A dramatisation about the musical instrument Kortal from the state of Assam in India.
It starts with a fictional story about the origins and then gets into the construction of Kortal. The video contains glimpses of folk culture and Neo-Vaishnavite culture in the form of devotional songs, references to history. This format has been chosen so that the video can evoke widespread interest in the community where it is intended to be distributed.
Kortal is made of a piece of bamboo about half cubit long bifurcated and levelled. It is played by placing it in the palm in accompanying devotional music. Amongst the different classification of musical instruments, the Kortal can be called an Audiophone.
This video is part of a series created by Shilpika Bordoloi for the Brahmaputra Cultural Foundation
“Kortal” was possible thanks to the support of the Ecoversities Alliance 2020 Publication, Film and Multimedia Initiative.
Brahmaputra Cultural Foundation (BCF) is a space of and for community participation, leadership, well being, education through arts and culture. While they preserve and promote cultural traditions, practices of North-east India, they also showcase the best practices in the field of performing and visual arts from all over the world.
The foundation aims at striking a balance between the flows of traditional and modern knowledge and addresses the social, cultural and developmental conflicts. Cultural exchanges, residencies, workshops, research-based work, performances have been their core areas so far. Their strength is their deep-rooted intention and a diverse team of artists, environmentalists, scholars, managers, village elders, farmers, youth and leaders.
For more information visit https://bcf-india.org
