Ep 1: Who Owns A Woman’s Body?
In this episode, I speak with Anoushka Shankar, one of the world’s biggest names in Indian classical music. Anoushka is an incredible musician & writer, as well as being a music composer & a proud feminist.
We talk about taking ownership of our bodies as womxn & the sexual harassment we’ve faced in our own lives. We also discuss our shared cultural heritage, as well as the joys and the pains of our culture.
Anoushka Shankar has so many talents that it is difficult to list them all. A masterful sitarist, film composer, talented writer, impassioned activist & of course a strong feminist supporting other womxn in the world of art & beyond. She is the youngest and first female recipient of a British House of Commons Shield; the first Indian musician to perform live or to serve as presenter at the Grammy Awards with seven nominations under her belt, and the first Indian woman to be nominated; one of the first five female composers to have been added onto the UK A-level music syllabus. Immersed from a young age on the world stage, with over a quarter-century’s performing behind her, she is a singular, genre-defying artist across realms – classical and contemporary, acoustic and electronic.
The daughter of Pandit Ravi Shankar, one of the most important figures in 20th Century music, Anoushka began studying the sitar under him from the age of 9. After making her professional debut at 13, she began touring worldwide alongside her father then embarked on a successful touring career when she was 18, becoming known for her virtuosic yet emotional playing style, unusual instrumentation, and precise rhythmic interplay.
RESOURCES:
If you’ve been affected by some of the themes of this episode, please check out these resources: