Tackling Gender Concerns with Art

Organised by PeriFerry, a social enterprise which aims to facilitate equal employment opportunities for transgenders, the event she says was an opportunity to interact with the general public. 

“I have been training in classical dance under Dhaya Ma for five years now and have performed on quite a few stages. Compared to a few years ago, these days, my gender identity does not limit me from performing on various stages across the state. However, these performances are usually limited to my dance recitals and nothing more. On the other hand, Thiru Vizha transformed into this space where we transgenders could interact with the general public as well as with those within our own community,” explains Bharaa, a transgender and Bharatanatyam dancer.

Bharaa, along with Vanitha, performed Bharatanatyam at the fest, weaving the story of how a transgender child battles for his right to live his life by his own choices right at home. It goes on to showcase how the stigmas attached to his/her gender affects his lifestyle. 

“The objective of this festival is to foster greater interaction and understanding between transgender people and our society. An art festival was selected as the best option because of its ability to attract a lot more people than an intellectual debate,” explains Neelam Jain, Founder of PeriFerry. 

Bharaa adds, “The lower and middle-class people in our society are much more familiar with the transgender community because they interact on roads and public transports. Thiru Vizha was attended mostly by the elite class, the bureaucrats and so on. So, it was a rare occasion where the two communities interacted.”