Cross-cultural collaborations to be on show during four-day S.Asian Festival in Delhi

Cross-cultural collaborations will be on show during a four-day South Asian Festival titled the 'SASSIAN Journey' commencing from March 28 to March 31 at The Ashoka Hotel here.

The festival is an endeavor to bring all SAARC nations together to jointly address the issue of employment and enhance regional integration.

SASSIAN will be a launch pad for sustainable, cross cultural collaborations of South Asians across the globe.

The festival will host a Lotus Bazaar, which will include a series of trans-disciplinary workshops, events, performances, symposia, exhibitions and fests. The bazaar will offer space for direct retail to a selected few artists, artisans and cultural enterprises from all 9 South Asian countries attempting to connect the above to the global market.

Lotus Bazaar will also host South Asia's first food festival named Sanjha Chulha, curated by Dr. Pushpesh Pant, to promote the incredible variety of local and regional cuisines of South Asia showcasing the diversity of culinary art.

The festival is a joint effort of the UNDP, World Bank, The Asian Heritage Foundation, The Smithsonian Institution in Washington and SEWA (Self Employed Women's Association)

The aim of the festival is to reverse de-skilling of artisans and revive the rich traditions of South Asia and to provide the traditional artisan with dignified options

The proposal will work towards : Increased employment and accelerated growth and also enhance regional integration and cooperation amongst the 9 South Asian countries- India, Pakistan, Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Burma, Srilanka and Afganistan

The initiative will be spearheaded by Rajeev Sethi, Founder, The Asian Heritage Foundation, a leading South Asian designer.

Minister of State for Tourism Dr. Mahesh Sharma will inaugurate the event on Saturday.