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We asked our critics what were their top five art picks of the 2017?
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MUSIC: ‘Sukanya’ – The Ravi Shanker inspired opera proved to be a triumph.
Alchemy 2017: ‘Sukanya’ – A Ravi Shankar love letter of dizzying dimensions… (review)
Abida Parveen – Well-known outside of her native Pakistan, the Sufi music star draws huge crowds and massive admiration. Listening to her live was something very special.
Alchemy 2017: Abida Parveen – Sufi superstar has Royal Festival Hall in hypnotic rapture…
Bharat Symphony – Dr Subramaniam is one of the foremost musicians of his age and comes to the Barbican to play a special concert as part of UK-India Year of Culture with wife Kavita Krishnamurti…
The women in music event organised by Sama Arts Network (April 20- July 2). A series of concerts showcasing women musicians from UK, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran and other Asian countries was one of my undoubted highlights.
http://www.sama.co.uk/
THEATRE: ‘Guards at the Taj’ This play about one of the most iconic buildings ever created was thought-provoking and beautifully intense – I can never look the Taj Mahal in the same way again and nor I suspect can the others who packed out the Bush Theatre night after night for this.
‘Guards at the Taj’: Life on a knife-edge, actor Danny Ashok reacts….
A shout-out too for theatremaker Nassim Soleimanpour and his ‘Nassim’ – which previewed at The Bush before going to Edinburgh and playing at the Traverse theatre. This is where an actor is handed a sealed-enveloped script and has to go on and perform it. Meera Syal was just one of the actors who subjected herself to the challenge.
https://www.bushtheatre.co.uk/event/nassim/
‘The Kite Runner’ was also poignant and haunting – the stage adaptation of Khalid Hosseini’s best-selling novel is a work of great humanity and insight into a troubled country – Afghanistan.
‘The Kite Runner’ – new play in the UK has audiences spell bound…
DANCE: Shobana Jeyasingh’s ‘Bayadère – The Ninth Life’ at Sadler’s Wells was hugely enjoyable – a contemporary and brilliant work that also had some reference to her background as a Bharatanatyam composer and the challenges of identity in a fluid world.
FILM: There were a lot of films I enjoyed seeing but one event stands out – documentary maker Sanjay Kak came to the BFI to talk about his work. It was fascinating.
ART: Manchester Whitworth Art Gallery – there are some great exhibitions. Raqib Shaw was a particular highlight.
The Shaw exhibition was part of #NewNorthSouth with the display ending in November.
#NewNorthSouth: Art hits the North with Hetain Patel, MF Husain, Raqs Media, Waqas Khan, Neha Choksi
BOOKS: The Bradford Literature Festival gets bigger and better every year and draws in many different strands. Impressive.
http://www.bradfordlitfest.co.uk/
