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Sham E Ghazal by Ustad Surinder Khan

7.30pm Saturday 24th September 2011
Venue – Westgate Community College, West Road, Newcastle upon Tyne
Ticket – £15


We welcome you to this incredibly melodious evening of Ghazal with highly acclaimed singer Ustaad Surinder Khan
of Patiala Gharana. Ustad Khan began his career since the age of eight in his home town Chandigarh, India under the guidance of Ustad Baqar Hussain
and at a later period under eminent Ghazal singer Ustad Ghulam Ali
.

Ustaad Khan is the winner of National Youth Festival in India consecutively three times for his unique style of singing. He has performed in major international music festivals in India, USA and Europe.

Box Office Contact - 0191 274 3030 & 0795 622 2808

 

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The struggle for black British literature by Professor Prabhu Guptara

5.30pm, Thursday, 6th Oct 2011
Curtis Auditorium, Herschel Building, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne

FREE Admission
Young people today generally do not know what a struggle was necessary for the acceptance of black British (or "ethnic minority") art and culture. The struggle moved from that of simply finding acceptance of "our" traditional art, to finding acceptance and funding for our "voice" in contemporary Britain (whether expressed through traditional forms, through hybrid forms or through traditional Western forms - e..g. novels and the plays - some more and some less marked by "our" impact on the forms themselves) . The same holds for language itself of course, which ranges from expression in traditional pure Urdu or Bengali (for example) through such excellent traditional English as represented by Nirad Chaudhuri to the hybrid form perfected by Rushdie though he was of course building on "Indian English" (it is clear that he was not trying to give expression to black British experience but to wider and more universal themes, and he was influenced by Latin American fiction even more than by Indian or Indian English fiction). While "black British" artists/ writers/ actors/ rappers have become accepted in the mainstream, there is still resistance to the category of Black British Literature, and hardly any critical reflection on it - partly of course because criticism itself (and the related disciplines of history, bibliography, librarianship) have all been marginalised by our "money culture", while our "academic culture" has made matters more and more abstract and so jargonised as to be totally opaque to the ordinary person.

Biog of Prof Guptara :


Prabhu has two collections of poems, Beginnings and Continuations; he edited The Selected Poems of Leela Dharmaraj, the Anthology of Contemporary Indian Religious Poetry in English, and Third Eye: The Prospects for Third World Film; and he wrote for several years the annual entry on India in Kunapipi. He was a Director of the Minorities Arts Advisory Service; Chairman of the Association for the Teaching of Caribbean, African, and Asian Literatures; Literature Advisor, South East Arts Association; Ethnic Arts Advisor, Greater London Council; Member of the British Board of Film Censors; Member of the Board of Temba Theatre Company; Advisor, Television South; Organizer, Greater London Literature Competition; Organizer, Greater London Filmscript Competition; Film and Television Advisor, West Midlands Arts Association; Drama Scriptreader, BBC TV; and contributor to all the main radio and TV channels in the UK. A Member of the Panel of Judges of the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, he chaired the Panel of Judges for the Deo Gloria Award for Fiction in 1992 & 1993. Over nearly a decade, unsupported by any grant, he researched Black British Literature from the Eighteenth Century to the Present: The First Bibliography (1986). Website: www.prabhu.guptara.net

This event is organised in association with Newcastle University

 

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Dance Residency




Monday 12th – Wednesday 14th September 2011

A three days Bollywood and semi-classical dance residency has been organised at Ponteland First School, Ponteland, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE20 9QB.


Workshops will take place from 12th -14th September 2011. Lecture demonstrations and choreo labs will be delivered by renowned dancer and choreographer Arun Sankar from Manasamitra ( www.manasamitra.com).

We are delighted to work with Ponteland First School and Manasamitra on this project that will create opportunity for pupil to learn, enjoy and explore unique dance movements and technique alongside mesmerising colours , bollywood beat and Indian semi classical music, a true magical experience for everyone!!!

 

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International Mushaira

7.00pm, Sunday 3rd July 2011
Westgate Community College, West Road, Newcastle, NE4 9LU

Participate and enjoy this exciting event with local, national and international poets. Grab this UNIQUE opportunity to share the evening with some world class multilingual poets and their poetries and witness how they transform the stage into a romantic, upbeat and creative setting.

This is a FREE event. Light refreshment will be served.

To book your place please call 0191 274 3030 or 07956 222 808 or e-mail info@pakistanculturalsociety.co.uk

 

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ATanusree Shankar Dance Company's The Child

Wednesday 11 May, 7.00pm
Gateshead Old Town Hall, West Street, Gateshead NE8 1HE

Tickets: £10
Box Office: 0191 274 3030


Click Here to download this flyer

 

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SOUND AFFAIR


Click Here to download this flyer
Sunday, 5th December 2010

The Cluny, 36 Lime Street, OuseburnNewcastle upon Tyne, Tyne & Wear NE1 2PQ

Tickets - £5

Doors Open @ 7.15pm

Box Office:0191 274 3030

We are delighted to be presenting an exceptional Hindustani (North Indian Classical) concert featuring Saxophone and Tabla.The amazing Leeds based duo of Jesse Bannister (Saxophone) and Bhupinder Singh Chaggar (Tabla) and their unique chemistry will enthral audiences through a “Jugalbandi” not to be missed.

Organised in association with SAA-uk SAA-uk

 

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Sunderland Festival of Lights 2010

Click Here to download this flyer
6.30-10.00pm Saturday, 6th November

Seaburn Centre, Whitburn Road
Sunderland, SR6 8AA

Tickets : £7.50 ( Adults), £5 Children & Concessions, £20 Family ( 2 adults + 2 children under age 12)

Pakistan Cultural Society celebrate “Festival of Lights” also known as “Diwali” in association with Sangini by providing high quality, inclusive, multicultural arts experiences for communities from different cultures and social backgrounds, through participatory workshops and events, such as Chinese lantern workshops. This project provides opportunities for high quality, culturally diverse arts experiences to the residents of Sunderland and beyond, to raise awareness and to contribute to community cohesion by sharing and celebrating the multi-cultural traditions that are present in the North East with local communities.

Box Office – 0191 534 6661
E-mail – info@sangini.org.uk
Website – www.sangini.org.uk

 

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Muslims Oral History Exhibition (Free Event)

Click Here to download this flyer
Friday October 22nd 2010
From 10 am to 5.00pm

City Library, the Bewick Hall
33 New Bridge Street West
Newcastle upon Tyne. NE1 8AXN

Join us and celebrate
The collections of stories, testimonies, paintings, poetry, photographs and films are reflecting on Islamic culture and the heritage of individuals living in the North East.

Take part in Arabic and Persian calligraphy, painting and poetry workshops during the day.
This exhibition is a part of "Islamic Heritage Project". The aim of the project is to collect stories and testimonies from various Islamic communities living in the North East of England and to present them to Tyne & Wear Archives for the social and educational benefit of the community.

For further details contact:
Islamic Heritage Project Worker,
Hengameh Ashraf Emami
Telephone: 0191 274 3030
E-mail:infopcs3@yahoo.co.uk

 

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 KITAAB – A Platform for Multicultural Writing @ Durham Book Festival
 

Kalagora: a new spoken word show from Siddhartha Bose

Written and performed by Indian-born poet Siddhartha Bose and accompanied by a specially commissioned film and musical score, Kalagora is a new spoken word show set across three continents which tells the story of a young man's progress through a globalised urban world. Bose's performance captures and articulates the experience of a South Asian immigrant in contemporary Britain, blending influences as diverse as free jazz and Shakespeare. For more information on the show, see www.kalagora.com
Date: Saturday 23 October
Time: 6pm-7pm
Venue: Town Hall
Tickets: £6/£4

In association with Penned in the Margins

 

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World Stories: Elif Shafak, Priya Basil and Wendy Law Yone

In The Forty Rules of Love, Elif Shafak takes us to Turkey in the 13th Century and the present day to tell a story of love, passion and spiritual connection. Shafak is one of Turkey's most acclaimed and outspoken novelists and the author of Orange Prize long-listed novel The Bastard of Istanbul. Priya Basil's new novel, The Obscure Logic of the Heart, takes us from the streets of Birmingham to the plains of Kenya and the refugee camps of Sudan to tell a story of two people trapped between the dictates of faith, family and love. In Wendy Law Yone's The Road to Wanting, the reader is taken on a journey from the remote tribal villages of northern Burma, to ex-pat life in Rangoon under a grim military regime, and then, in shocking scenes, to the brothels of Thailand and the hedonism of Bangkok.
Date: Sunday 24 October
Time: 4pm-5pm
Venue: Clayport Library
Tickets: £6/£4

 

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Stories of Loss and Love: Xinran

There are an estimated 120,000 adopted Chinese girls living outside of China. In her moving new book Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother: Stories of Loss and Love, Chinese writer and journalist Xinran tells the background stories of ten of these girls. She tells both the stories of their birth mothers and their adoptive mothers across the world. Ten chapters, ten women and many stories of heartbreak, including her own. Xinran is a leading Chinese journalist and author of many books including Good Women of China.
Date: Sunday 24 October
Time: 7.30pm
Venue: Town Hall
Tickets: £6/£4

In partnership with the Durham City Arts at the Durham Book Festival we present a programme of writers and events that reflect a variety of cultural experiences.

 

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In the Further Soil - presented in association with Northumbria University


Click Here to download this flyer

6.00pm, Tuesday, 26th Oct 2010
Rutherford Hall, Ellison Building, Northumbria University

Ticket - FREE ( Booking is necessary, contact telephone 0191 243 7503 or e-mail bne.events@Northumbria.ac.uk)

A dance and music theatre production inspired by the text from Rabindranath Tagore. The Bengali poet and philosopher once said, when commenting on the Indian diaspora: “To study a banyan tree, you not only must know its main stem in its own soil, but also must trace the growth of its greatness in the further soil, for then you can know the true nature of its vitality.”

In the Further Soil tells the story of the urban landscapes of India and the UK. Human stories that bring out fast-changing globalised identities of young people told emotionally through the interplay of music, dance and spoken word.
Atmospheric jazz and Afro-beats mix with Bengali baul songs; rhythms fire up Bharatanatyam dance with urban moves and spoken word ‾ bringing together the old and new.

Written by Satinder Kaur Chohan and directed by Harmage Singh Kalirai. Credits include; Layla Mujnun, Heer Ranjha, and Chicken Tikka Masala – nominated for the Raindance Award.

International cast includes Shelley King, Soweto Kinch, Anusha Subramanyam, Ratul Shankar Ghosh, Dibyendu Mukherjee and Sanjukta Ray*.
Produced by Sampad in partnership with Teamwork Productions.

 

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   Music from Herat, Afghanistan

Saturday 18th September 8.00pm
Northern Rock Foundations Hall, The Sage Gateshead, NE8 2JR
Box Office – 0191 443 4661
Ticket £15, £12.50 (concessions)

Situated in a fertile valley in western Afghanistan, the ancient city of Herat is nationally recognised as a pre-eminent fount of creativity in literature, music and the visual arts.

As an important trading centre, Herat has continuously absorbed new musical ideas. While taking in new influences from Iran and India, musicians from Herat always maintained the essential flavour of their own local culture, which is founded on romantic and melancholic Persian-language love songs and laments.
Even during the time of the Taliban ban on music-making of the late 1990s Herati people were defiant, taking great risks to gather in secret places to make music, saying they could not live without this fundamental aspect to life.

Musicians include:
Nasim Rahim Khushnawaz, Afghan rubab.
Ustad Gada Mohammad, Herati dutar.
Naimatullah, Herati vocal
Muhammad Aziz , classical vocal and harmonium
Yusuf Mahmoud, tabla
And female vocalist Mina Amani

The musicians will perform a mixture of Herati vocal and instrumental music, along with the Afghan classical music that has been performed in Herat since the 1930s.

Presented in association with Asian Music Circuit, London.

 

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   MILUN - a meeting of musical traditions

Saturday 10th July, 8.00pm
Northern Rock Foundations Hall, The Sage Gateshead, NE8 2JR
Box Office – 0191 443 4661
Ticket £12, £8 (concessions)

Creative musicians Surmeet Singh (Sitar), Chris O'Malley (Guitar & Accordion), Upneet Singh (Tabla) and Sam Proctor (Fiddle and Bodhrán) of SAA-uk’s ‘Milun’ Project are on tour this Spring and Summer.  They add seasonal warmth through their personalities, captured in each note and shared with the listener, resulting in new music that has touched the hearts of audiences.  Simply through exploring the unique and common aspects of traditional Indian and Irish music, Milun conjure musical conversations that exchange traditional motifs in a 'question and answer' form and mix the haunting sounds of Indian Raaga with the pounding energy of Irish jigs and reels.

Presented by Pakistan Cultural Society in association with SAA UK.

 

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 Mushaira (live poetry) – on Tyne
 
Sunday, 11th July 7.30pm
Westgate Community College, West Road, Newcastle NE4 9LU
Booking Info: 0191 274 3030

Ticket - FREE

An evening with poetry! One of our most popular live poetry events organised annually over a decade. A great opportunity to meet, listen and mesmerise with the series of romantic, patriotic and humorous poetries written and recited by well known poets from the UK, Pakistan, India, USA, Canada and many other countries. 

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        Indria – power of fusion

Friday, 16th July, 8.00pm
The Cluny, Ouseburn, Newcastle
Ticket - £7, £5 (student’s discount) 

This is Indria’s debut !! A perfect blend of Indian music with western pop, rock and jazz, Indria uses basic raga principles as a foundation for exciting compositions of romance and devotional music of Bhakti, Suifism and Eastern spirituality.  Dr. Vijay Rajput and Nick Grimes will perform with some of the finest musicians and create a truly passionate musical evening for everyone!!

 

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  Kitaab: a platform for Multicultural Writing at the Durham Book Festival

  

Date: 23 Oct - 1 Nov 2009

Venues: Multiple venues/ Durham

   

A new strand for multicultural writing at the Durham Book Festival titled 'Kitaab', was launched in 2008 by the Pakistan Cultural Society (PCS) in partnership with Durham City Arts. Kitaab will once again be a prominent feature at the Durham Book Festival this autumn. A fantastic line up of multicultural writers has appeared, presented the following authors:

   

    ZIAUDDIN SARDAR on Balti Britain

  
Part history part biography Ziauddin Sardar’s, Balti Britain, tracks the Asian experience in Britain
Date: Saturday 24 October 2.30pm
Venue: Gala Studio

 

MARINA LEWYCKA & AMANDA CRAIG on Immigration and Friendship

 
Two of Britain’s most astute and funny authors Marina Lewycka and Amanda Craig will be in conversation discussing their new novels, We Are all Made of Glue and Hearts and Minds

Date: Tuesday 27 October, 7.30pm
Venue: Gala Theatre

   

KACHI A OZUMBA
Ozumba’s first novel, The Shadow of a Smile, has already been nominated for a major international prize

Date: Friday 30th October 6pm
Waterstones, Durham

 
YASMIN ALIBHAI BROWN on The Settler’s Cookbook
Join leading journalist and commentator Yasmin Alibhai Brown to hear her talk about her mouth-watering memoir which explores her East African Indian roots

Date: Saturday 31st October, 7.30pm
Venue: Gala Theatre

     

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     Rabindranath Tagore’s ‘Shyama’ – A dance-drama musical

   

Date: Saturday 10 October 2009, 7.30pm

Venue: Westgate Community College, West Road, Newcastle NE4 9LU

 

Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s classic 'Shyama' (1939), is regarded by Bengali-speakers around the world in the same light as Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. This authentic musical interpretation of Shyama is vividly brought to life with a unique combination of song, dance, colour and movement, presented by an ensemble cast of leading North East dancers choreographed by Mohua Kumar and Sharmishta Chatterjee-Banerjee.

  

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    CHAND SI LARKI
  

Venue: Westgate Community College, West Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 9LU

Date: Wednesday 1st July 2009, 7.30pm

Director: Majid Zaigham

  

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    Huong Thanh Vietnamese Trio

Presented in association with Asian Music Circuit

  

Date: 3rd June 09, 7pm

Venue: Northern Rock Foundation Hall, The Sage Gateshead

    

Huong Thanh is the great female interpreter of traditional Vietnamese music. The artists have spent their life far from their country, and their music expresses their longing to return. They offer, through the crystalline voice of Huong Thanh, an interpretation of this music bringing out the diversity of the regional flavours and style from all across Vietnam.

“She has a voice that might melt glaciers and make deserts bloom with roses.”  Roots

 

Evaluation/comments:

The average audience feedback for this event was: Excellent 5/5 rating

"Hypnotic quality of the music, both vocal and instrumental"

"Music brings the world together"
"Relaxing and sensual"
"Beautiful"
  

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    Wuthering Heights
Promoted by Northern Stage

Date Wed 27 May 7.30pm - Sat 30 May (2pm Sat)
Venue: Stage 1, Northern Stage, Newcastle upon Tyne

A Tamasha and Coliseum Theatre co-production in association with Lyric Hammersmith

Based on the novel by Emily Brontë. Original concept by Deepak Verma.

The scorched desert of Rajasthan is the setting for this irrestible musical adaptation of Brontë’s timeless tale of passion, jealousy and revenge.Shakuntala is the fiery and headstrong daughter of spice merchant Singh. Krishan is the wily street urchin from Bombay that Singh brings home after a trip to market.
 

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    Chitraleka Dance: ‘From Stardust To Life’

 

Venue:  Dance City, Temple Street, Newcastle, NE1 4BR
Date: Wednesday 1 April 2009, 7pm

  

Chitraleka Dance Company presents 'From Stardust To Life', a new dance production that explores links between dance, science and Indian mythology. Music and visuals blend the classical Indian dance style Bharatanatyam with Western contemporary movement take you on a journey back in time and space.

  

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    Kali Theatre: Another Paradise

  

Venues: Live Theatre, Newcastle & Arc Theatre, Stockton
Dates: Monday 16 March, Tuesday 17th March, 7.30pm
  

Are you who you think you are?
A satirical comedy about sex, corruption and Identity Cards

By Sayan Kent
Directed by Janet Steel

  

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    International Woman’s Day 2009
  
In celebration of International Woman’s Day and in support of the Black Minority Ethnic Community Organisations Network (BECON), Pakistan Cultural Society (PCS) are screening the following internationally award winning films at the Side Cinema, Newcastle.
  
Fire
Monday 2 March, 7pm
[Deepa Mahta, India, 1996, Cert: 15]
Fire, is a delicate, tender story about two Indian women finding love and their identity in a male dominated household and the bounds of family traditions.
  

Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters)
Sunday 8 March, 2pm
[Sabiha Sumar, Pakistan, 2004]
Silent Waters is an outstanding movie, illustrating the plight of a young girl’s life caught up in the aftermath of the Indian Pakistan Partition in Punjab rural Pakistan.
 
Provoked
Monday 9 March, 7pm
[Jag Mundhra, UK, 2007]
Provoked staring Ashwarya Rai, Robbie Coltrane and Miranda Richardson, is a sensitive Anglo-Indian dramatisation of the real life story of Kiranjit Ahluwalia, a survivor of domestic violence.
 
Venue: Side Cinema, 1-3 Side, Newcastle, NE1 3JE (Located on Quayside)
     

    Zoe Rahman & Idris Rahman: 'Where Rivers Meet' New Album
     

Venue: The Customs House, Mill Dam, South Shields, NE33 1ES
Date: Wednesday 11 February 2009, 7.30pm

     

Together they have conjured some unique, jazz-inspired interpretations of Bengali music, including the songs of Rabindranath Tagore, Abbasuddin and Hemanta Kumar Mukherjee. The music offers up unique and beautiful improvised music that is utterly compelling in its brilliant meeting of musical worlds.

   

'A wholly original brand of Anglo-Asian music'

Sunday Times

    

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Past Events 2008

    Indus: Magical Indian & Jazz Fusion

  

Venue: Neville Hall, Mining Instituta (near Central Station), Newacstle, NE1 1SE
Date: Saturday 13 December 2008

Time: 7.30pm

  

Indus are a new music group that brings together four of the finest virtuostic musicians from diverse musical traditions including Indian Classical, Western Classical and Jazz. Characterized by complex tabla beats, exquisite flute phrases, rhythmic santoor patterns and lyrical sitar tones, Indus create an intricate keleidoscope of sound and emotion.

  

"Mesmerising music! I felt very moved after experiencing it."

Audience Comment

 

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    Islamic Arts & Heritage Festival 2008!!

   

The festival was launched at the Great Hall, Discovery Museum on Saturday 8 November, with a free family fun day. Events and activities were facilitated by 'Silk Roads' including Arab folkloric dance, stories from Arabian Nights, Sufi frame-drumming and Batik workshops. Other events included calligraphy and an amazing aerial performance.

   

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    Sufi Qawwali: Nizami (India) and Niazi (Pakistan) Brothers

  

Venue: Little Theatre, Saltwell View, Gateshead

Date: Saturday 22 November

Time: 7.30pm

 

QAWWALI – the devotional music of the Sufi’s from the Indian sub-continent - has changed a lot in the last 20 years or so to suit audiences in the West especially the world music audiences. What mattered for such audiences was the driving rhythm rather than the beauty of the lyrics or the melodies woven out of beautiful ragas.

  

There is no doubt that this group is one of the best in the world and they have not yet succumbed to the temptation of changing their style to suit Western audiences. Yes, you can have tremendous rhythm and vocal pyrotechniques but you also have wonderful music based in the traditional ragas of Indian music and poetry.

  

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    Sufi Egyptian: Al Farabi band and divine Whirling Dervish

   

Venue: Peoples Theatre, High Heaton, Newcastle, NE6 5QF 

Date: Saturday 15 November

Time: 8pm

  

AL FARABI is the creation of master reedflute player and music director Louai Alhenawi who brought together a group of consummate Middle- Eastern musicians to play classical and Sufi music.

   

At the core of the band are traditional Sufi instruments - the haunting ney (reedflute), oud, daf (frame-drum), together with vocals, darbouka (goblet drum), and violin or cello.

  

When instruments blend and join with passionate vocals, and Shafeek whirls ever more hair-raisingly with billowing skirts, then we are reminded of the original name for the band - taraweeh, or 'refreshment of the soul'

   

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    Sufi Palestinian: Al-Zatouna performes Ila-Haifa

  

Venue: Dance City, Temple Street, Newcastle, NE1 4BR

Date: Saturday 29 November

Time: 7.30pm

 
ALZAYTOUNA is a UK based Palestinian Dabke dance group which aims to provide diverse audiences the opportunity to experience Palestinian Dabke in a variety of performances, workshops and classes.
   

The members of the group are a mixture of Palestinian and other backgrounds who reside in the U.K and feel the necessity to promote Palestinian culture to the West. Dabke is a good means to show Palestinian culture because of its artistic presentation of Palestinian life and celebrations especially in weddings, harvests and other symbols of regeneration.

      

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    SAMA Festival '08

   
SAMA is a colourful and vibrant week-long festival celebrating the sights, sounds, spirit and spice of South Asian music, arts and culture. Organised by Gemarts, Kalapremi and Pakistan Cultural Society, this week long festival includes an exciting programme of events and festivities including stunning performances by some of the finest musicians, DJs and artists across the UK and South Asia.

  

Date: 6 - 12 October 08

Venues: Selected venues throughout Tyne & Wear

     

SAMA also includes amazing workshops, a literature festival, films, exhibitions, a South Asian Music and Arts Symposium and a spectacular outdoor event on NewcastleGateshead Quayside featuring an Indian market, mouth watering South Asian food and a fun packed day of music, dance and entertainment for all the family to enjoy!

 

Check the SAMA website and sign-up to the SAMA newsletter so you can be one of the first to hear about our exciting programme of future events: http://samafestival.org/

      

  Kitaab: a platform for Multicultural Writing at the Durham Book Festival

      

Date: 17-26 Oct 2008
Ven

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