Musicians, artistes from 12 countries converge in Kohima for 4th Asia Music Summit

Asia Music Summit is one of the biggest and most high-profile events that the state will be hosting, particularly in the field of music and the arts.

PTI, 02 February 2024, KOHIMA: Musicians and artistes from 12 countries have converged in Nagaland’s capital Kohima for the three-day 4th Asia Music Summit.

The summit is hosted and co-organised by Task Force for Music & Arts (TaFMA), Government of Nagaland.

Addressing the opening ceremony here on Thursday, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said traditional Indian music and the culture goes back thousands of years.

“The richness of Indian music, the unique sounds and tunes of our tribal and indigenous people, and the fusion of traditional and modern have taken the creations of Indian artistes across the globe,” he said.

Rio said the Nagaland government has been making sincere efforts in promoting music and arts.

After declaring ‘music as an industry’ within the state, the government has taken it as a mission to carefully nurture creativity from an early age, carefully allow it to grow and blossom, and then harness it as a collective mission towards societal transformation and creation of opportunities.

“Today, our musicians and artistes have become national and global ambassadors, and through their talents we are promoting Brand Nagaland and Naga Soft Power,” he said.

Across the globe, there is an increase in smaller and newer festivals, he said, adding that each of these festivals create work for artistes and indirectly offers hundreds of jobs to people who are not directly engaged in the creative sectors.

The chief minister expressed confidence that the delegates from different countries and participants of the summit will learn more from each other in the course of the next two days.

“Most importantly, we must use the opportunities of networking to create prospects for musicians across the continent,” he said.

Expressing that music and the art give every person an avenue to blossom, Rio hoped that the summit will achieve these aspirations and more.

President of the MusicConnect Asia, Kaushik Dutta, said it is a great honour to co-host the fourth edition of the Asia Music Summit with the government of Nagaland, an initiative which he believed would be of paramount importance for the global music industry.

The Asia Music Summit will allow the government of Nagaland to continue to champion its rich tradition of folk arts and culture and at the same time make the northeastern state a critical destination for global performing arts exchange, he said.

TaFMA chairman Theja Meru informed that over the two days, music concerts, workshops, mentoring sessions, panel discussions, business, networking, one-on-one session, etc, will be held at RCEMPA Jotsoma, some 5 km from the capital town.

The 12 countries participating in the summit are Japan, Santiago De Chile, Ontario- Canada, Portugal, Italy, Jordan, Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and host India.

The aim of the Summit is to provide a global platform, where the exchange and birth of ideas, and concepts will be fostered, to create exciting new partnerships within Asia and the rest of the world, he said.

MusiConnect Asia, an initiative of MusicConnect Asia, is an artiste-driven venture connecting and creating avenues that will be of benefit to Asia-based music makers and allied industry, linking them to presenters and opportunities across the globe.

The forum is supervised and governed by a team of esteemed and widely known music professionals from across Asia.