There's very little in common between India and Ukraine, countries that are thousands of kilometres apart and located in different geographies and continents. However, art brings together diverse cultures, as was evident on Sunday as the Auditorium, Information Centre, Baha'i House of Worship (Lotus Temple), came alive with Ukrainian music. This concert featured not only Ukrainian but also Indian and other international musicians. The concert - 'A Bridge for Peace & Compassion' - was a collaborative effort of the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC).
Among the highlights of the evening included the many performances by Taras Filenko, the Ukrainian-American pianist, scholar, and teacher, who performs globally to promote Ukrainian culture and raise awareness about the situation in Ukraine.
"Sometimes, art conveys what words cannot," Filenko said, and rightly so, as the concert offered a profound glimpse into the classical and folk music of Ukraine.
The audience broke into applause as the Ao Naga Choir group sang the traditional Naga, Ukrainian, and even Indonesian tunes, serving as the perfect example of how easy it is for art to bridge boundaries.
The Ukrainian folk songs played on piano along with sitar, tabla, and flute served as the correct fusion that makes sense, a jugalbandi between Filenko on piano and dancer Nisha Kesari doing Kathak was refreshing to watch.
The concert ended with the Ukrainian national anthem, and the performers were offered sunflowers, which since 2022 when Russia started a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance.
"Just like the 1920s, our art is again under threat," said Filenko at the concert, which, in a way, also served as a space for international solidarity and the display of Ukrainian soft power. It also showed the power that a nation's soft power can have at a time when it's under siege, especially in raising awareness about the cause.