Festival to help people engage with diverse art forms

More than 50 musicians, speakers and performers, from all over India representing diverse artistic genres, including theatre, classical dance, visual arts, film and literature, will be part of this three-day festival.

Hindustani musician Ranjani Ramachandran, one of the co-curators of the festival, says, “It has indeed been a unique experience to put together such diverse programmes which strives to initiate a conversation and representation of a diverse set of ideas that re-iterate the notion of collectivism and multiplicity in arts. 

It would also be interesting to see how each of us responds to the uniqueness of the performance space, the Luz House, which will, I am sure, contribute to making this festival dynamic.”

The festival will be held from January 31 to February 2 at Luz House, a 250-year old Dutch heritage home in Mylapore. While talks, film screenings and workshops are generally scheduled for the day, performances take place in the evening.

Veteran Carnatic vocalist from the revered Veena Dhananmal lineage, Rama Ravi and young star Ramana Balachandran will present the Carnatic tradition, while public intellectuals such as renowned linguist and scholar Professor Ganesh Devy, Tamil writer Imayam, AR Venkatachalapathy and Sundar Sarukkai will lead conversations on music, philosophy, literature and protest.

“A festival featuring such a wide spectrum of art forms, workshops, and conversations on several relevant topics is an intriguing and one-of-a-kind experience. 

Apart from the performances, I think to engage in discussions about arts, aesthetics, practice the workspace and so on is much needed,” shares Brindha Manickavsakan, a Carnatic musician.