Melbourne, January 25: Deep in the heart of Asia TOPA is a place that is not a place – an ephemeral crucible of constant change that might just change you in return – welcome to mystic state of BAUL
Welcome to XO State (ex-oh state), running from 22 – 26 February.
Breathtaking master singer, instrumentalist, painter and storyteller, Parvathy Baul, is one of the leading exponents of Baul Songeet – reverberating through poetry, music and dance.
Baul is a stunning ancient spiritual tradition that originated from the Bengal region of India and is the confluence of many other sacred traditions including Vaishnavism, Tantric and Siddha.
Parvathy will be performing exclusively as part of XO State in Melbourne.
Following from a hugely popular debut at Supersense Festival in 2015, Parvathy returns to Melbourne with a group of master musicians and storytellers to celebrate the lineage of the great mystics of Bengal.
15 different sacred instruments accompany sung poetry while audiences witness the unravelling of intricate Alpona (mandala) motifs awash with symbolism and spiritual meaning – an art form practiced by almost every rural Bengali household.
Each element of the durational performance is a unique display of ancient devotional forms of spiritual transcendence.
Parvathy Baul is part of the DAYLIGHT program at XO State – a new performance club at Arts Centre Melbourne’s State Theatre, created for the inaugural Asia TOPA Festival.
Arts Centre Melbourne’s State Theatre will be transformed into a mysterious site of wonder, as artists from across the Asia-Pacific region are given free rein to challenge imagination and distort reality.
From durational performances of ecstatic energy to short sharp shocks to the senses, be prepared to witness euphoria though dance, theatre and multimedia immersion.
Expect to be provoked, bewitched and delighted over the course of five nights with more than 25 acts at the State Theatre stage – from Jakarta to Tokyo, Port Moresby to Bangkok, Seoul to Taipei.
XO State is co-curated by Chunky Move founding director Gideon Obarzanek and Filipino performance artist Eisa Jocson.
Asia TOPA is a joint initiative of the Sidney Myer Fund and Arts Centre Melbourne, supported by the Commonwealth and Victorian Government.
Parvathy Baul in XO State as part of Asia TOPA
Saturday, 25 February
State Theatre Stage
1pm – 6pm
Click here for Tickets: $25
More at at www.asiatopa.com.au/events/
Shalini Singh
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