Bengaluru-based non-profit organisation ArtMantram’s four-day online international poetry festival, The Glass House Festival, will begin from July 23.
When 2020 began, Yumna Harisingh, ArtMantram’s vice president, planned for a festival in June to celebrate Karnataka’s culture. In June, art and culture took a backseat; health and economy moved to the forefront of discussions across the world. ArtMantram, however, kept the conversations in art and culture going with online talks and discussions with artists and writers. The positive feedback Yumna received from these sessions spurred her to organise The Glass House Festival.
A poetry festival during a pandemic mightn’t seem essential. Yumna, however, thinks otherwise. “A lot of us are in isolation. It gives us an opportunity to reflect on and express who we are. And, poetry is a medium through which we can touch another person’s soul.”
The festival also focuses on identity. “The festival features queer poetry. There are sessions on Dalit voices, contemporary feminist poetry, African-American poems and poems in regional languages.”
Poet-playwright Chandrashekhara Kambara, who's a recipient of Padma Shri, Jnanpith and Sahitya Akademi Award, will start the festival with the keynote address.
Other sessions include a discussion on world poetry (involving poets Vladimir Lucien, Rafael D’Abdon, Michelle Cahill, Mahdi Mansour and Chandramohan S) and one on Dalit voices, ‘Wounded Republic’ (with poets MB Manoj, Ramesh Karthick Nayak and Yazhan Athi).
To watch the discussions and participate in live Q&A sessions, you visit ArtMantram ’s website. Some of the sessions are co-hosted by Bangalore International Centre .
