Open collaborative working draft for a workshop on feminist practices in culture and theory December 6, 2010
The idea for this workshop is a sense of the lack of an understanding of gender in art and cultural practices.
Some of the aims and objectives that I see could be to
a. to create an understanding of methodological frameworks within feminist practices of art and other forms of cultural production.
b. to spur and encourage cultural practitioners to think along these lines,
c. to bring about a shared communal understanding of feminist and gender politics among cultural practitioners in South Asia.
d.To create a space for collaborative synergising among feminist artists and scholars where we could share and draw from each others work.
This draft is also at this google docs page and is open for anyone who is interested in contributing.The idea is also to pitch it to individuals who are part of organisations that are working in these areas for organisation and logistics.
Happy Independance Day? August 18, 2010
A belated wry Independance day wish. This was ‘Kuffir’ Nalgundwar’s Facebook status message about the increasing incidence of Hindutva ideas among people, and my guess is that he refers especially to a section of people who are net savvy and middle class.His message reflects my apocalyptic terror and visions of a darkening horizon;I share his sense of dejection.But I couldn’t help mention that it is an impossible idea.People are far more unclassifiable than governments can ever fathom.
But on the other hand I don’t think any of is un ‘Hindu’ when you leave out a certain reactionary idea of what ‘Hindu’ is.The term ‘Hindu’ itself is a watershed term that was used by the British to classify a diverse people with varying traditions who lived in and around the Indus river,and was later co-opted as a political identity by pre-independance revivalists and has been abused time and again, as is seen in it’s use today by fascist demagogues.But philosophically if being Hindu means drawing from the wealth of India’s cultural heritage then how can you not be?
*cross-posted from kauntext
links for 2010-06-22 June 22, 2010
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A school rejects a young girl who appeared as a witness for the trial of Ajmal Kasab.
To be or not to be April 30, 2010
(Cross Posted from Kauntext)
I just attended the Queer Nazariya film festival in Bombay and I loved the experience.
In the discussion about queer communities, law and culture, Ponni Arasu, a gay rights activist of the Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore spoke of the need for queer community in India to redefine itself and its goals after the groundbreaking Delhi High Court judgment against Section 377 of the Indian Constitution which criminalizes homosexuality.
In some senses its only the idea of being queer that can actually encompass the reality of sexual processes.Sex is funny and inescapably queer.Having been a part of the amorphous queer community in Bangalore (via workshops at Sangama ) and having witnessed the Queer Azadi city marches vicariously for various reasons and then the subsequent mobilization around 377, and it feels like a beautiful journey, and we have along way to go.
I have claims to this cause, as does everybody, and none of us can deny that issues of love and sexuality concern belonging and community and that acceptance is a major prerequisite to survival.As a feminist who anyway has a problem with patriarchal and heteronormative sexual mores which enslave women I feel resuscitated and enlivened by such spaces where there is no barrier on love or the exchange of it.
I thought that all the films represented a raw and incredibly challenging new post-modern body of work certainly set to redefine norms of seeing, of sex and sexuality, of history and culture. If you want to cast an eye on where relationships are going in the future then this movement is one of the places to look at. Among the films that stood out for their ingenuity were Rex Vs Singh by Ali Kazimi, Richard Fung and John Greyson, Proteus by John Greyson and Jack Lewis and ‘Journey into Kafiristan’ by Fosco Dubini and Donatello Dubini. The novel series called ‘Fucking Different’ by producer Kristian Peterson in which LGBT* film-makers are given a format to create work about LGBT issues was entertaining.
Curators Smriti Nevatia and Sophie Parisse need to be congratulated not just for the engaging fare but also for the pertinent concerns that came through: of queer activism in the developing world and the need to engage with larger struggles for identity and self determination, against racism and against fundamentalisms, religious and otherwise. Thinking aesthetically, queer practices and queer perspectives bring about fresh and new ways of expressing and celebrating sexuality, and this was mirrored in the films for the comfort with which they were able to work across and blend styles.
To us!
* LGBT : Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans-sexual.
talking to each other