“Baul” singers who are coming in from India to perform at
the live show

Holiwater: Installation and performances
19 September – 4 October 2009

Holiwater, a two-week installation embracing photography and film, classical Baul singing, electronic music, and breathtaking live performances, opens at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery this month.

The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in New Plymouth is the sole host for the Holiwater performances in New Zealand on 2 and 3 October.

A collaboration between New Zealand filmmaker Andrei Jewell and international musicians, the Holiwater Project entertains and engages on both an arts and action level across world-wide audiences.

The installation of film, photography and music culminates at the Gallery, on Friday 2 and Saturday 3 October, with captivating public performances conceived to bring the experience of the river to the audience. Indian Baul singers will perform accompanied by live percussion and electronic music beds, within an environment of reflective video projection.

The Bauls of Bengal connect music, spirituality and nature. Their ecstatic path of music is a way of life, which is central to their community and traditions.

The Holiwater Project brings together a cinematic vision of the Ganges river. The project’s upcoming Holiwater feature length documentary is a film inspired by the Baul tradition whilst threading together leading Indian visionaries and environmentalists to consider consciousness as a source of spiritual and scientific wisdom. The project’s intention is a celebration of consciousness as a state of harmony with nature, where we are all connected. Water thus becomes a powerful metaphor and visceral element to illustrate our connection to each other and the Earth as a living, breathing being. The Baul’s tradition is one that celebrates nature while venerating water as the source of all life.

Holiwater curator and Govett-Brewster Art Gallery Director Rhana Devenport says the Project evokes questions relevant to all of us. “With water quality an ever growing concern in New Zealand and Taranaki, Holiwater’s focus on this global issue through traditional mystic singing, contemporary sound and visual environments are indeed important and timely.”

Also showing at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery this spring is Nalini Malani from 10 October to 29 November.