From Sufism to Social Protest: Poetry and Song for Change

This event embraces the Cluster's engagement with local communities that provide the location of our work, and brings together community members from Bowen Island and international guests who are participating in an Interdisciplinary Histories Research Cluster workshop. Participants come together to share poetry and song from Canada, Ireland, India, Pakistan, and Argentina – and more – to celebrate our quest for better and a hope for a better world, at both an intimate personal level, and at the global. Our guests include Dr. Asma Qadri, Professor at the University of Punjab, Lahore, whose research focuses on classical Sufi poetry in Punjabi and the works of contemporary poet, critic, and playwright, Najm Hosain Syed (b. 1936), a major figure in the Punjabi language movement of Pakistan. We also host Nicolás Grandi, Buenos Aires-based filmmaker, transdisciplinary artist, researcher and educator. He is the coordinator of The Poetics of Memory Lab, a nomadic platform for transdisciplinary experimentation, teaches at UNTREF, Buenos Aires and supervises TV productions for the national broadcasting system in Argentina. His films which include La Pasión Según Ander (2005), Casafuerte (2004), Simon Decouvre (2000) have been screened widely at film festivals around the world, and, in English and Spanish, The Poetics of Fragility (2016). Both Dr. Qadri and Mr. Grandi will share words and songs, joined by members of the Bowen community.

This event is free and is open to the public. Doors open at 5:30, with light refreshments and a cash bar. Presentations will be made from 6 to 7 p.m.