Bengali Ethnic and Traditional Theatre Instruments

Presented as part of the play Khowaj Khijirer Shinduk, this exhibition and theatrical collaboration explored the relationship between Bengali theatre traditions, performative music, and ritual instruments within diasporic contemporary performance contexts.

Through the presentation of ethnic and traditional theatre instruments, the project investigated how sonic heritage migrates across geographies while retaining its philosophical, narrative, and communal dimensions. Situated within a contemporary theatrical framework, the exhibition emphasised instruments not merely as accompaniment, but as carriers of dramatic memory, spiritual symbolism, oral storytelling, and embodied cultural transmission.

A seminar and group discussion on diasporic culture in association with art, music and theatre practices was led by Nichole Georgeou, Neel Banerjee and Dr Ahmed Abid at the Western Sydney University Parramatta campus.