IFA@Lucknow: Performance of Akshayambara@Mahindra Sanatkada Festival | February 08, 2016

India Foundation for the Arts (IFA)
in collaboration with
Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival
and
South Asia Women's Fund
presents
'Akshayambara': A theatrical exploration of gender in Yakshagana
Monday | 07:30 PM | February 08, 2016
Main Chabutra, Baradari, Qaiser Bagh - Lucknow

Join us for a performance of 'Akshayambara' by Dramanon, directed by IFA grantee Sharanya Ramprakash, at Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival.

Sharanya Ramprakash, a theatre director, received a grant under the Arts Practice Programme to create a theatrical production that explores the position of women and streevesha (female impersonation) within the male-dominated practice of Yakshagana. Drawing from research and personal experience, the performance imagines a reversal of roles in the popular Yakshagana plot of Draupadi Vastrapaharana, while seeking to explore the conflicts around tradition, gender, power, and morality inherent in the form.

Sharanya is a stage actor, director and one of the founders of Dramanon, Bangalore. Over the last 8 years, she has directed 6 full-length productions that have had more than 75 shows in various venues across the country. She received the INLAKS Theatre Award '14 through which she trained at the 'Udupi Yakshagana Kendra' under the tutelage of Guru Sanjeeva Suvarna. She received a grant from India Foundation for the Arts under the Arts Practice Programme in 2015.

The Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival seeks to provide a platform for classical, contemporary and folk music and theatre in Lucknow, to enable audience engagement with the arts. This year, the theme of the festival: 'Lucknow Ki Rachi Basi Tehzeeb', will focus on various regional communities, and two religo-cultural minorities (the Parsis and the Anglo-Indians) that have made Lucknow their home. For more on the Mahindra Sanatkada Festival click here.

South Asia Women's Fund is committed to supporting women-led interventions to enhance and strengthen access to women's human rights and countering violations thereof. It has worked closely with partners to support human rights in the context of conflict, identity, socio-economic deprivations and in relation to violence against women. In its present phase, it is committed to supporting the emergence of a regional human rights movement, which would address national and regional concerns. Its work is focused on developing a regional mandate that is informed by national realities, and is responsive to the rights and needs of the individual woman. The organization, currently works in Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

Sharanya's project was made possible by a grant from India Foundation for the Arts, with part support from Voltas Limited.

This grant showcase was made possible in collaboration with Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival, with support from South Asia Women's Fund.

Photo credit: Suresh Babu

If you would like to know more about the event, please contact menaka@indiaifa.org