KOLKATA: The troupe of Rina Das Baul, a baul singer from Bolpur, has been invited to perform at Womex, an annual global music conference. After an online version in 2020, the 26-year-old conference will be held in the physical mode at Porto, Portugal, from October 27-31 with 31 countries participating. This is the first time a folk Indian group has a chance to perform on this platform.
Das’s troupe Rangamatir Baul has been making waves at conferences, like Urkult Festival in Sweden in 2017 and Armor India festival in France in 2018. Her music was reviewed by Simon Broughton in Songlines and, in 2019, American Grammy-nominated bluegrass fiddler Casey Driessen collaborated with her on an album. “I’m happy my music is liked across borders,” Das said.
Rina’s case was promoted by Banglanatakdotcom, an NGO helping showcase traditional rural artists. “We aim to feature talents hidden in Bengal,” said spokesperson Amitabha Bhattacharya.
