When The Park’s New Festival was launched a decade ago, curator Ranvir Shah of Prakriti Foundation gave himself a brief, which he sticks to even today. He says, “As the name suggests, we want to showcase new and contemporary work. We started when India was going through a great phase of economic growth. Along with that, we also wanted to see where the country was heading in terms of art and culture.”
Over the years, this has been his challenge, he explains. “It’s about discovering what is new and relevant to India and her people. For example, last year, we had Akram Khan bringing a fusion of kathak and flamenco. We’ve had someone like Shankar Tucker, who is well-known internationally, and we have also had Aditya Prakash, who is relatively unknown, but played an amalgamation of Indian classical and folk, jazz and hip-hop. It’s not just for the people here, but also for the diaspora.”
Transnational collaborations tend to show how Indian culture is engaging with the rest of the world, says Ranvir. Perhaps, the one thing they did without an Indian connect was hiphop workshops across the country a couple of years ago. “It helped explore the hiphop movement in the country. The genre started off as a way to give voice to the minorities, so it was interesting to see how it translated to India.”
This year’s schedule will start on September 2 from Chennai and will travel to Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi. “From 100 and 200-people audiences, we are now able to fill up 1000-seater auditoriums. The audience demographic has also improved, and we have everyone from teenagers to older people who want to see what’s new. It helps that the quality of work being put up has also improved. In turn, sponsorships — which used to provide about 40 per cent of the funding earlier — have gone up to 65 to 75 per cent,” says Ranvir.
This year’s line-up includes compelling performances by artists like Shashank Subramanyam, Lelo Nika, Surjit Nongmeikapam and Yuki Ellias.
Schedule
September 2
Nerves
Contemporary Dance Performance by Surjit Nongmeikpam
This performance art piece is rooted in the expressions of the voiceless peoples from Manipur. Their frustrations are embodied in the piece, and the performers try to explore a new medium to express their emotions, guilt, helplessness and vulnerability. Although the roots of this piece are grounded in Manipur and the Northeast of India, the struggle is universal; the struggle and the search for peace.
Venue: Kalakshetra
September 3
Shashank Subramanyam Meets Lelo Nika
In this band, Romanian folklore blends easily with North Scandinavian folklore. Lelo and Shashank’s interplay will make an interesting and unique blend: Romanian harmony with South Indian melodies, Swedish folklore with a touch of European Jazz, rhythms bound together with Eastern European and Indian style of improvisations. On the band, there is the Romanian Cimbalom, Swedish bass, Serbian accordion, Indian bamboo flute, tabla and the Khanjira.
Venue: Sansara Hall, The Park
September 4
Elephant in the Room by Yuki Ellias
Elephant in the Room is a solo theatre performance about the whimsical adventures of a young boy in search of his missing head. It’s a coming-of-age story, with eccentric characters, whose destinies intertwine in a plot that twists and thrills. Yuki Ellias, who plays the lead role, is a performer, director and a corporate coach.
The events are not ticketed. For invites, write to prakritifoundation@gmail.com or call 86086 85156.
