Culture Desk
Alliance Française de Dhaka (AFD) has arranged a musical event for the book launching of The Voice of Faith – Nusrat, written by Dr Pierre-Alain Baud, tomorrow at the La Galerie at 6pm.
Dr Pierre-Alain Baud, a French music researcher, journalist and former associate researcher at the Music and the World Religions and Culture Departments, University of Dhaka, was closely involved with Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s life and music for a decade.
The book The Voice of Faith is a personal account of the qawwali maestro’s life as observed by Dr Pierre-Alain Baud, who also spent a significant amount of time in Nusrat’s company and organised a number of his international programs worldwide. The Voice of Faith was published in French and Urdu first, then in English before being translated to Bangla.
To make the event lively, a series of events will take place starting with the screening of the films Nusrat, the Last Prophet and Nusrat Has Left the Building, and some concert abstract Paris 1989 Theatre de la Ville.
Professor Kaiser Haq, also a poet, will give a critical appreciation of the book while Farida Parveen, the famous Lalon singer and exponent, will discuss on the topic of “Lalon and Sufism.”
The event will be concluded with a kabi gaan performance by Arif Dewan and Alya Begum Alo. Arif Dewan, a popular singer of the country, has some popular albums in his credit including Ami ak Pother Baul, Premer Smrity and Behesti Sawgat.
Alya Begam Alo, born in 1965 at Faridpur, started singing when she was just six. Under the guidance of Abdur Rahman Bawati, she became more popular in kabi gaan and zari gaan.
