An evening of poetry and song

On April 22, from 6 to 7 pm, the Bowen community is invited to a celebration of music and the word.

The event, entitled “From Sufism to Social Protest: Poetry and Song for Change,” features community members and international guests 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 the 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 are also hosting 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 And er (2005), Casafuerte (2004), and 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.

Doors open at 5:30 pm at the Library Annex, with light refreshments and a cash bar.