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The 16th edition of October Jam is an invitation to delve deeper into the stone and the flower, the beauty and the beast, the masculine feminine we find inside and around us. The idea for the festival emerges from our ongoing work on the (de)construction of masculinities in India. In conversation with people from diverse social contexts, we have learnt about the multiple and contradictory nature of masculinities and the way in which shapes/is shaped by caste, class, religion, sexuality, geography and so on.
Stone flowers//पत्थर के फूलl//ಕಲ್ಲಿನ ಹೂವು is an intergenerational multilingual conversation around the masculine feminine. The struggle lies in observing how these two play out inside and outside of ourselves? If we were to look at gender as an expression, more than an identity, it pushes us to imagine ourselves quite differently. It is a response to our states of becoming. It is to make space for missing conversations, shared silences, and differences – within ourselves, with others, and the world as we experience it. In the current political climate that manufactures suspicion and fear of the 'other' , our effort is to celebrate and empathize with the beauty and the beast, we wish to invite unlikely pairings: the flower and the stone, beauty and decay, motion and stillness, masculine and feminine. To meet the monsters that lurk inside each of us, inside the families, communities and the societies we build. As we will see in Du Saraswati’s performance, to go in search of the lost birds that once sang inside our hearts, before we sent them into exile.
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS
FILMS
Masculin Feminin Director: Jean-Luc Godard Language: French (with English subtitles)
Aakrosh Director: Govind Nihalani Language: Hindi
Water Lilies Director: Céline Sciamma Language: French
I Don’t Want to Sleep Alone Director: Tsai Ming-liang Language: Taiwanese
Pink Narcissus Director: James Bidgood Language: English
PERFORMANCES
2nd October
Sattu Sherawali Da | Performed by Jaiprakash | Directed by Anoop Gupta
Sattu is a prison inmate and you are the visitor to his cell. Sattu is both the observer and the observed- commenting , recording and enquiring into his state, moving through facts and fantasy , dreams and insights, stories and commentaries.He is at home in cell no: 237, that the shares with his pet. As you watch his story unfold, Sattu will slowly invite you into his cell and eventually into his world that is simultaneously real and unreal.
Sattu is a prison inmate and you are the visitor to his cell. Sattu is both the observer and the observed- commenting , recording and enquiring into his state, moving through facts and fantasy , dreams and insights, stories and commentaries.He is at home in cell no: 237, that the shares with his pet. As you watch his story unfold, Sattu will slowly invite you into his cell and eventually into his world that is simultaneously real and unreal.
4th & 19th October
Kappeya Kanasu / Frog's Dream | A performance by students across the city
Facilitated by maraa, experiences of forbidden acts, childhood fears and desires.Supported by Samvada.
Facilitated by maraa, experiences of forbidden acts, childhood fears and desires.Supported by Samvada.
11th October
Upar Wala Kamra | Anoop Gupta
The play explores the life of an old man whose son is suffering from Depression. As the father is trying to understand why and how his son has reached this point, he starts looking at their life as a family, himself as a father and the inexplicable nature of mental illness. As the father goes deeper into past and present, the piece begins to investigate the strong forces and bonds that operate within a family, pulling us together and pulling us apart.
12th October
12th October
Notions: In Between You and Me | Savita Rani
A devised solo performance of ‘Notion(s)‘ as an effort to understand the socio-political situations occurring all around the world. 13th October
MAATU: A silent conversation
A movement piece exploring stillness and fluidity, motion and rigidity, the masculine and feminine. Performed by Deepak Kurki & Mirra.
19th October
Love Purana & Santhimmi Pakshi Purana | Du Saraswathi
A performance on the relationship between body and mind and the way in which masculinities flow inside and around us.
A performance on the relationship between body and mind and the way in which masculinities flow inside and around us.
20th October
Lifafiya | A performance by Anushi Agrawal, maraa
An inter-generational conversation between women, seeking a room of their own. Devised by Ekta.
An inter-generational conversation between women, seeking a room of their own. Devised by Ekta.
27th October
Journey of a Voice | Rumi Harish
A performance on the journey of a voice in transition.
A performance on the journey of a voice in transition.
3rd Nov
Lattar/Vine
Raju Ranjan, Sunaina, Sipahi Lathor in collaboration with Piyush Kashyap and zeropowercut.
A fantastical investigation into gender roles through a collaboration between Launda Natch performers from Bihar.
MUSIC
5th October
Kinari x Gaana VimalaRaju Ranjan, Sunaina, Sipahi Lathor in collaboration with Piyush Kashyap and zeropowercut.
A fantastical investigation into gender roles through a collaboration between Launda Natch performers from Bihar.
MUSIC
5th October
Featuring Kinari's new album Kattar Kinnar and songs by Gaana Vimala, renowned Gaana artist from Tamil Nadu.
6th October
Beat It!
A celebration of community histories through a Tamate and Parai performance. Featuring Adavi Arts Collective, Big Bang, and an all women's tamate group from Anekal, Karnataka.
A celebration of community histories through a Tamate and Parai performance. Featuring Adavi Arts Collective, Big Bang, and an all women's tamate group from Anekal, Karnataka.
25th October
Songs from the Desert
Presentation of Shah Latif’s poetry by Asif Ramaya, Ataullah Jatt and Arab Natha from Kutch, Gujarat
EXHIBITION & INSTALLATION
1st Nov
1st-3rd Nov
Songs from the Desert
Presentation of Shah Latif’s poetry by Asif Ramaya, Ataullah Jatt and Arab Natha from Kutch, Gujarat
POETRY
Queering Masculinity | Queer Poets Collective & Razai
Poetry exploring the different shades of masculinity
Poetry exploring the different shades of masculinity
EXHIBITION & INSTALLATION
1st Nov
(De)Constructions of Masculinity
Launch of the research study, written by maraa in collaboration with ethnographers from across the country, exploring the construction of masculinities in everyday life.
Launch of the research study, written by maraa in collaboration with ethnographers from across the country, exploring the construction of masculinities in everyday life.
1st-3rd Nov
MIRRORS
Featuring works created under the Mirrors fellowship: visual art, comedy, theater, performance, drawings, quilting, sound and video installations from 12 fellows from diverse social locations, across the country.
WE REQUIRE YOUR SUPPORT!
Travel costs for artists, accommodation and lodging, production and documentation.
Featuring works created under the Mirrors fellowship: visual art, comedy, theater, performance, drawings, quilting, sound and video installations from 12 fellows from diverse social locations, across the country.
WE REQUIRE YOUR SUPPORT!
Travel costs for artists, accommodation and lodging, production and documentation.
October Jam is an independent arts festival supported by artists, well wishers and friends of maraa. Given that, there is hardly any space for the arts, free of the burden of competing agendas and the market, yet our attempt is to keep a space alive for fearless expression. The jam exists because we are curious, restless and free spirited. October Jam has been organised, managed and curated by maraa, a media and arts collective in Bangalore, since 2008.
