Cultural Studies Film - The Concert for Bangladesh

29 Sep 20:00

Koh Phangan

A monthly cultural studies session hosted by cultural researcher and author Viriya Sawangchot. This month will be on a refugee fundraiser concert organised by Ravi Shankar & George Harrison. This may have been the first time superstars raised money by singing for a cause on such a large-scale. Saul Swimmer, with Apple Films, directed the documentary of The Concert for Bangladesh.

Screening starts at 8pm and will be followed by a casual discussion.

Afterparty by DJ Gishiyama (Yamagishi Yoshinori) (Gishiyama Night/Soundscapes of Phrakanong)

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// Free Entry//

THE CONCERT FOR BANGLADESH
The Concert for Bangladesh is recognised as a highly successful and influential humanitarian aid project, generating both awareness and considerable funds as well as providing valuable lessons and inspiration for projects that followed. The concerts were held at 2:30 and 8:00 pm on Sunday, 1 August 1971, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The concerts were followed by a bestselling live album, and a concert documentary, which opened in cinemas in the spring of 1972.

A Bengali by birth, Ravi Shankar was deeply concerned by the plight of the cyclone- and war-ravaged people of East Pakistan during the first six months of 1971. To help raise funds to try to alleviate the misery, he turned to his friend George Harrison, then within six weeks, Madison Square Garden in New York was booked for two UNICEF shows on Sunday, 1 August; Western stars such as Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr and Leon Russell had pledged to be there. The shows were organised to raise international awareness and fund relief efforts for refugees from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), following the Bangladesh Liberation War-related genocide.

VIRIYA SAWANGCHOT
A cultural researcher based in Bangkok, Thailand. He was an API senior fellow (2013-2014), Asian Public Intellectual program, Nippon Foundation, and has previously taught in Cultural Studies program, Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia, Mahidol University, Thailand.