MUMBAI: Since its debut in 2013, Magnetic Fields has grown to be one of the region’s most exciting, contemporary music and arts festival. The year 2017 marks the 70th anniversary of Indian independence, and to commemorate this historical milestone, an alliance of innovative organisations and titans of the arts from the United Kingdom and India has come together to commission a new artistic work.
Liverpool-based British artistic laboratory Metal in partnership with London-based label Warp Records, multi-arts venue Barbican Centre, and online broadcaster Boiler Room, and Indian partners online music magazine Wild City and Mumbai-based arts management agency What About Art? will present Different Trains 1947. This is a brand new audiovisual composition that will bring together the historical and contemporary cultures of UK and India. Three nights of audiovisual performances featuring Actress, Sandunes and Jack Barnett (These New Puritans) to be staged in Liverpool, London and at the festival from 15-17 December in Rajasthan.
Different Trains 1947 is a core project of Arts Council England’s Reimagine India fund, with additional support from Film Hub North West Central and Digital Partner British Council. Different Trains 1947 will be a collaboration between music artists Actress, Jack Barnett (These New Puritans), Indian music producer Sandunes, and filmmakers/artists Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard, who will perform a new audiovisual composition in response to the events of 1947.
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Also, Different Trains 1947 will be premiered in Liverpool at Metal, Edge Hill railway station – the oldest active passenger railway station in the world in September 2017. The piece will then be presented at Barbican Hall, London (October 2017) and Magnetic Fields Festival in Alsisar, India (15-17 December), creating a truly epic international showcase for this new commission.
Talking about the idea and concept of Different Trains 1947: The idea and concept, critically acclaimed musicians Jack Barnett who is currently completing work on ‘These New Puritans’ fourth album in Berlin said, “It combines two things I’m fascinated by – Reich’s work of the 80s and 90s, and the British Empire and its history, but maybe, more importantly, it’s an opportunity to encounter unexpected things, to go through an open-ended process.”
Joining these widely revered and pioneering UK artists will be Indian music producer Sanaya Ardeshir (aka Sandunes) whose hypnotic creations are lauded for incorporating unique Asian sounds with electronica, garage, and expansive synth explorations. “I love the idea of breathing new life into the Different Trains universe and am looking forward to building bridges between geographies and generations through the music that’s going to come from this,” revealed Ardeshir.
Warp’s Creative Director Stephen Christian has been enlisted as musical director for the project to work closely with the artists to develop the ambitious work. Together, these vast talents with their versatile backgrounds will create a truly unique audio-visual experience in response to the events of 1947. Though the project will comprise entirely new work, as a primary source of inspiration the composers have been encouraged to consider the conceptual and formal framework of ‘Different Trains’ (1988) by the genre-defining minimalist composer Steve Reich.
This is a flagship project that will span the globe, utilising historically rich sites in both India and the UK, as part of the 2017 UK/India Year of Culture. Tickets for both UK performances will go on general sale from 21 April 2017, while details for Magnetic Fields will be announced soon.
