August 8-10, 2008
RE-GENERATION: Art Exhibition

6:00PM-11:00PM Friday, August 8
11:00AM-11:00PM Saturday, August 9
11:00AM-6:00PM Sunday, August 10

Marilyn Brewer Community Space
235 Queens Quay West

South Asian contemporary art is currently on the world's radar with major exhibitions featuring the work of leading artists being commissioned all over the world: in London, New York, Paris, Beijing, Singapore. SAVAC member artists examine the changing social, political and cultural contexts within which the long, rich, vibrant and diverse visual art tradition of the South Asian region is viewed. Re-generation responds to the complex and changing nature of the contemporary South Asian experience.

Prices: FREE EVENT

Friday, August 8, 2008
Video Screening with Q & A with Sharmila Samant

7:00PM
Studio Theatre
235 Queens Quay West

Sharmila Samant is a multimedia artist and curator living and working in Mumbai, India. She has participated in numerous prestigious artist residencies. Samant’s installations and videos deal with questions of urban migration, globalization and consumer culture.

Prices: FREE EVENT

Friday, August 8, 2008
The Tabla House

7:00PM
Toronto Star Stage
235 Queens Quay West

Performance of traditional Indian classical Tabla music by the students of The Tabla House in Brampton. The Tabla House is a School dedicated to teaching Traditional Indian classical Tabla.

Prices: FREE EVENT

August 8, 2008
Autorickshaw - Bollywood and Beyond

9:30PM
Sirius Stage
235 Queens Quay West

This is North-South-East-West fusion at its best!

In this mainstage event at Harbourfront, Autorickshaw will create a kaleidoscope of styles and genres from ancient to modern, collaborating with some of the world's finest artists, all made in Canada. From Indian classical to vintage Bollywood, jazz to electronica, folk to Indo-jazz originals, this concert promises to be a groundbreaking creation that will bring together centuries of classical music traditions from east and west, and of course north and south India.

Prices: FREE EVENT

August 8-10, 2008
In The Name of God

10:00PM Friday, August 8, 2008
10:00PM Sunday, August 10, 2008
Studio Theatre
235 Queens Quay West

(In the Name of God) is a PakistaniUrdu language movie written, directed and produced by Shoaib Mansoor. It stars Shaan, Iman ali and Fawad Ali as its main characters. The film is about the difficult situation in which the Pakistanis in particular and the Muslims in general are caught up since 9/11. There is a war going on between the Fundamentalists and the Liberal Muslims. This situation is creating a drift not only between the Western world and the Muslims, but also within the Muslims.

Prices: FREE EVENT

August 9, 2008
A Peck on the Cheek (Sri Lanka)

2:00PM Saturday, August 9, 2008
Studio Theatre
235 Queens Quay West

A Peck on the Cheek: A heartfelt story about the sacred borders of family, country and politics. Amudha, an adopted child born in an Indian Refugee Camp, travels to Sri Lanka to find her Tamil-speaking parents. The voyage takes her on a treacherous journey of self-discovery within war-torn areas of Sri Lanka leading to a dramatic confrontation with her Tamil mother.

Prices: FREE EVENT

August 9, 2008
Food Demo: Curry, Spice and Everything Rice

3:00PM Saturday, August 9, 2008
Brigantine Room
235 Queens Quay West

With its chic décor and contemporary twists on traditional Indian meals, Indus Junction is a unique concept. The restaurant specializes in a deliciously diverse cuisine that offers Indian food with a modern flare. At Indus Junction East meets West, old crosses new, and modern intersects traditional. Wine for this cooking demo is provided by Diageo.

Prices: FREE EVENT

August 9, 2008
Naach Dhamaaka

3:30PM Saturday, August 9, 2008
Sirius Room
235 Queens Quay West

Celebrating the similarities and uniqueness of South Asian regions through their dance forms. Dance groups will perform dances from this incredibly diverse region in an extravagant collage produced by Lata Pada of SAMPRADAYA Dance Creations.

Prices: FREE EVENT

August 9, 2008
Nach Nach Bollywood Dance Competition

5:00PM Saturday, August 9, 2008
Toronto Star Stage
235 Queens Quay West

Bollywood dance groups from across the GTA compete for Bollywood dancing supremacy.

Prices: FREE EVENT

August 9, 2008
Dheevari (Fisherman's Daughter)

6:00PM Saturday, August 9, 2008
Studio Theatre
235 Queens Quay West

Film Screening and Q&A with Director, Salinda Perera. Runtime: 124min, Dir. Salinda Perera.

Set in the 1970's, Dheevari (Fisherman's Daughter) is a subtle portrayal of the harsh realities of life in a fishing village in Sri Lanka. This compelling film depicts the struggle of a determined young woman to overcome superstition, the ravaging sea and the iniquities of a traditional feudal system, all of which trap her community in a cycle of poverty. The film, shot in 1995, was finally completed in 2006.

Prices: FREE EVENT

August 9, 2008
Tirtha

8:00PM Saturday, August 9, 2008
Sirius Stage
235 Queens Quay West

A stellar trio of innovative South Asian virtuosos from the subcontinent and the diaspora, performing on traditional and contemporary instruments, and drawing from a range of traditions to create lush and expressive soundscapes.

Pianist Vijay Iyer (Downbeat magazine's number one Rising Star Artist of the year and number one Rising Star Composer for both 2006 and 2007) unveils a new joint project, TIRTHA (pronounced "TEER-tha"), an exciting and dynamic trio collaboration with two internationally renowned young Indian musicians living in the US.

Prices: FREE EVENT

August 9, 2008
Aashish Khan and Swapan Chaudhuri

9:30PM Saturday, August 9, 2008
Sirius Stage
235 Queens Quay West

Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri is a phenomenon in the arena of Indian Classical Music. Musicians honor him as one of the most highly respected Tabla players, worthy of highest regard all over the world. He is a recipient of the prestigious Sangeet Natak Academy Award from the Government of India, and the AmericanAcademy of Artists Award, both of which are reserved only for those artists who have attained the highest level of artistry. He has received the Excellence in Performing Arts Award from the Global Indian Congress in San Francisco, and has been nominated to the esteemed International Percussive Arts Society's Hall of Fame.

Taalim (Learning) Aashish Khan was initiated into North Indian Classical Music at the age of five by his grandfather, the legendary Acharya Baba Allauddin Khan Sahib, exponent of the Senia Beenkar and Senia Rababiya Gharana founded in the 16th Century by Mian Tansen, court musician to Emperor Akbar. He also studied under the guidance of his father, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, and aunt, Smt. Annapurna Devi, presently the leading exponents of the "Senia Maihar Gharana", in the Beenkar and Rababiya Anga (style) bearing the Dhrupad style of vocal music.

Prices: FREE EVENT

August 9, 2008
Sister South Asia featuring DJ Ritu

11:00PM Saturday, August 9, 2008
Brigantine Room
235 Queens Quay West

DJ RITU is a highly respected DJ on both radio and the club scene, mixing beats from bhangra to house, everywhere from BBC World Service to the Ministry of Sound. A pioneering DJ, Ritu has consistently been voted as the best DJ by industry magazines who are intrigued by her eclectic mix of house, garage, soul, swing, jungle, ragga, bhangra, and hindi.

Prices: FREE EVENT

August 10, 2008
Demo: Curry, Spice and Everything Rice - Shangrila restaurant

1:00PM Sunday, August 10, 2008
Brigantine Room
235 Queens Quay West

Shangrila restaurant on Queen street features Tibetan-Indian-Nepalese dishes that highlight the migration patterns of the Tibetan community in Toronto. New traditions mix with old in delicious combinations.

Prices: FREE EVENT

August 10, 2008
Canadian Stories

2:00PM Sunday, August 10, 2008
Lakeside Terrace
235 Queens Quay West

Come listen as Toronto South Asians of several generations share their stories of life in a new country that is now theirs.

Prices: FREE EVENT

August 10, 2008
Irshad Khan

3:00PM Sunday, August 10, 2008
Sirius Stage
235 Queens Quay West

Irshad Khan is considered among the world's best Sitar players and the leading Surbahar (BassSitar) player of his generation and among the finest instrumentalists of the world. His individual stamp in both these instruments ascends from the distinctiveness of his technique and mental prowess. He is renowned not only for his mastery of these two instruments, but for his unique presentation of the different genres of Indian classical music. His mastery of the intricate “gayaki-ang”(vocal) and “tantra-ang”(instrumental) styles, makes Irshad Khan one of the most dynamic musicians of today.

Prices: FREE EVENT