To rescue Kahlo from the clutches of the corporate art market, we need to acknowledge the overt and covert political dimensions of the work, demands GAVIN O’TOOLE
Latest editorial
Tabla tonic
GEORGE FOGARTY introduces himself to the healing power of traditional Indian music
Pandit Anindo and Anubrata Chatterjee perform at the Barbican
[Rehmat Ryatt / Darbar Festival]
If you can see past the relentless commodification you will be rewarded by enormously powerful work, suggests JENNY MITCHELL
CHRIS SEARLE revels in the one-off collaboration between an American polymath and a British Muslim, and detects the presence of their revolutionary forebear
GORDON PARSONS revels in an ebullient production of Shakespeare’s magical comedy
BRENT CUTLER welcomes a thoughtful analysis of the Erdogan regime, viewed through the evolving history of a neighbourhood in Istanbul
GORDON PARSONS regrets the price, but is dazzled by an outstandingly ambitious study of the way art restoration in particular, and culture in general was weaponised by the Nazis
Anindo Chatterjee and Anubrata Chatterjee
Darbar Festival, Barbican Centre, London
DARBAR festival was founded in 2005 by Sandeep Virdee as a tribute to his late father, the tabla master and teacher Gurmit Singh Virdee.
It is today probably the largest Indian classical music festival outside the subcontinent itself, and it turns out that Anindo Chatterjee had a hand in its foundation; his suggestion to Singh Virdee that he do a tabla performance in honour of the elder Virdee following his death seeded the idea of the festival in the young Sandeep’s mind.
So Chatterjee’s performance today is particularly fitting, especially as he appears with his own son, following rapidly in his footsteps as a master tabla player in his own right. Today they are joined by Dilshad Khan on the sarangi, the bowed string instrument that produces the distinctive and evocative sliding notes which underpin so much of this music.
Similar stories
ANGUS REID recommends that you discover a uniquely intimate community venue in central Edinburgh for an evening of beer and ambitious jazz
New releases by Porridge Radio, The Cribs, and Bjorn Meyer
As part of the 2025 London Jazz Festival Rich Mix offered intriguing sessions titled 'Persian Jazz,' CHRIS SEARLE was there
This is a concert of ambition and courage by organist and improviser Wayne Marshall, says SIMON DUFF