Moushumi Bhowmik

Works

Moushumi Bhowmik formed a band named Parapar in 2002 with members from Kolkata and London. Their music is built around the voice of singer-songwriter Moushumi Bhowmik and draws its repertoire both from Moushumi's own compositions and the rich folk heritage of Bengal. The band aims to stress the continuity between diverse musical traditions – kirtan, bhatiyali, adhunik, the blues and both Indian and Western classical music – blending them into a subtle and distinctive musical language. They also draw upon folk material collected by Moushumi from West Bengal, Assam and Bangladesh. As of 2010, the lineup consists of Moushumi Bhowmik (Vocals), Oliver Weeks (Guitar), Ros Acton (Cello), Ben Hillyard (Bass), Derek Scurll (Drums) and Satyaki Banerjee (Dotara).

Moushumi has also composed for Bengali documentary and art cinema, the most recent film Matir Moyna (The Clay Bird, dir. Tareque Masud) having won the Critics' Prize at Cannes in 2002 and Best Music at Kara Film Festival, Karachi in 2003.

In 2003 Moushumi embarked on a journey of recording and documenting the rich and varied tradition of folk music in West Bengal and Bangladesh. Together with sound recordist and sound designer Sukanta Majumdar she explored new avenues of research and dissemination, including archiving and working with archival material, writing and publication, presentation-performance and lectures, collaboration with museums and art galleries, and launching a record label with selections of field recordings. Their work culminated in 2011 with the launch of the website The Travelling Archive.

Moushumi's work is in the Women's Revolutions Per Minute (WRPM) archive, a collection dedicated to music by women, now housed in Special Collections at Goldsmiths College, London University.

Discography