British Council Announce 3 Year Focus On Folk

Over the next three years the British Council will be pouring their energy into a folk music programme between British and South Asian artists that will see collaborations leading to performances, artist residencies, showcases and networking opportunities bringing together musicians and creative professionals.

Called ‘Folk Nations’, this mammoth project will use folk music to not only create open dialogue between the two regions, but to explore traditional music forms and their place in contemporary culture with a real emphasis placed on how younger audiences engage and adapt to new ways of presenting folk.

The British Council have always been fans of folk with previous ventures including a collaborative project and tour between Mumford and Sons, Laura Marling and Rajasthani collective Dharohar Project, as well as a musical theatre performance between Raghu Dixit, Bellowhead and dancer Gauri Sharma Tripathi (which will be touring India later this year).

The last couple of years have certainly seen a rise in folk music (or anti-folk) in various guises and forms with artists like Emmy The Great, Noah and The Whale, Regina Spektor and even She and Him (fans note that M.Ward will be supporting Norah Jones in Mumbai) taking it to the masses. It will be interesting to see how this project translates back to this rapidly growing audience of folk fans.

You can get your folk fix in February courtesy of the British Council at the following spots:
8 February: Folk Nations at Kala Ghoda Arts Festival – Cross Maidan, Mumbai
10-17 February: Folk Nations Music Residency – Kolkata