Karachi: The instrument, the orchestra for ‘Conversations 2016’

Ahsan Bari shares all that it took to compose music for ‘Conversations 2016’

KARACHI: Conversations 2016 — an initiative by director Sunil Shankar and choreographer Joshinder Chaggar —will be opening to theatre enthusiasts, from July 28 to August 14. The makers aim to initiate dialogue about the one constant in our lives: Karachi. And one of the ways in which it intends to do so is my employing Sounds of Kolachi’s music director, Ahsan Bari.

The musician — who has proved his mettle over the years — hopes to bring a different kind of sound to the contemporary dance drama. Titled A Love Letter to Karachi, Conversations 2016 is an ode to Pakistan’s largest metropolis that has as many faces as it has colours imbued in its streets.

Bari has worked with Shankar and Chaggar individually before and they share a great chemistry together. However, Conversations 2016 will mark the first time he works with them as a duo. “It is surely going to be quite a task to do a musical translation of what is in their heads, especially since it involves depicting a city using movements and sounds. I am open to experimenting with new ideas like always and surely want to come up with a sound that I have not produced before,” Bari tells The Express Tribune.



While Bari is going to throw his own interpretation of how he ‘listens’ to Karachi, he believes, it is movement that should be dictating the whole scenario.

“I am focusing more on the sounds. The instruments will be used in the most unorthodox of ways.” When asked what kind of sound does he associate Karachi with, Bari replies, “To me, Karachi itself is an instrument. It is the most dynamic instrument that you can ever experience. It never remains the same.” He went on to explain how the city is a perfect example of a symphony orchestra. “It may start with chaos in the first movement but go to almost silence in the second movement and can be as calm as a sea in the third. Karachi is always unpredictable. Always on the go.”

Having composed for Conversations 2013 previously, Bari claims Conversations 2016 is entirely different from its previous instalment or what his band  Sounds of Kolachi is known for. In 2013, Bari incorporated a grave, melancholic sound with the backdrop of a jungle, where actors dressed as birds moved around on stage. This year, it is not just the birds that will fly but the many faces of Karachi that unravel themselves throughout the performance — like a lover who sheds his mask and reveals his soul to the world.



“The only reason I work with people like them is that I always learn something new while on their projects. They will make me experience something out of my comfort zone and I will get a chance to create a new palate of sounds that I have never created before.” Calling Conversations 2016 a “must-watch,” Bari concludes by saying, “I would like to invite everyone for the mesmerising experience that we are going to create.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 24^th, 2016.

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