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IITGN Theatre & Performing Art Festival
The IIT Gandhinagar Theater & Performing Arts Festival is a multi-day event in February 2023 that aims to showcase the talents of both student and professional artists in the fields of theater, dance, and music. The festival will feature a diverse range of performances, including plays, musicals, dance productions, and other forms of live entertainment.
The festival will be organised by Art@IITGN and will take place on campus. It will be open to the general public and will serve as an opportunity for the community to engage with the artists. In addition to the performances, the festival will also include workshops and other educational opportunities for aspiring performers and theater enthusiasts. These workshops will be conducted by professional artists and will focus on a variety of topics, such as acting, singing, dance, and stagecraft.
The goal of the IIT Gandhinagar Theater and Performing Arts Festival is to provide a platform for artists to showcase their talents and to expose audiences to a diverse range of performances and styles. The festival will also showcase cultural diversity and will be a platform for artists from different backgrounds to showcase their talents.
ART@IITGN’s International collaboration with TENT: A School of Performative Practices
Experimental-lab: TENT, is an incubation project of TENT: A School of Performative Practices (AMS). This project is a collaborative platform to build new models, and prototypes, and support structured collaborations for the art field, its possibilities, and its future. el:TENT, works in the frame of fellowships, gatherings, residencies, productions, festivals, and network support. TENT, being a nomadic institution, creates a collaboration with other institutions to make these dreams possible. TENT works as a facilitator to the process.
el:TENT at ART@IITGN: el:TENT for its Indian collaboration, partners with Art at Gandhinagar. The lab is in India from 28th Jan - 15th February in the format of Curator’s meet, artist residency and engagement with the IITGN community. The lab is here with two main programs, Artist residency, and Curator’s meet. In artist residency Polish Artist Maria Magdalena Kozlowska, Amsterdam-based India maker, Pankaj Tiwari, and Swedish theatre maker Tom Oliver Jacobson will work on their respective projects. In the curator's meeting the invited curator will work on ‘reverse mobility’ and finding ways for future collaborations.
Dates: 28th Jan to 14th Feb
Pankaj is an artist-curator from Balrampur India, based in Amsterdam. He works as a co-curator/programmer with Zurich Gessnerallee, Switzerland. He is also invited to curate a festival around ‘Object, Memory and Migration’ for the IAS, University of Minnesota (2021-23). Between 2011-2018, he worked as creative director for ‘The Fotons’, a performance-based group from India. He is the recipient of the 3Package Deal (2021), from Amsterdam Fonds for the Arts. He is also part of a collective ‘Academy of New Rituals’, which consists of Amsterdam-based Polish artist, Maria Magdalena Kozlowska. In June 2021, Pankaj initiated a nomadic school, TENT: A School of performative Practices. TENT has been supported by multiple theatres, festivals, and production houses from across Europe and the UK. A few of them include Santarcangelo Festival, Italy, wpZimer Antwerp, Spielart Munich, DeSingle Antwerp, DAS Theatre, Amsterdam, Gessnerallee Zurich, Radialsystem Berin, Zurcher Theatre Spaktakle, etc.
His artistic approach is based on context and connections, focusing in particular on facilitating locations for knowledge exchange and on curating artistic interventions in public spaces. In January 2020, Pankaj initiated Current: a Space, Amsterdam, which curates performances and worked to build a culture of intersectionality.
His recent works include Paperplanes(2023), The Listeners (2022), Opera to the People(2022), Remote Together(2021), Banyan(2021), The Art of Walking(2020).
Michiel Vandevelde (Curator and Choreographer)
Dates: 2nd to 12th Feb
Michiel studied dance and choreography at P.A.R.T.S., Brussels. He is active as a choreographer, curator, writer, and editor. As a curator, he worked for: Extra City Kunsthal, Het Bos, Bâtard festival, Precarious Pavilions, and Arts Centre DeSingel. He is involved as an editor in the Disagree. magazine and he has written articles for Etcetera, De Witte Raaf, Rekto:Verso, H ART, Mister Motley, etc. From 2017 to 2021 Michiel Vandevelde is an artist in residence at Kaaitheater (Brussels, BE). In his work, he investigates the elements that constitute or obstruct the contemporary public sphere. He explores other social, economic, and cultural alternatives we can imagine to question, challenge, and transform dominant logic and ways of organizing. He has been developing a variety of projects both in public spaces and in (performing) art institutions.
Maria Magdalena Kozłowska ( Artist and Theatre maker)
Dates: 28th Jan to 15th Feb
Maria is an artist and theatre maker born in Zielona Góra, Poland. Currently, she is a maker and theatre director for the Frascati production house in Amsterdam. She graduated from the College of Inter-Area Individual Studies In the Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Warsaw and from the DAS Theatre program in Amsterdam.
Her videos and performances portray singing women and sonic utopias. She often works with classical musicians and opera singers, looking into the performance of music, as well as effectual labor of singing voice. She also researches the entanglement of voice and landscape, building temporary stages in nature and public spaces. Her work has been exhibited by art and theatre institutions, such as KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw, Come Together Festival in Amsterdam, Belluard Bollwerk Festival in Fribourg, Gessneralle Zürich, European Cultural Foundation and Venice Biennale of Art.
Tom Oliver Jacobson (Curator, performer, Theater maker)
Dates: 28th Jan to 15th Feb
Tom Oliver Jacobson is an Amsterdam-based curator, performer, and theatre maker who works with public space, performative encounters, and temporary institutions. Between 2015-2019 he ran the Sweden-based art collective Tlön, which organized performances and clubs in collaboration with international artists. In 2020, he co-initiated the nomadic art institute DUST working with local artists in Amsterdam and international artists abroad. He has worked as a long-term performer in the award-winning Denmark-based group Sisters Hope. In 2022 he initiated One Hundred Dinners, in which 100 public dinners are being organized in collaboration with various other artists.
Chetna Mehrotra (Artist, facilitator)
Dates: 4th-7th Feb
Chetna is an Artist and a Cultural entrepreneur. Founder of Rangbhumi (2011), Chetna started with Applied Arts medium and now also works in module designs, consultancy, and facilitation for organizational cultural building. In her artistic practice, she creates the idea of Multipartiality in a dialogic medium, mostly by inviting conversation to engage constructively in the transformation of the social fabric. Her curiosity lies in the power of Embodied learning practices to transform the inner space of “the Stuck”.
Chetna is a Board member of the International Playback Theatre Network and Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed and published by Pedagogy and Theatre of the Oppressed Journal.
Artist and Visiting Professor at IITGN
In 2011 Srinivas graduated from UC Berkeley with a PhD in South and Southeast Asian Studies. Under the guidance of Professor George Hart he studied Sanskrit, Tamil and Telugu literary traditions and completed his thesis on the Vijayanagara emperor Krishnadevaraya and his Telugu epic Amuktamalyada.
Srinivas has published numerous scholarly articles and four books: Giver of the Worn Garland (Penguin 2010), The Dancer and the King (Penguin 2014), The Cloud Message (2017) and RAYA (Juggernaut 2020). His current book project is an Anthology of Classical India Literature with Bloomsbury Publishing.
Srinivas is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Contemplative Studies at Brown University and Guest Professor at IIT Gandhinagar.
Scholar-in-Residence at IITGN
A 25-year veteran actor in the film/TV/theater industry, Brian joined Caltech as TACIT's director in 2008. He also serves as the Artistic Director of MACH 33: The Festival of New Science-Driven Plays.
He has directed over fifty plays around the world and is a thirty-year veteran actor in the film/TV/theater industry. His roles in A Day Without a Mexican, Cradle Will Rock, The Shawshank Redemption, The Player, and Star Trek: The Next Generation's "The Measure of a Man" remain his favorites.
Brian is Fulbright scholar, Scholar in Residence at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGn), and a Yale-NUS Singapore Artist in Residence. He is a multi-recipient of the California Arts Council's Artists in Communities grant, and recipient of a George Soros Foundation funding award for a theater project in Bosnia.
Artist-in-Residence
Ms. Cynthia Campoy Brophy has joined the Institute as an Artist-in-Residence in the discipline of Humanities and Social Sciences.
Ms. Cynthia Campoy Brophy did her BA (English Literature) from the University of California, Los Angeles, her Diploma in French Literature from the University of Paris, Executive Programme in Nonprofit Arts Administration from Stanford Graduate School, and Professional Education Program from Harvard Graduate School of Education. She also received core mediation training, satisfying the California Dispute Resolutions Program Act from Loyola Law School, Center for Conflict Resolution.
She is the Co-Founder of Create Protest, an online marketplace of artist-designed merchandise created to motivate action and inspire the community. She is also the Mediator/Consultant at CCB Consulting.
Her research interests include: Fields of education, Workforce development, Creative industry, Youth empowerment, and The arts to create sustainable pathways to provide young people with more creative options.
Transmission Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Artist of IITGN
Rahul Bishnoi is an Artist-Scholar at HSS, IIT Gandhinagar working on Practice-based research in Theatre and Performance Studies. His theatre is influenced by Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed which is centered on audience-participation and spect'actor'ship. He has been a theatre practitioner for the past six years and had the experience of working with Adishakti Theatre, Belvoir St Theatre, Clown Without Borders. His most recent performance "Tell Me Your Despair and I'll Tell You Mine" has been selected for Mid American Theatre Conference 2023 panel discussion. Rahul also holds a B.Tech in Bioengineering from IIT Guwahati where he represented Xpressions of three Inter IIT Cultural Meets. His research and artistic work can be explored at www.rahulbishnoi.com
Participating Artists
Artists of the
IITGN community
We envision forming a strong Network of Creative Practitioners at IIT Gandhinagar to interact with each other as well as contribute to the overall vision of ART@IITGN. Encouraging Artists of the IITGN community who are practicing any form of ART (self-taught, formally trained, amateur, professional) to connect with us via this form.
Inviting
Collaboration
We envision forming a strong Network of Creative Practitioners at IIT Gandhinagar to interact with each other as well as contribute to the overall vision of ART@IITGN. Encouraging Artists of the IITGN community who are practicing any form of ART (self-taught, formally trained, amateur, professional) to connect with us via this form.
Art@IITGN invites expressions of interest for collaborations with institutes, organizations and individuals. Reach us via art(at)iitgn.ac.in
Schedule
February 1 – 15
Interaction with five Amsterdam-based Visiting Artists
Time: 10 am-2 pm (every day) | Venue: Dance Studio – hall 11, Central Arcade
February 2-5
Workshop on “Human Powered Irrigation System”
February 2 (Thursday) 21.00-23.00, February 4 (Saturday) 14.00-16.00, February 5 (Sunday) 14.00-16.00 | Venue: Art Studio
February 3-5
Workshop on “Speculative Fiction”
February 3 (Friday) 21.00-23.00, February 4 (Saturday) 17.30-19.00, February 5 (Sunday) 17.30-19.00
Venue: Art Studio
February 3 – 11
Curators meet on Reverse Mobility
Time 3 pm - 6 pm (every day) | Venue: Performance Studio, hall 11, Central Arcade
February 4 & 13
TENT Dinner
February 4 | Venue: Housing Block 2/301 | Time 7-8:30 pm
Please email pankajyavanika@gmail.com / art@iitgn.ac.in for confirmation.
February 6
Performance '2045' - a manifesto' by Artist Chetana Mehrotra
Time: 9:30 pm | Venue: Old PC, hostel area, IITGN
February 7
Symposium/sharing from the working house of curators’ meet
Time: 4 pm-5 pm | Venue: Online
February 8
Performance ‘Exploring Kathak' by Guru Shamatai Bhate and her troupe at Nadroop Pune.
Time: 7 pm - 9 pm| Venue: Jibaben Patel (Kanisa) Memorial Auditorium
February 10
Public Art by Visiting Artists during winter Carnation
Time 7 pm -10 pm | Venue: Hockey field
February 12
“Andaaz - Evening of Ragas” Indian Classical Music Concert led by Prof. Srinivas Reddy
Time: 7 pm-10 pm | Venue: Jibaben Patel (Kanisa) Memorial Auditorium
February 13
TENT Lunch: free for everyone (RSVP via email)
Venue: Art Studio | Time: 1:30-3 pm
Please email pankajyavanika@gmail.com / art@iitgn.ac.in for confirmation.
February 13
Workshop on Opera to the People
Time: 8.30 to 10.30 pm | Venue: Rang Manch at IIT Gandhinagar
February 14
Theater Performance “Lal Batti Express” by Kranti Theater Group, Mumbai
Time: 8 pm - 9 Pm | Venue: Jibaben Patel (Kanisa) Memorial Auditorium
February 16
‘An Evening of Storytelling with IITGN Students’ Story Coach: Brian Brophy
A performance by students of the course Stort Telling for Scientists (HS 492-V) by Brian Brophy.
Time: 7.30 pm | Venue: Jasubhai Memorial Auditorium
February 18-19
Blithchron, Cultural Festival
Time: All Day
February 20
“The Art of self-learning musical instruments: Strings & keys” by Harvansh Dandelia
A one day workshop to explore musical instruments - keyboard & guitar (followed by formal teaching in March 2023)
Time: 6 pm| Venue: Art Exhibition Studio, hall 13, 2nd floor, Central Arcade.
February 24
“Stroke of insight” a performance by Jaya Iyer
Time: 7 pm | Venue: Jibaben Patel (Kanisa) Memorial Auditorium
February 24 - 25 - 26
“Folk Dance workshop” a performance by Chetan Jethwa
Time: 6 to 8 pm / 11 am to 1 pm / 11 am onwards | Venue: Performance Studio, hall 11, central arcade, IITGN
February 25
Street Play “Second Class Citizen?” by Budhan Theater
&
'Sing, Eat, Dance & Repeat' by IITGN Community Artists
Live orchestra, dance and comedy performances, home cooked food, art@iitgn products.
Time: 6.30 pm onward| Venue: Panchayat Circle, Hostel area, IITGN
February 26
"Every Brilliant Thing" play by Rahul Bishnoi, Artist of IITGN
Time: 6 pm onward | Venue: Open air theatre, over 2 Degree Cafe, AB 1
February 27
“Laal Pencil” by Artists of Department of Drama, Gujarat Arts and Science College.
Time: 6.30 pm | Venue: Jibaben Patel (Kanisa) Memorial Auditorium
February 28
“Artificial Intelligence and Future of Art” conversation with Jaison Manjaly, Jasubhai Memorial Chair Professor, IIT Gandhinagar.
Time: 9 pm | Venue: Art Exhibition Studio, hall 13, 2nd floor, Central Arcade.
Artists of the Kranti group are survivors of trafficking. We are daughters of sex workers. We are young women, with big plans, crazy dreams, and a determination to change the world. Together, we are Kranti, an NGO that empowers girls from Mumbai’s red-light areas to become agents of social change...and happiness!
Laal Batti Express (Red-Light Express) the flagship show, a one-hour journey that will take you through the stations of our lives - growing up in Mumbai’s brothels; our battles against society’s violence, abuse, and discrimination; as well as our hopes and dreams for ourselves, our community, and the world. However...LBE is a journey we embark on together - the show is extremely interactive and requires a lot of audience participation. Be ready to share your own experiences, stories, and vulnerabilities!
Budhan Theatre, Theatre for Community Development
The Budhan Theatre Group in Ahmedabad, which has been active since 1998 is an experimental platform and has largely stuck to the street theatre form, combining modern theatre format with the traditional cultural expressions of various denotified communities. Founded by Bhasha, the Group began to enact plays on real-life problems faced by the denotified community members in various parts of India. The group has been successful on several counts like awareness among the young generation from illicit liquor brewing, helping the Chhara youth to explore careers in areas of journalism, television, music and film industry, established a dialogue with the larger society for better understanding of the reality and most importantly, the group has created youth leadership within the community that now independently takes up community causes as well as networks with other Denotified and marginalised communities.
Budhan Theatre strongly believes that theatre and the arts are powerful tools of social change and can be effectively used for community development. In recent years, Budhan Theatre has added digital technology to its repertoire and begun to use social media for broadcasting community issues and issue-based networking. In the past two years, Budhan Theatre artists have moved to film-making and have been making podcasts to capture the impact of the pandemic on the Denotified Communities. The Group is also endeavouring to replicate their theatre journey among other communities and is presently working with the Madari and Chamtha communities in Mahisagar district of Gujarat.
ART@IITGN envision forming a strong Network of Creative Practitioners at IIT Gandhinagar to interact with each other as well as contribute to the overall vision of ART@IITGN. Encouraging Artists of the IITGN community who are practicing any form of ART (self-taught, formally trained, amateur, professional). For the last few months we are conducting meetings with artists and facilitating their respective art forms. Few of the artists are performing during the festival.
Department of Drama was established in 1970 under the auspices of famous drama director Late Jashwant Thakar. Until 1996, the department conducted a two year Diploma in Drama course, later upgraded to Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts program. Dramatic Society was established within the department by the founder Secretary of it Shri C. A. Dalal. The graduates from the department are presently serving at ISRO, Door-Darshan and Aakashvani. Several bright alumni are active in theatre, cinema and TV serials.
Participating Theatre Groups & Organisations
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