Khumariyaan, Pashto music band to perform in East Africa
Khumariyaan, a popular music band, is set to embark on a three-week visit to East Africa to perform live in four cities to introduce different shades of music of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
A quartet comprising young artists Farhan Borga, Sparlai, Rawall, Amer Shafiq, and Shiraz would leave for East Africa in the second week of October for live performance in Nairobi, Mombasa, Diani, and Arusha cities which would be followed by a workshop. The event would be sponsored by a private organization `Creative Bhaag` based in Kenya.
Farhan Bogra, a rabab player and leader of the band, told this scribe that Khumariyaan would introduce different folk music shades of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the first time in East Africa. He said that they would also shed light on the people, culture, and folk music traditions of the province at the workshop.
“Rabab, sitar, guitar, and zerbaghali would be introduced to the African audience with a base tempo in native Pashto music while a workshop would be part of the event in which participants would be enlightened on the history, culture, and people of Pakistan and KP at large,” he said.
Mr. Bogra said that Khumariyaan would perform together with African artists to encourage mutual music delicacies to advocate global peace, universalism, and cultural diversity.
“Performances will be arranged in prominent hotels, academies, and universities besides beach resorts in four cities,” he added.
Earlier, Khumariyaan represented Pakistan in the US, UK, Europe, and the Gulf States. The band enjoys a large number of fans overseas owing to its innovative style and unique way of expression.
Khumariyaan, Pashto music band to perform in East Africa
Mr. Bogra said his music band focused on exploring universal symphonies through instrumental performance as it didn’t need any language but carried a heart-throbbing impact on the audience.
In the recent Dubai Expo, Khumariyan garnered widespread appreciation from multifarious audiences due to their ensemble performance, he said.
He said that the invitation was extended to his music band by culture activist Seema Salim, the founder, and director of Creative Bhaag, who had assured them that their visit would be followed by a series of exchange initiatives engaging other music bands to strengthen cultural ties.
“Our vision is to collaborate with artists and musicians, who share a collective vision of keeping our respective heritage and culture alive and also to elevate our folk music from a medium of vocal-based culture to instrumental fusion,” said Mr. Bogra.
