Mystical Tabla Solo | Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri | Heaven and Earth by Hetain Patel

#darbarfestival | Watch this Heaven and Earth, a multi-screen video installation in which visual artist Hetain Patel presents a unique way to access the complex time cycles with rare footage of Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri’s solo tabla performance at the Darbar Festival.

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The art installation was presented on an 100 inch TV installation from 18 – 21 September 2014, Festival Village underneath Queen Elizabeth Hall during Darbar Festival. Using rare archive footage of Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri’s solo tabla performance at London’s Southbank Centre for Darbar Festival 2012, Patel had created his own performance, that offers a unique way to access the complex time cycles of the tabla drums. Patel’s work aims to connect the unfamiliar with the familiar, to share access to worlds with seemingly hidden codes. In Heaven & Earth, he walks around his garden table in his back yard in South London; the small scale, domestic location and pedestrian aesthetic stand to contrast the magic, intricacy and virtuosity of the concert. Footage from these contrasting settings sits side-by-side connected by time, rhythm and movement.

About Hetain Patel
Born in Bolton, UK, Hetain Patel’s practice spans a number of different media and is often performative in nature. Identity formation has been central to his concerns since the beginning of his career, more recently this idea has been viewed through the lenses of imitation, language and physical movement. Increasingly Hetain’s work is populated by characters, both fictional and real, in relation to which the artist juxtaposes himself in moments of elision and dissonance. His work has recently extended from gallery settings to the theatre. Hetain’s practice, exploring the subtle and often humorous complexities of life, has won a number of awards. Since 2004, his video, photography and live works have been shown internationally to critical acclaim within institutions such as Royal Opera House, London; Frieze Art Fair, London; Tate Britain, London; Bodhi Art, New York; Sydney Festival, Australia; the Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China; Chatterjee & Lal, Mumbai. He has completed four substantial residencies including 501 Artspace, Chongqing, China and Southbank Centre, London.

About Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri
Swapan Chaudhuri is a living legend of the tabla. Born into a large Bengali family, his father was a doctor and composer who encouraged the discipline of music practice while also expressing reservations about the idea of it as a career. But his first guru Santosh Krishna Biswas recognised his extraordinary talent, which also caught the ears of sarod great Ali Akbar Khan, who lived on the same block as the family. By the age of ten he was accompanying the latter to the Ali Akbar Khan College of Music in California, helping with lesson demonstrations. But he did not turn to tabla full-time yet, completing an economics degree and almost pursuing further study at Harvard. But Hindustani music’s inescapable call beckoned, and he commenced a masters’ degree in it before launching into a stellar career, quickly turning the heads of senior artists and soon becoming the Ali Akbar Khan College of Music’s first director of percussion. He has accompanied several generations of top musicians, energetically committing himself to a performance schedule that would exhaust musicians half his age (once he accompanied eight top artists in 24 hours, including Nikhil Banerjee, Amjad Ali Khan, Pandit Jasraj, and Bhimsen Joshi). Alongside classical performance he has worked with artists including Stevie Wonder, Larry Coryell, and Kayhan Kalhor, and shows few signs of slowing down, saying that “tabla is limitless. I never want to stop."

Darbar believes in the power of Indian classical arts to stir, thrill and inspire. Through shared experiences and digital connectivity, we ensure that one of the world’s finest art forms reaches the widest possible audience. Founded in 2006, we deliver premium quality live events, music education, broadcasts and online engagement through promoting artistic innovation and creative technology. We are also committed to providing a platform for new talent from India and the UK.

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[sandipanlovesmusic]

In kathak, a 16 bit cycle is demonstrated much beautifully.I really did not find anything very unique or creative in the left sided video.Panditji is a legend and always i love listening to Him.

[andreware]

Love Swapan Chaudhry and the Harmonium player! They both played really well! The random guy walking around the table was a sore distraction and a fail, I'm sure he meant well and he walked 16 steps around the table but this did not work. Most of us who are here are for the music and the music.

[musicalHrishi]

That guy walked 18 mins continuously 🤣🤣🤣 its funny !
PS: Swaponji 🙏🙏 as always mesmerising

[shalingashehan]

Living legend pandith swapan chauduri. Love from 🇱🇰

[ghumanjatt]

wah, who understood the magic of mystery like over here

[kanjilalbaishali]

nagma is brilliant, beautiful harmonium playing

[udayc]

I like what you have tried 😄. A bit unusual but new. Earth and Heaven views on left.
Keep experimenting ✌🏻.

[ravitripathi]

Beautiful playing as always. My pranams to him. I dont think that kayda is composed by Nathu Khan sahab though.

[mandarmude]

Hatts off to the legendary master ....

[whatthe]

The person who walks is directly equal to the beat of Tabla

[HimanshuBDave]

The dynamic visual by Hetain Patel a reference and explanation to a uninitiated about the cyclic flow of Indian Classical music. The octagonal table very vividly represented the 16 Matra Tin Taal. Excellent! Try more such visuals. Possibly the artist can consider using fractals to represent the intricate timings of an Indian music compositions.

[sachinchari]

Please upload tari khan sahab videos🙏🏻

[DRUMNICOdotcom]

I wonder if Swapanda knows of this...I will send him the link

[nahushtripathi]

Interesting concept of one cycle represented on the left half

[TablaUK]

Thanks for the video. Always a delight listening to the Legend Swapan.

[VirajKulkarni]

This was a really weird presentation. As a music lover, I am more interested in Swapan ji's playing, his content presentation and the chemistry between Swapan ji and the accompanist; not 2 distracting constant frames of some person in sneakers and crumpled jeans, walking in circles to demonstrate a "complex time cycle".
You also failed to recognize the veteran accompanist, Tanmay Deochake, in your video description. Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of this channel and experimentation in general, but this could've been done in a much better and aesthetic way, for e.g.: using animations, or using a sound-editing software to visualize, or have this person walk in circles only for part of the video. I've pressed dislike on this for the presentation, not for the classical artists. This was frankly quite distasteful and disrespectful to the Art and the Artists involved.

[theindianmarineaquarist]

Kindly explain what Mr. Hiten is trying to do....??😅😅

[warissayed]

That guy walking is very annoying too distracting awful

[haridasvipula]

I didn't understand what u tried to do

[titumuduli]

Pls someone tell me wat is the name of this taal he played at beginning.