Dus ka dum

Citizens of Change

Days before lockdown 1.0 was imposed, Kolkata-based dancer and arts manager Paramita Saha decided that stepping out was not going to be possible anymore. "I stayed home, listening to news of the pandemic and hushed rumours about an imminent lockdown. As someone working in the art world, I kept wondering how we would manage," she shares. To make sense of this change, and also to cope with it, Saha, co-director of ideation agency Artsforward, started an Instagram page. "It was a way to document how people were functioning through the lockdown. We started sharing works by artistes and found various ways to engage with art lovers through creative prompts, weekend activities, etc," she adds. Two months on, the agency has tied up with Smoke Inc, a creative solutions firm, to host their first festival, named after the page, ArtAloneTogether, this Sunday.

Maya Krishna Rao

The idea of the festival evolved two to three weeks ago. "We figured a mixed art approach would work well. So, you'll find 10 events covering everything from spoken word and discussions on digital collaborations to theatre and dance," she shares. The eclectic mix of artistes includes award-winning percussionist Bickram Ghosh, who will kick off the 10-hour festival with Pratik Shrivastava on the sarod and Soumen Sarkar on the tabla. "Bengaluru-based dance collective Citizens of Stage Co Lab will put up an interesting performance that will explore the spaces between beings; interdisciplinary artiste Sujoy Prasad Chatterjee will talk about the inner journey of peace, vis-a-vis readings from works by Rabindranath Tagore, Gulzar, Shankho Ghosh, among others; and Mumbai-based vocalist Isheeta Chakrvarty will present an hour of Indian music and jazz.Then there's the inimitable theatre artiste Maya Krishna Rao joining us with the character she created during the lockdown - Paru - who will take on the current happenings," Saha tells us.

Nishit Arora

The idea was to keep the festival inclusive, so there will be a showcase of collaborative public art by women and transwomen from Aravani Art Project, and a special closing act by Pakistani sitarist Rakae Jamil, who will be sharing his memories of training in Kolkata and performing classical and electronic funk tunes. Summing it up for us, co-curator Nishit Arora of Smoke Inc says, "We are living in very tough times, and it is a privilege for us to be able to get together and think of an arts festival. We are trying our best to put out something which speaks to different people during the lockdown, and exploring new ways of staying connected even when we are in isolation."

Isheeta Chakrvarty and Paramita Saha

On June 7, from 9 am
Log on to linktr.ee/artalonetogether for schedule and tickets
Cost Rs 200 for each event

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