Join us for this extraordinary event celebrating the timeless poetry and mysticism of the great 15th-century poet, Kabir. We are honoured to invite Shabnam Virmani, a renowned artist, filmmaker and performer to respond to the Gulammohammed Sheikh retrospective exhibition at KNMA, and take us on a profound journey through the verses and philosophy of Kabir, whose words continue to transcend time, space, and cultural boundaries.

This day long engagement with Shabnam Virmani begins with showcasing two of her many films that are part of her explorations on the idea of Kabir. As evening strikes we witness Shabnam singing Kabir’s verses, as they urge one to open our hearts and minds to the universal truths of love, equality, and the deep connection between all human beings.

‘Yeh To Ghar Hai Prem Ka’

What house of love arises from the ashes of the house Kabir urges us to burn down? Bringing forth a set of arresting provocations from Kabir in her new book "Burn Down Your House", Shabnam Virmani invites us to pause and be provoked. She will sing to life these age-old and yet-so-fresh poems of Kabir, searing words that burst with beauty even as they shake us awake.

Songs of Kabir

By Shabnam Virmani

Accompanied by Shreeparna Mitra

The schedule of the day is as follows:

2.00pm – 3.30pm – Screening of Kabira Khada Baazaar Mein / Journeys with Sacred & Secular Kabir, 1:34:24 mins, 2009 (subtitled in English)

4.00pm – 5.30pm – Screening of Koi Sunta Hai / Journeys with Kumar & Kabir

1:36:57 mins, 2009 (subtitled in English)

6.00pm – 7.00pm – Shabnam Virmani and Sreeparna in concert

Shabnam Virmani initiated the Kabir Project journeys in 2002 and has since been exploring the philosophy of Kabir and other mystic and Sufi poets through a deep engagement with the oral folk music traditions. Her inspiration and joy in this poetry and its wisdom has taken the shape of a series of award-winning films, books, urban festivals, rural yatras, a digital archive called Ajab Shahar, a school program called Shabad Shaala, and also singing and performing widely herself.

Her film Kabira Khada Bazaar Mein won the Special Jury Prize at the National Film Awards, 2011. She has published two books I Saw Myself: Journeys with Shah Abdul Latif Bhitai (Penguin, 2019) and Burn Down Your House: Provocations from Kabir (Speaking Tiger, 2024). The work of the Kabir Project, housed at Srishti, Bangalore, was given the Sadbhavana Award for contributing to inter-faith understanding by Shri Morari Bapu and Vishwagram Trust in Gujarat in 2016.

Shabnam Virmani

As a filmmaker, singer, storyteller and writer Shabnam Virmani has been exploring the myriad possibilities and power of mystic poetry and its oral traditions since 2002. In this year the communal riots that broke out in Gujarat propelled her to seek answers to fundamental questions of identity and being in the voice of the 15th century mystic poet Kabir. In the same year Shabnam was invited to be the artist-in-residence at Srishti Institute of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore. Here, she gave shape to the Kabir Project, which unfolded as a series of journeys in quest of the socio-political and spiritual resonances of Kabir in contemporary worlds, exploring how his poetry intersects with ideas of identity, nationalism, religion, death, impermanence and folk and oral knowledge systems. She travelled with folk singers in India and Pakistan, met with several lovers of Kabir, journeyed into the Kabir Panth, and also explored the relevance of Kabir in academia and in urban lives. She directed four films based on these journeys – Chalo Hamara Des, Had Anhad, Koi Sunta Hai and Kabira Khada Bazaar Mein which won a National Film Award in 2012.

Earlier Shabnam’s work was centred on social movements and community media. She studied journalism at Times Research Foundation in Delhi and communication at Cornell University. As a young reporter Shabnam broke the story of Roop Kanwar’s sati in Rajasthan which became a landmark report, and the issue was later taken up by a powerful women’s movement. In 1990 Shabnam co-founded the 'Drishti Media, Arts and Human Rights collective' in Ahmedabad where she directed several community radio programs and films in partnership with women's groups, including When Women Unite and Tu Zinda Hai which deal with rural women’s struggles, aspirations and identity. Drishti continues to work today in the area of community media and social awareness.