London, Nov 19, 2004
IANS"Balle, balle" music will be paid a tribute during a special exhibition that will trace the path of bhangra music from rural Punjab in India to international pop and explore its cultural relevance in Britain.
The photography exhibition, titled "From Soho Road to the Punjab", will be held in Birmingham in early 2005.
The rise of bhangra music and culture in the West Midlands will be displayed through a unique collection of photographs, records, flyers, archive footage and posters compiled by photographer Gurshan Chana.
Bhangra music features among the top albums today, with artistes such as Britney Spears, Missy Elliot, Dr Dre and Craig David fusing bhangra tunes in their albums.
Ammo Talwar, one of the co-ordinators of the project, told Eastern Eye: "The exhibition will highlight the unsung heroes who became the pioneers in bhangra music, initiating the great British invasion of Punjabi bhangra into the international music scene.
"Punjabi folk music is as popular as ever. Many schools want to include bhangra in the key stage three and four syllabus, so we are designing an interactive CD ROM that contains the cultural and educational significance of the genre. We will also be producing a 45 minute docu-drama on the unsung heroes of bhangra."
The name of the exhibition, "From Soho Road to the Punjab," is a reflection of the historical relevance of bhangra music. Soho Road is one of Birmingham's cultural hubs, instrumental in creating a landscape for bhangra to be popularised in surrounding areas where majority of the residents were originally from Punjab.
To highlight how British bhangra has flourished, the exhibition has been split into various segments, starting from The 1950s, Pioneers - covering the history and the hopes of the early settlers in West Midlands - to the present times, which reflects on British Asian beats reaching a global audience.
Bhangra artistes in Britain were delighted to know about the exhibition.
Legendary Malkit Singh said: "It is a great idea to promote our heroes from the past. Bhangra is such a wonderful thing that it has a language of its own. People all over the world love bhangra music, even though they might not understand the lyrics."
Malkit said that some of his fans in Spain thought he was the brother of the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, since both sport turbans according to their Sikh faith.
He said: "Such is the power of bhangra you get unbelievable recognition and overwhelming appreciation by people from around the world. And the thought behind the exhibition - to highlight the people who have brought us to this stage - is indeed remarkable and should be appreciated."
Current bhangra wonder Juggy D said his music was greatly influenced by the works of great bhangra artistes like Alaap, Apna Sangeet, Kuldip Manak and Gurdas Maan.
He said it was due to the efforts of these icons that bhangra was becoming the most inspirational music of all times.
Juggy remarked: "The exhibition in Birmingham is the best way to remind our youngsters of the great work done by the pioneering artistes of bhangra. Most of our listeners today were not even born when groups like Alaap and Apna Sangeet were dominating the scene and if through this exhibition some of the artistes can be remembered, it is a great achievement."
Channi Singh of Alaap said he was very happy for his fellow artistes who were being honoured at the exhibition: "It would be good if a similar exhibition was held for bhangra artistes in London as well."