Renowned sitarist Mohamed Assani will perform alongside other accomplished musicians at 100 Ways to Kneel and Kiss the Ground. | Photo courtesy of Indian Summer Festival

100 Ways to Kneel and Kiss the Ground, an event presenting the life and work of the 13th century Sufi poet and mystic Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi, whose writing is often interpreted as promoting the notion that we are all inter-connected, sets the tone for the fourth annual Indian Summer Festival, July 3–12. The festival not only celebrates South Asian artistic heritage, but also strives to be an inclusive meeting ground for all cultural communities in Vancouver.

“Vancouver is very diverse, but it can be quite disconnected: each community is in their own area, and they don’t cross over,” says Sirish Rao, the Indian Summer Festival’s artistic director.

He explains that the festival strives to facilitate conversation and learning through a variety of multidisciplinary events. Though the organizers did not consciously set out to have a particular focus, Rao says that the complex relationship between North America and the Islamic world has spontaneously emerged as a prominent theme this year.

Sufism is considered to be a mystical branch of Islam, and one that Rao notes has always resided on the edges of the religious and cultural mainstream. 100 Ways will feature American poet and pre-eminent interpreter of Rumi’s work Coleman Barks, who will be reciting the legendary mystic’s poetry. He will be accompanied by a group of renowned musicians playing a combination of traditional Indian and Persian music.

“In the last ten years there has been this one-dimensional view of the Islamic world in North America. The work of Coleman Barks has swum against that current of popular perception. He has invited us to look at the cultural richness from the same part of the world that we see now as a troubled spot, which is actually the cradle of so much civilization,” says Rao.

Mohamed Assani, Pakistani-born sitarist and tabla and sitar instructor at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra School of Music, is one of the musicians that will accompany Barks, along with barbat and oud player Hossein Behroozinia, tombak player Hamin Honari and vocalist Jamal Salavati.

Though he also plays jazz, fusion, and popular Western music, Assani’s main focus is the raga, a traditional melodic form of classical Indian music. He focuses on the vocal style of raga performance called gayeki ang which mimics the expression and nuance of the human voice in its musical delivery.

Invoking unity

For Assani, the raga form is a unifying emblem for India and Pakistan because the two countries share a common musical identity despite their relatively recent geopolitical division.

He believes that the devotional nature of Sufi music – which today thrives in areas as diverse as Pakistan, Turkey, and West Africa – also bears a universal quality that comes across more through the atmosphere it creates than through specific musical characteristics.

“Sufi music is about the spirit. There is a certain energy when a musician is playing it, and the main thing is to communicate the message of peace and love,” says Assani.

Rumi is currently said to be one of the most widely read and beloved poets in North America, and Assani is not at all surprised at the magnitude of this appeal.

“The writings of Rumi are still so fresh because we still have to learn how to see the world as one. At the end of the day we are all the same, and that is one of Rumi’s strongest Sufi-inspired teachings,” he says.

Encouraging debate

Though it promotes unity between cultures, the Indian Summer Festival does not shy away from complex topics.

“Coming from India which is such a garrulous culture where people talk and argue about everything, I wanted to introduce a bit of that here, and to bring speakers who are talking about controversial things [and] opening up debate,” says Rao.

He cites the festival’s An Evening with Reza Aslan as an event that is sure to inspire dialogue. Aslan’s book Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth is a thought-provoking biography that balances the portrayal of Jesus in the Christian gospels against historical sources.

Rao is also particularly excited about From Punjab With Love, a mural by Indian graphic artist Orijit Sen that depicts the various facets of life in Punjab, and is meant to be an homage to the region’s creativity and resilience in the face of historical turbulence.

Ultimately, Rao’s vision for the festival is to help raise Vancouver’s cultural profile.

“I would really like to help put Vancouver on the map as a stage for global dialogue,” he says.

100 Ways to Kneel and Kiss the Ground takes place at 8 p.m., July 5 at St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church in Vancouver. For more information on this and other festival events, visit www.indiansummerfestival.ca