During the last 40 years The Tagoreans have been involved in many notable activities. It had organised Voices of Bengal Festivals I and II in 1984 and 1988 bringing together for the first time on the stage in Britain artists from West Bengal and Bangladesh. In 1986, the group had organised the 125th anniversary of Tagore's birth with over 150 artists and scholars from around the world presenting dance dramas, musical events, plays, poetry recitals, seminars, workshops and art exhibitions. In 1989 , in recognition of Jawaharlal Nehru's close links with Tagore, the group had organised Nehru's birth centenary celebrations with a variety of events - lectures, international commemorative conferences and musical performances at the Commonwealth Institute, the Royal Festival Hall and Harrow School. In 1997, the Tagoreans had organised two very successful shows of an award winning play by the renowned actor and playwright Soumitra Chatterjee called Tiktiki, and in 1999 celebrated the centenary of the rebel poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. In 1999, the group had organised a millennium concert in Calcutta, with an aim to thank those in West Bengal who had helped this organisation throughout the past 40 years. The celebration included a composite programme of Tagore songs, recitations and dances entitled Ganer Bhitor Diye. This was followed by another programme in December 2002 at Kolkata titled Ogo Shono Ke Bajai - based on Tagore's compositions on Banshi or flute.
In 2003, the Tagoreans organised a series of programmes by the noted Rabindrasangeet artiste Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta of Kolkata, while in the following year the Tagoreans organised a celebration of Tagore’s birth anniversary with Tagore’s portrayal of women’s love by Anchalik from Birmingham, Tagore songs based on Western compositions, and a composition based on Tagore's poem "Africa" by "Kalamandir" from New Jersey, USA - in May.
Rabindranath Tagore won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913 but is remembered and loved by Indians for his several thousand songs, paintings and novels, short stories, plays and dance drasmas. Together this literary output comprises 60 volumes of work unrivalled in its range and inspiration. |