Tag: Performing Arts | Varta Trust

This is a mid-range photo that shows the author of the accompanying article performing ‘Chrome’, their live durational performance-installation at the ‘Queer Objects 1.0’ exhibition that took place in Guwahati in late 2023. The author is seated in a brightly lit corner of the exhibition hall. Their face is hidden by a golden ‘mekhela’ garment hanging above them, with only some of their black tresses visible on their right shoulder. The author has pasted ultrasound images of their pelvis and CT scans of their lungs on the garment. They are wearing another golden garment like a wrap-around, with their shoulders and arms bare and their feet also bare, visible from below the wrap. They are holding up a small chrome-plated container in their right hand just a little above their lap. Their left hand rests on their lap. The chair or stool they are seated on is covered with a flowing drape with blue and white floral patterns. To their right, a small round mirror with a patterned wooden frame is placed on the floor, and their footwear is placed just next to the mirror. Also to their right, a curator’s note titled ‘Chrome’ is pasted on the wall, with the name of the author Mwdai. Photo credit: Anubhav Deka

Objectified

By Mwdai

Mwdai writes the third in a series of articles by the artists who participated in the ‘Queer Objects 1.0’ exhibition held in Guwahati in late 2023

This photograph shows a mid-range shot of the author of the accompanying article seated in a brightly lit corner of the ‘Queer Objects 1.0’ exhibition hall. She is in the process of opening a crocheted tote bag, her own creation, to begin a demonstration of her crocheting art. She smiles as she looks down at the bag, a mobile phone in her left hand. A golden ‘mekhela’ garment hangs above her head, partially draping her head. Interestingly, a set of CT scan images of someone’s lungs are pasted on the garment. Another golden garment covers the author’s lap, with her tote bag placed on it. To her right, a small round mirror with a patterned wooden frame is placed on the floor. The walls around her are painted white in colour. To her right, a curator’s note titled ‘Chrome’ is pasted on the wall, with the name of the artist Mwdai. The author is seated in the same space where Mwdai had earlier presented their durational performance. Photo credit: Bhaskar Rabha

Creations, Insight Jun '25

The oasis

By Hima

Hima writes the second in a series of articles on the experience of the artists who participated in the ‘Queer Objects 1.0’ exhibition held in Guwahati in late 2023

This photograph shows a scene from the re-enactment of the skit ‘Koti Ki Atma’ at Café Adda Ghar, Kolkata on November 4, 2023. Three actors are acting out a scene before a small invited audience. The play is being performed in an open but small and intimate part of the café, lit with a few overhead lamps and other sources of light not visible in the photograph. A black cloth background and a few props form the backdrop behind the actors who are facing the camera. Some of the members of the audience visible in the photograph, half a dozen or so (of the total 40-45), are seated close to the actors on plastic chairs, and have a bemused look as they watch the play up close. A video camera can be seen on the left edge of the photograph recording the play. A photographer, with her camera in hand, is also among the audience, standing just next to the people seated. Darkened tall glass panes forming one of the walls of the café can be seen behind her. A poster of the café menu is pasted on one of the glass panes. Photo credit: Suchandragraphy

From the Archives, Insight Jul '24

Remembered sexual futures

By Diksha Sanyal

Diksha Sanyal summarizes a study on the art and cultural advocacies undertaken by queer community groups in West Bengal in the 1990s and 2000s. The study has been co-developed by...

This photograph shows the author on stage enacting an Odissi ‘abhinaya’ to a popular song ‘To Lagi Gopa Danda’. She is in a kneeling posture with the right knee touching the floor and the other folded (‘abhanga’ posture); she has her arms in a wide open stance with hands placed squarely on the knees and torso tilted to the right; her gaze is fixated to her left, away from the camera. Against a dark stage background, she looks resplendent in a deep red saree, silver ornaments and headgear traditional to the Odissi dance form. With eyes highlighted strikingly with kohl, she has a bright smile as she performs the act with grace. Photo credit: Kaushik Mukherjee

Dance, My Story Dec '18

For that balancing act on stage and in life

By Dr. Subhamita Maitra

Dr. Subhamita Maitra on the power of dance to rejuvenate body and mind

This photograph shows a scene from NGO Civilian Welfare Foundation’s annual walk in Kolkata to celebrate the cause of the Paralympics. A walker is seen standing with a poster that says “Born to Be Free” and has the sketch of a para-athlete in a running pose drawn in the centre. Birds can be seen flying in the background of the poster, as also a kite soaring in the sky. The text and the graphics are rendered in eye-catching red and black. A few other walkers can be seen next to the walker holding the poster. This year’s walk in South Kolkata on August 28, 2017 attracted nearly 300 participants, including a number of para-athletes who won medals for India in the Paralympics held last year in Rio de Janeiro. Photo credit: Pawan Dhall

Vartanama Aug '17

Freer, hardier, sexier

By Pawan Dhall

Freer, hardier, sexier! How about that as a motto for achieving a better life for everyone? A motivation where the contest is with our limitations in becoming a more just...

This main photograph shows a collage of copies of the ‘AIDS Sex Knowledge’ or ‘ASK’ column published for young people by Kolkata-based social communication NGO Thoughtshop Foundation in 1996. The interactive column was published in the ‘Voices’ youth supplement of ‘The Statesman’ every third Thursday. Four editions of the column from February to April 1996 dealt with queer issues with inputs from Counsel Club, one of India’s earliest queer support groups. The photograph shows snippets of the column from these four editions – reader questions, myths and realities pointers, and reader comments on gender and sexuality. The full column name is displayed prominently – ‘AIDS Sex Knowledge for Young People’ with the tag line “If you don’t ask, you’ll never know, will you?” The ‘Voices’ masthead is also prominently visible. Photo credit: Pawan Dhall

Commentary, From the Archives Jul '17

Memories in media outings (part 3)

By Pawan Dhall

In 'Kolkata’s Queer Movement: A Recollection of Media Outings – Mid-1984 to Mid-2013' Pawan Dhall remembers his personal queer-story over the years

Main photo long description: This first (main) photograph shows a performance of Mandeep Raikhy’s choreographic creation ‘Queen-size’ under way at Sitara Studio in Mumbai. The setting is typical for a ‘Queen-size’ show – Lalit Khatana and Parinay Mehra, the two dancers are performing around a charpoy, which is placed in the centre of the performance space – a studio room or small hall. The audience is also seated around the charpoy in an intimate arrangement that is a complete departure from a proscenium setting. The performers are on the right side of the bed, touching each other intimately as they pass by slowly and gaze into each other’s eyes. The lighting is dim, but the charpoy roping is a bright white, especially compared to the audience figures shrouded in darkness. Lalit Khatana, facing the camera, is to the right; he is tall, somewhat heavy built and hirsute, wearing an orange shirt with sleeves folded up and dark trousers; Parinay Mehra with his back to the camera is a shade shorter, slightly built and is in a grey t-shirt and cream coloured trousers. The photograph is taken from behind a few people in the audience seated on chairs. Photo credit: Kavi Datt.

Clickhappy!, Creations Mar '17

Mandeep Raikhy on the spaces that his choreographic creation Queen-size has occupied across India in resistance against criminalization of queer intimacies. I made Queen-size in order to take it OUT. Out of theatres...

Travel Travel, Vartanama Jan '17

Art in museums, films, ropes and charpoys

By Pawan Dhall

I think I’m passing through a happy hours phase. No, not for guzzling beer or cheap Internet services; rather this is about being invigorated by the arts in all their...

Dance Jan '17

‘Queen-size’ show coming to Kolkata

By Pawan Dhall

Pawan Dhall previews a choreographic presentation queer not just in content but in form too Three hundred and seventy-seven acts of intimacy between two men . . . on a...

Tagged Under: Performing Arts

Objectified

The oasis

Remembered sexual futures

For that balancing act on stage and in life

Freer, hardier, sexier

Memories in media outings (part 3)

Coming out on the charpoy

Art in museums, films, ropes and charpoys

‘Queen-size’ show coming to Kolkata

Queer Friendly Resources

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