thailand, has truly gone international. After visiting Bangkok last year, the Rattle and Hum Music Society extended a hand of friendship to Indonesia. The Handshake concert was held in Indonesia on June 19 last as part of the Jakarta Festival.

The Jakarta Festival, which commemorated the anniversary of Indonesia’s capital city, witnessed Naga artists act as cultural ambassadors for the state. The Handshake Concert, organized by the Rattle and Hum society music society in collaboration with Gedung Kesenian Jakarta provided the key highlight of the day’s festivities on June 19. The festival also saw representation from Nagaland led by Advisor to the Music Task Force and MLA, Khriehu Leizietsu, who was the Honored Guest.

Grammy Award Winner and Global Ambassador of the Rattle and Hum Music Society, Pandit Viswa Mohan Bhatt, who enthralled the audience with his performance, said that he was in love with Nagaland, its people and the beautiful land. Artists from Nagaland were Zowe Madrigal, the Nagaland Chamber Choir, Alobo Naga & the Band, Cultural Vibrants and Naro Peinyii. one of the special highlight of the event was a performance by Naga Idol Renbeni Odyuo with well- known Indonesian guitarist  Mr. jubing Kristianto.

Abu Metha, Advisor to Chief Minister of Nagaland addressed the festival during the Handshake Concert. He projected Nagaland as a state with pristine natural beauty, rich bio-diversity, unique culture and heritage. Speaking about the youth in Nagaland, Metha said that the Naga youths have a special vibrancy that “has to be seen to be believed.”

Speaking on the relationship between India and Indonesia, Metha said the two countries have shared a special bond that goes back hundreds of years, adding that the handshake concert aims to promote international peace and understanding through the medium of art, culture and music.

The Handshake concert is a non-profit concert aimed towards promoting music, culture and goodwill among the people of the country through “a handshake at a time”. With the first edition of the Handshake concert being organized in Guwahati in 2008, the event has till now travelled to Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Bangkok and Jakarta.

 

In previous editions of the festival, many Naga artistes have visited other parts of the country and the world and got the exposure. Till now, the list of artists who participated in the festival include Tetseo Sisters, OFF Band, Zowe Madrigal, Kenei Chale, Zeliang Dance Troupe, Avancer, Alobo Naga, Lama Tashi, and many others.

Talking about the handshake concert, Theja said, “Since our first show in Guwahati, musicians of our State have not only been representing the Naga culture but also going out as ambassadors of the Nagas. Through music, they have managed to portray a lot of positive aspects in the wake of so much strife and violence in the State. The Government of Nagaland and other non-governmental organizations have together provided an environment where musicians can come and strive to attain excellence,” he said, adding that the Handshake concert has started taking the initiatives of the Nagaland government at the international level.

Theja informed that the Handshake concert has helped expose local talents of Nagaland to the rest of the country and therefore open a window to the remote Northeastern State. “This platform has helped Naga musicians discover their counterparts in other States and we were honoured when, after our 2009 concert in Mumbai, some of our folk artistes were invited to sing and act in a film called The Hunt which had Naseeruddin Shah as the lead actor and was directed by Anup Kurian.”

Handshake concert travels to Indonesia this year

The fifth edition of the Handshake concert will be held in Indonesia. The organizers, Rattle&Hum Music Society, informed that they will be partnering with Gedung Kesenian, Jakarta,  historically known as Schouwburg Weltevreden, a concert hall in Jakarta which was built during the Dutch colonial period, to host the fifth edition of the ‘Handshake Concert 2013’ on June 19 next.

R&HMS president Theja Meru said that this year’s concert will be held as a part of the larger Jakarta Festival, an annual event in Indonesia organized by the Gedung Kesenian society. “The whole idea is to promote Naga culture and artists from local to global arena. The world is our stage, we want to promote and show case Nagaland to the world”, he said.

Around 25 artistes from India and Nagaland have been lined up for this edition of the Handshake concert. The performing troupe will include, besides others, Grammy award winner and patron of R&HMS Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, the Nagaland Chamber Choir (TNCC), Alobo Naga & The Band, Renbeni Odyuo, Zowie Madrigal, Naro Pienyü amongst others. “The performing artistes were selected on the basis of their achievements and contributions to Naga music,” Meru said. The team will be led by Khriehu Liezietsü, MLA & Advisor NRE, Music Task Force and chairman DPDB, Kohima district.

Ate Kevichusa, who was the producer for Channel V, will be the key coordinator and producer for the 2013, Handshake Concert in Jakarta.

This is the second international edition of the Handshake concert. The first international event was held in Bangkok last year. The handshake concert started in Guwahati as the World Music Festival in Guwahati on June 21, 2008.Following the successful turn of event, the idea of organizing such an event, as Handshake Concert was coined by members of the society to celebrate culture and promote goodwill and universal friendship through music with the theme— “One handshake at a time”. The concert has till now travelled to Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Bangkok.

8th Bamhum Day celebrated

Robust Network, Dimapur in collaboration with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, successfully organised a grand cultural show to commemorate the 8th Bamhum Day with performances by various artistes at Soul Speak Studios Hall, Nuton Bosti, Dimapur last Thursday. The Bamhum is a wind instrument invented by Moa Subong of Grammy nominated experimental rock band Abiogenesis.

Abiogenesis presented the first ever Bamhum songs composed by them like Saramati Tears, Misty Dzuko, Wah Taj and Hitch Hiker. All these songs are from their first album Aeon Spell, which was released by Saregama and which was listed for nominations in the 50th Grammy Awards. Arenla, the front lady of Abiogenesis, said that the invention of the Bamhum brought about Howeymusic, a fusion of Naga music with various genres of music.

A young upcoming rock band from Dimapur, ‘Gentlemen and Slippers’ also presented a few numbers during the concert. A jam session followed the programme where musicians got to meet each other and played and jammed together for a few hours.