The 4th annual Indian Summer Festival was a wonderful opportunity for South Asian art and culture to truly shine in Vancouver. Through public art exhibitions, literary presentations and mesmerizing performances by poets, musicians and dancers alike, this vibrant community has shown off its best and brightest throughout the last ten days. The U.S. Consulate General in Vancouver sponsored two prestigious American presenters to travel to Vancouver to participate in this year’s festival. Renowned Rumi interpreter Coleman Barks and international best-selling author Reza Aslan both added great depth to the festival with their wonderful performances.
Coleman Barks awed audiences with his interpretation of the life and poetry of the 13th century Sufi mystic and poet Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi. Barks, Professor Emeritus, poet and bestselling author, is considered to be a leading scholar on Rumi and has brought the poet into the limelight in North America with his interpretations and translations of his work.
Reza Aslan has also made waves in his field as a scholar and bestselling author on religion. At the festival, Aslan spoke on one of his most notable works, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth. Audiences were given deep insight not only into the life of Jesus himself, but of the historical and religious landscape of the time in which he lived.
The Indian Summer Festival has more than met its mandate of fostering creative dialogue between performers and their audiences, as well as encouraging broader cultural exchange and diversity within our community. The U.S. Consulate was delighted to contribute to these aims and to facilitate ongoing cultural exchange and innovative programming.
Please click here to view photos from the festival.
