Sangam performing arts festival has been enchanting Melbourne audiences for three years now and 2021 is no different. This February and March, Sangam once again takes over Melbourne for a month-long festival featuring some of the most exciting South-Asian Australian performers and artists.
The festival will be presented over four weekends and at four different venues across Melbourne; Abbotsford Convent, Bunjil Place, the Drum Theatre and Dancehouse. Sangam means it when it says it's a performing arts festival too, with all bases covered from music and dance to spoken word, comedy and theatrical performances (both classical and experimental).
Some of the highlight performances from this year's Sangam festival include:
Dada Desi
Sangam is opened with Dada Desi, a Dada inspired night of comedy, film, spoken word and music, all hosted by writer, comedian and performer Vidya Rajan.
The Flowering Tree
This event brings together nine artists from Melbourne's south-east and adapts a 1,000-year-old Indian folk tale into an experimental work that touches on contemporary issues like climate change and a certain respiratory virus.
Earth Matters
A walking tour around Dandenong where the audience will experience the sights and sounds of classical South Asia as they tour three locations in the suburb, while also learning about South Asian history.
Sangam was created to help get local South Asian creatives performing in mainstream venues and support the work of these artists. One of Sangam's artistic directors – performer, writer and choreographer Dr Priya Srinivasan – grew up in Melbourne as the child of Indian migrants and forged her way as a dancer in many mainstream arts spaces. "I returned to Melbourne after a long hiatus overseas to discover that the arts scene had regressed here," she says. "There was very little diversity on mainstream stages, and everything seemed to be divided. South Asian arts were labelled 'community arts' and relegated to the margins both literally and metaphorically with artists performing in suburbs, high schools, and community centres in the periphery of our city."
Sangam runs every weekend from Feb 20 to Mar 13. For the full details and line-up, head to the website.