By Cortney Wright

The Festival provides an avenue for dialogue and shared work exchange between India and South Africa and has become an integral part of the South African culture.
Lesley Hudson, director of Cut2Black says, “An important aspect of Shared History is to make cities a livable space whereby the public feel free to be in public spaces and where social cohesion is formed.”

This year’s Shared History celebration is going to contain a combination of music, dance, theater and food, representing India in the best way possible. Sanjoy Roy, teamwork production and festival director says, “When The Indian Experience first began we were able to partner with Arts Alive and invest in art by creating wealth, new ideas, solutions as well as take part in building communities.”

Roy states that this year there will be a different range of performances compared to the previous years. The audience can look forward to a performance by Kailash Kher, a singer, lyricist and composer whose voice is said to recall the ancient history of India. “This is the first time that Kailash Kher is preforming in South Africa and we are excited to have him here for The Indian Experience,” says Roy.

Audience members can also look forward to Advaita World Music, Nothing like Lear-the company theater and cinematograph production, Dr. L. Subramaniam-Violin Virtuoso and Sriyah Dance Ensemble, who are experts from a decade of dance making. Mperial Cuisine of the Mughals is also a huge part of the Festival whereby a variety of Indian food can be tasted that is produced by Chef Vikram Udaygiri.

The High commissioner of India, Mr. Virendra Gupta says, “Although the Festival has been shortened this year and is running for only two weeks instead on a month, we are investing more in people to people relationships and we have still furthered our relationship with Shared History. It makes me glad that partners that were on board from the start of this Festival in 2004 are still here which brings a sense of family.”
According to Hudson, “people come to the Festival and want to experience what they already know about it. In the end they leave with so much more that they were not aware of and feel changed in a good way.”

For more information on the Shared History- The Indian Experience please visit www.sharedhistory.co.in as well as www.artsalive.co.za. Arts Alive is also available on Facebook at Joburg Arts Alive International Festival, as well as on Twitter at @Arts_Alive