Pyara Kerketta Foundation

Dalit theatre flourished in different directions shaped by the Ambedkarite movement and the emergence of the Republican Party of India. A prominent form of expression in the anti-establishment socio-political movements in India, Dalit theatre has changed with the times and faced dilemmas. In the recent past, Dalit theatre has been revisiting its vision and addressing newer artistic concerns thrown up by socio-political changes. This grant shall provide partial support to Pyara Kerketta Foundation (PKF) to hold a conference titled Dalit Adivasi Theatre Akhra in Ranchi to facilitate debates on Dalit Adivasi theatre in India. Akhra, a place of verbal debate, critically addresses the dilemmas, frustrations, anxieties, and new directions of Dalit and Adivasi theatre in India.

Founded in 1984, PKF is an NGO based in Ranchi, Jharkhand. The foundation focuses on empowering marginalised communities in Bihar, developing cultural resources and conducting community-centred projects for Adivasis. Primarily, Dalit Adivasi theatre has been looked upon as a tool to bring about social change. While acknowledging the need for a meaningful change in the lives of the poor and deprived people through community-centric projects, PKF believes in theatre as an art form to experiment, innovate and bring in new ideas shaped by changing socio-political conditions. The key thrust of the proposed conference, therefore, will be to vouch for exploratory performance practices that extend beyond prevailing idioms and forms of performance within contemporary practices of Dalit Adivasi theatre.

The first day of the conference shall address the social and cultural conditions that have influenced the practices of Dalit Adivasi theatre in different linguistic and genre contexts in India. Since PKF considers it important to link the concerns of Dalit Adivasi artists to other performance practices in India, the second day of the conference will bring together a range of performing artists to discuss their respective roles in shaping contemporary Dalit Adivasi theatre practices. Another session on the second day will enable artists to share their views on the current understanding of Dalit Adivasi theatre. The last session will open up a dialogue towards the formation of networks. Meetings will be organised among participants to explore possibilities for the cross-fertilisation of ideas, fostering collaborations, and providing those who work in this field with opportunities to address important issues with colleagues. The conference is set to take place as a part of a national theatre festival of Dalit and Adivasi plays with fresh content and meaningful, unexplored themes. By integrating the seminar with the festival, PKF will encourage critical engagement with the performances presented in the festival and the larger issues they throw up. Additionally, Rangavarta, PKF’s tri-monthly journal, shall publish papers presented at the conference in its special issue on Dalit Adivasi theatre.