Ravi Shankar’s roots run deep. Not just in music, but also in Chicago.
Ravi Shankar first played Chicago in 1933. At the time, he was a dancer performing at the Symphony Center with his brother’s dance troupe. In the decades following that performance, Shankar played Woodstock, the Monterey Pop Festival, and the Concert for Bangladesh, becoming the only musician to play all three of the iconic music festivals.
Shankar inspired the Beatles, John Coltrane, Jimi Hendrix, and countless other musicians. George Harrison called him the “Godfather of World Music.” Harrison’s support of Shankar helped propel him to the forefront of world music and become India’s musical ambassador.
Brian Keigher has been promoting Shankar’s work in Chicago since the 1990s, becoming friends with the world-famous sitar player and his family along the way.
Now Keigher is sharing his personal collection of Ravi Shankar memorabilia at the South Asia Institute in Chicago, a nonprofit hub for South Asian art and culture.
Ravi Shankar: Ragamala to Rockstar follows Shankar’s career and life through a variety of cultural artifacts, some of which — like a photograph of Shankar holding his sitar in quiet concentration at Woodstock — have never been exhibited before.
Walking through the exhibit is like taking a trip through music history. You’ll find several of the psychedelic posters that defined music fandom in the 1960s and 1970s. You’ll hear Ravi Shankar in his own words through video clips. The dozens of records that line an entire wall of the landmark building help illustrate Shankar’s journey to bring Indian classical music into the mainstream, collaborating with the leading musicians of his time to blend the sounds of East and West.
Many of the items on display, including the record collection, are pieces from Keigher’s own personal collection. The Indian classical music aficionado is curating the exhibit in partnership with Guarav Mazumdar, a former student of Shankar’s.
“His wife, she has not seen a lot of these colored ones,” Keigher says of some of the colored vinyl albums on display. “A lot of these were all new to her.”
One of Shankar’s sitars is also on display, though visitors won’t be able to try out the string instrument for themselves.
Ravi Shankar: Ragamala to Rockstar runs through March 5, 2022. You’ll find it in the South Loop inside a 1911 building with a rich history of its own. That building on Chicago’s historic Motor Row once served as a showroom for the B.F. Goodrich tire company.
A visual timeline of the career of Ravi Shankar by way of vinyl records adorns the back of the exhibit hall at the South Asia Institute’s exhibit, Ravi Shankar: Ragamala to Rockstar. 
Meena Thiruvengadam talks with Ravi Shankar exhibit co-curator, Bryan Keigher during an exhibit tour. 
Bryan Keigher points to a rarely seen photo of Ravi Shankar during the historic Woodstock Music and Art Fair in 1969. 
Dr. Shireen Ahmad (vice president & co-founder, South Asia Institute), Bryan Keigher (Ravi Shankar exhibit co-curator), and DR. Afzal Ahmad (president & co-founder, South Asia Institute) 
One of Ravi Shankar’s personal sitars sits on display at the South Asia Institute exhibit Ravi Shankar: Ragamala to Rockstar.
If you go:
Hours: Thursday through Sunday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Price: $5, free on Fridays
Get tickets: Eventbrite
Phone: (312) 929 – 3911
Website: https://www.saichicago.org/
Email: info@saichicago.org
Address: 1925 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60616
