Homayun Sakhi, Salar Nader and Abbos Kosimov perform at the Ismaili Centre, Burnaby

Masters of the Afghan rubab, the tabla and the dayra gathered recently at the Ismaili Centre, Burnaby where they conjured the rich musical legacies of Central Asia. The stirring performance by Homayun Sakhi, Salar Nader and Abbos Kosimov on 4 November, took place in collaboration with the Aga Khan Music Initiative before a distinguished audience from academia, civil society, public service, and the arts community. It was prefaced with an address by the British Columbia Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development.

“Culture,” remarked the Honourable Ida Chong, “is an avenue where we truly can learn from one another. It creates understanding, and that is very important in the kind of world that we live in.” Minister Chong went on to underline the role of cultural expression and preservation in sustaining vibrant community development. She noted that the preservation of culture through musical traditions and musical talent fosters an understanding of our shared human heritage.

Introducing the Aga Khan Music Initiative, Director Fairouz Nishanova described it as “an interregional music and arts education programme with worldwide performance, outreach, mentoring, and artistic production activities.” Created by Mawlana Hazar Imam in 2000, the Music Initiative — which is a programme of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture — recognises the vital role of music in Central Asia, the Middle East and other cultures of the Muslim world. It seeks to support musical tradition bearers and their communities in sustaining, developing and transmitting these important traditions. Nishanova said that the Music Initiative’s central objective is to “reanimate historical connections among the musicians” from the diverse geographic regions and countries where it is involved.
The Honourable Ida Chong, Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development for the Province of British Columbia, addresses the audience at the Ismaili Centre, Burnaby. . Photo: Hakam Bhaloo
The Honourable Ida Chong, Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development for the Province of British Columbia, addresses the audience at the Ismaili Centre, Burnaby. . Photo: Hakam Bhaloo

Malik Talib, Vice-President of the Ismaili Council for Canada, welcomed the concert guests, and highlighted the appropriateness of the Ismaili Centre, Burnaby as a venue for the event. He noted that Ismaili Centres are not only places for spiritual search, but also spaces for broadening intellectual horizons and fostering an appreciation of pluralism.

“From it should come forth those thoughts, those sentiments, those attitudes, which bind men together and which unite,” said Mawlana Hazar Imam of the Ismaili Centre, Burnaby at its foundation ceremony in 1982. “It has been conceived and will exist in a mood of friendship, courtesy, and harmony.” Like the Ismaili Centre — with its multiple spaces for personal reflection and collective discourse — the language of music resonated with an appreciative audience. Through their creative synthesis of rhythm and sound, Sakhi, Nader, and Kosimov enlivened the hall with music that evoked the gift of a human diversity carried across time and cultures.

Vice-President Talib also highlighted the Toronto-based Aga Khan Museum — due to open in 2013 — that will also serve as a platform for the Aga Khan Music Initiative. With a focus on education, the Museum will host musical performances, seminars and conferences, and seek to broaden awareness about Muslim societies by using artefacts and art as carriers of culture.

As the event wound down, Joyce Hinton, Co-Managing Director of the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at the University of British Columbia, offered a vote of thanks. She shared her perspective on the fruitful collaboration with the Aga Khan Music Initiative to support talented musicians and create opportunities to bring awareness of diverse traditions to wider publics. The trio of musicians joined the Kronos Quartet the following day for a “West meets East” musical performance at the Chan Centre.