Songs of Lalon Fakir: Searching for the Man of the Heart

Join us for an intimate studio concert featuring the poetry and music of Lalon Fakir, an 18th-century poet, singer, philosopher, and social reformer. Lalon Fakir composed thousands of songs without formal education, challenging caste, religious divisions, and social hierarchy through music that suggests that the divine lives within the human body and heart. His songs have been passed down orally for generations by the wandering Baul and Fakir minstrels of Bengal — a tradition recognized by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Chicago-based Bengali folk ensemble Ochin Pakhi will perform a collection of Fakir's songs, followed by a Q & A and discussion led by two scholars: Pramantha Tagore (ethnomusicology), University of Chicago and Molly Greening (Theology), Loyola University, Chicago.