It was the most exhilarating as well as the most humbling moment for Prathibha Prahlad, the festival director of the ongoing Delhi International Arts Festival (DIAF), when it was included as a permanent member of the Association of Asian Performing Arts Festivals in 2012, which aims to recognise the growth of Asian arts festivals. It’s been the most encouraging sign of appreciation of her efforts that have gone into providing a respectable platform to national and international talent for nine years now, and once again this year she presents an eclectic mix of performances—from Mask Dance of Zambia to Saman Dance of Indonesia; from plays like Baanjh from Pakistan to Ghaziram Kotwal from India; from Flame & Co, a Flamenco and Jazz music group from Spain to Refiners Choir from Nagaland—DIAF is a bag full of cultural curations.
Groups and individulas from a dozen countries are participating this year. The theme this time is Africa in India, coinciding with the largest Indo-African Summit in Delhi that concludes today. “The whirling dervishes by an Egyptian group, African fusion drums by Emmanuel O Awuku, Mask Dance from Zambia and Laogong Pushpanjali dance from Bali are truly unique,” says Prahlad, for whom raising finances continues to be a challenge. “The bigger the festival gets, the more daunting it becomes, but it worries me that too much energy is being expended on raising funds, which can be diverted towards the content of the presentation. I really wish that Government of India (department of culture) be more generous with their support, so that I don’t have to run to multiple agencies to find sponsors,” she says.
That’s been her consistent request from the time DIAF was initiated, one that we hope gets answered this time round.