'My festivals represent me'

Says Birwa Qureshi, founder and artistic director of 'Crraft of Art', who explains how these festivals are her way of bridging the gap between the traditional forms of art and contemporary world

- Kinjal.Shah

A family of eight from Vadodara has been attending my festivals for 12 years now, without fail, including the ones held at Dholavira and Champaner. And each time, they make it a point to write to me or meet me to share their experience. And this family is one among the hundreds who've been attending my festivals since I organised the first one in Sarkhej," shared a visibly moved Birwa Qureshi-founder and artistic director of Crraft of Artstating that it is these experiences that have given her the momentum to curate the experiential music festivals for 15 years now.

"Each of the festivals - be it the Water Festival at Adalaj ni Vav, Rani ki Vav in Patan and Dada Hari ni Vav; the Sufi Festival at Sarkej Roza; the Trikaal Festival at Ellora Caves in Aurangabad; Sun Festival in Modhera; Bhadra Festival at Bhadra Fort; Dholavira Festival and Champaner Festival - have been in formation over years. They don't happen overnight. So when you meet an audience of this kind and get houseful shows... it's overwhelming," she explained.

Evolving in the lap of culture