Music, images and encounters across time
Resonances of Hortus Malabaricus is a new music-and-image performance inspired by the Hortus Malabaricus, the twelve-volume botanical project created 350 years ago in Kochi. Far from a dry list of plants, the books are a multilayered record of collaboration and conflict, where European colonial ambition met ancient Indian knowledge systems.
The performance traces how Hendrik Adriaan van Rheede, the Dutch East India Company commander of Malabar, created an unprecedented archive by relying on local expertise, particularly the Ezhava physician Itty Achuthan, alongside teams of tree climbers, translators, and artists. Through live music, spoken text, and projected images, Dutch and Indian musicians return to this shared history, transforming images, names, and remedies into new sound by blending Western jazz and Indian musical traditions.
Performers
Dr. Ned McGowan – flutes and artistic direction
Dr. Suma Sudhindra – veena
Oene van Geel – viola
Mark Tuinstra – guitar
Pramath Kiran – Indian percussion and konnakol
Partners
Indian Music Experience Museum Bangalore
Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Kochi-Muziris Biennale
For bookings and inquiries, contact info@nedmcgowan.com