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Recently, ON the eve of World Music Day on June 20, Austrian Cultural Forum in association with Spandan Communications and Chandigarh Tourism organised an enthralling musical evening by Austrian Band Nim Sofyan - a multicultural and interdisciplinary jazz group. A rare jugalbandi was also seen during the concert with the band and Indian classical musicians Sanjeev Shankar (shehnai) and Anand Shankar (tabla). On this occasion Gudrun Hardiman -- Pollross (director, Austrian Cultural Forum), Anshuman Pandey (director, Spandan Communications), Munish Bahal (deputy director, Austrian Cultural Forum), Kamal Modi and many others were also present there.

This was for the first time this year that a musical evening was orgranised during the World Music Day celebration in Delhi NCR. Unity in diversity through God's direct gift to the mankind - music, is quite evidently reflected in the compositions of this exceptional band.

Austria often termed as the 'land of music' has generated a broad contribution to various forms of art, most notably among them music. Austria has been the birthplace of many famous composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, Anton Bruckner, Johann Strauss Sr., Johann Strauss Jr and Gustav Mahler as well as members of the Second Viennese School such as Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern and Alban Berg and conductors like Felix Weingartner, Clemens Krauss, and Herbert von Karajan, are just a few who have enriched Austrian cultural life. The Vienna Boys' Choir and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra are celebrated organisations. Music in all its format and facets still continues to enjoy a special place in present day Austria.

The magic of Fluxus is at present visible at the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) which has put together the "Fluxus In Germany From 1962-1994, A Long Story With Many Knots". Presented in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut and Max Mueller Bhavan, the exhibition displays more than 300 original works like books, posters, invitation cards, music scores, graphic works, rare films, prints, photographs and installations.

The show, which transports you to another world, will be on at the NGMA till June 4. The artistes on show include Joseph Beuys, John Cage, Ben Patterson, Nam June Paik, Dieter Roth, Wolf Vostell, Daniel Spoerri and others.

The first Fluxus Festival was held In 1962 at the Wiesbaden City Museum in Germany. George Maciunas, a Lithuanian artiste trained in New York, conceptualised a series of concerts under the title Fluxus International Festival of Most Recent Music. Ever since, the term `Fluxus', has been used for concerts and events, manifestos and editions, that have been held or published mainly in Europe, the United States and Japan.