I went into the workshop in the slightly paradoxical state of trying to communicate something that is at once very familiar and very alien. On the one hand, the concept of oral poetry is intrinsic to the Bengali language—from folk and fabulist roots to the articulation of various mystical schools, and even contemporary literary poetry,…
A workshop organized by The Seagull Foundation for the Arts, to enhance the art of storytelling using puppetry. Participants were taken through the process of selecting stories, creating storyboards, creating puppets and manipulating them.The puppets were made with newspaper. The puppet movements were loosely based on the Japanese Bunraku technique. Anurupa Roy is founder and…
A creative writing workshop with Anna De Vaul. Anna has lived and travelled extensively in Vietnam. At the workshop, she shared her experiences of living with the ‘Other’, understanding conflict and looking at an event like the Vietnam War from different perspectives. She used photographs taken in Vietnam to show what war can do to…
Day One: Of Looking Inside, Looking Outside and Transcending Limits A dark room with different images being projected on two walls. A silent flow of images. Bodies of riot victims being shovelled off a truck, posters of feminism, iconic photographs, a new-born girl child being killed by her father, two men kissing among much merriment…
WINDS OF CHANGE: TOWARDS EQUALITY AN EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHS Students from various colleges in Calcutta joined Swayam’s workshop ‘Winds of Change: Towards Equality’ addressing the ideals and realities of gender equality in our society. In order to articulate their thoughts, opinions and observations on the issue, the students chose various modes of self-expression, including photography.…
