Dosti: Pakistan, India and US making peace through music

The project is a creative initiative that not only makes great music but also bridges gap among the three nations

KARACHI: Aptly named, the 'Dosti' (friendship) project connects people from Pakistan, India and the United States through music.

The project is a creative initiative that not only makes great music, but also bridges the gap among three countries, whose relationship has been politically uneasy (to put it mildly).

Whose brilliant idea was this? The US Embassy in Islamabad.

When the embassy heard about OneBeat  –  a similar programme that invites musicians from 40 countries to collaborate; they initiated Dosti for Pakistani, Indian and American musicians.

PHOTO: DOSTIMUSIC.ORG



Pakistanis and Indians have an immense shared cultural experience upon which to build new collaborations and the Dosti project provides a space for that to happen.

After a month long residency, the collaborators at Dosti perform their musical innovations at various locations across the US.



With Dosti in its second year now, The Express Tribune spoke to the programme director Jeremy Thal, to tell us more about the initiative.

“We frame daily schedules and set up 'challenges' whereby the Dosts [musicians] are given specific musical exercises," Thal explained, adding, "But in the end the musical content will be determined by the Dosts themselves, as they find creative resonance with one another.”

What do they plan on achieving with this project, the second time around?

“We hope to create really powerful, meaningful music that we can present to audiences here in the US,” he said, adding that the point is to make music videos that can be shared around the world.

In South Asia, they hope to contribute to a movement that celebrates the powerful relationships "that can exist regardless of what is happening in the political sphere".

He hopes Dosti gains wider recognition in Pakistan and India.

What does a day at the Dosti project look like?

During the residency, Thal explains, they start off with breakfast which is followed by warm-up games to get the creative juices flowing. They also share a song/tune with the rest of the dosts – including songs in Bengali, Punjabi, Tamil, Urdu and English.

Dosti encourages “people to create music content outside of their normal practice”.

“We often challenge the fellows to a specific task - for example, we'll randomly form duos, and give these duos 24 hours to come up with a piece of music based on a particular theme, such as a folk tale, or a concept that has emerged from our conversations.”



What criteria did you keep in mind to shortlist the artistes? 

“We use three main criteria: Artistic excellence, openness to collaboration, and social engagement."

“We seek out musicians who excelled in their field, and ideally have an element of innovation and adventurousness. We also give priority to musicians who have experience collaborating with musical traditions outside their own and other artistic media, as well as those who give a compelling argument that they were open to stepping outside of their 'musical comfort zone."

Social engagement refers to the way that these musicians bring their music to a wider community by teaching, organising public art events, doing music therapy, using music to resolve conflicts, etc, he added.

The Dosti project is open to all selected applicants. The US Embassy and Dosti staff manage US visas for all collaborators, and pay for their living expenses during the month-long residency.

PHOTO: DOSTIMUSIC.ORG



Do you plan on moving performances towards the west coast of the US and eventually, internationally?

“If we are able to continue Dosti into future years – and we are currently working on raising funds for this – we would love to explore other areas of the country,” said Thal, adding, “We also dream of reuniting the Dosti alumni for a tour of South Asia.”

Why is Dosti based in the US and not in Pakistan or India?

“This is a US-funded public diplomacy project, and they are interested in cultivating positive people-to-people relations between Americans and Pakistanis, and Indians. This is particularly important here in America to counter some of the Islamophobia, xenophobia, and general fear-mongering that has sadly emerged in our political discourse."

“Secondly, the US is a kind of common ground, which allows the visiting artistes to temporarily forget about the political situation in their home countries, and to simply focus on the creative process,” he explained.

The Dosti Music Project 2016 Fellows are:


Abakis: Singer-songwriter from the Washington, US

Darbuka Siva: Percussionist from Chennai, India

Danish Khawaja: multi-instrumentalist from Lahore, Pakistan

Debasmita Bhattacharya: sarod player from Kolkata, India

Kaethe Hostetter: Violinist from Massachusetts, US

Anil Sunny: Tabla player, Sialkot, Pakistan

Iftikhar Ali Khan: Santoor player, Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Tanzeem Haider: Flute player, Lahore, Pakistan

Mohsin Abbas: Vocalist, Gujranwala, Pakistan

Zeerak Ahmed: Singer-songwriter/producer, Lahore, Pakistan