Homayoun Sakhi is revered in Afghanistan as a master of the rubab, a 21-stringed lute with a hauntingly soulful sound. Sakhi will be joined by the tabla player Salar Nader, and together they will explore the rhythmic pulse that fuses Afghan and Indian percussion and draws out the parallels with Hindustani music. In the wake of their families’ flight from Afghanistan following the Soviet-Afghan War of the 1980s, these master musicians perfected their art in the traditional ustâd-shâgird apprenticeship as disciples of the Ustad Zakir Hussain and Ustad Mohammed Omar. Nader has toured extensively with the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Stanley Clarke, and appeared on Broadway with The Kite Runner.

Presented in connection with the special exhibition The Art of Dining: Food Culture in the Islamic World, World on view from September 22, 2024 through January 5, 2025. Free with museum admission.