To familiarise Indians with Australia’s cultural heritage, its richness in art and its story-telling tradition, a four-month-long “Oz Festival”, the biggest ever and probably the most expensive, opens across the country beginning October 16.
Giving broad outlines of the grand event at a press conference in Delhi on Tuesday, Australian High Commissioner Peter Varghese said it took two years to conceptualise the festival because of its scale and create benchmarks in different fields of specialisation. Moreover, it will be held not only in cosmopolitan cities but also far-off places.
“Collaboration between our two countries is increasing in various fields. Indians have invested 11 billion dollars in our resource sector. We are working closely with the Indian Government in the Indian Ocean and also in G-20. We are a country of migrants and Indians are the largest source of migration. India’s presence in our country can be seen from the fact that Punjabi is the fastest growing language and Hinduism is the fastest growing religion.”
Noting that Indians will get a glimpse of Australia’s urban life, Mr. Varghese said the festival will lay emphasis on his country’s expertise in infrastructure and science.
“Apart from cricket and movies, Australia has produced a number of Nobel laureates in science and medicine. This fact will be highlighted during the festival.”
According to Australian High Commissioner Deputy High Commissioner Lachlan Strahan, a deliberate attempt was made to choose only those projects which were designed to reach out to the younger generation of Indians. “Indians and Australians are collaborating in cultural programmes. The collaboration between our two countries must be organic. It should not be contrived.”
The festival will start with a special performance by visually impaired Aboriginal Australian singer Gurrumul Yunupingu. He will perform along with sitar player Anoushka Shankar at Purana Qila on the first day. He will also perform with Odiya artistes at a concert at Rajarani Temple in Bhubaneswar in October 20.
The Indian and Australian teams might be fiercely fighting and even getting into verbal duels on the cricketing field, but a feel-good Australian production Save Your Legs which highlights the bonhomie between cricketers from the two countries will be screened at Mumbai Film Festival on October 24.
“I watched the film’s shooting at Varanasi and was thrilled to watch it on the screen in Australia. The film is about a cricket team which visits India and plays with local teams,” adds Strahan.
For Indo-Australian actor Pallavi Sharda, who nurtured an ambition to become an actor, it was a dream come true to essay the role of Anjalee in this film because she could empathise with the character.
Apart from films, there will be a fortnight-long “Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow” featuring a selected bunch of funniest shows in New Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore.
