SMART: Year 2022 - 2023

This year, while SMART continued its online engagement with the field with one SMART In the Round session on a relevant topic that addressed the theatre community and creating safe spaces; we also took a half year hiatus before regrouping to plan activities for the next year from January 2023 onwards. In the previous two years, a total of five SMART In The Round sessions were organised, making the one conducted in this year, the sixth in the series. 

SMART In the Round is a series of curated conversations on creativity, culture and context. This series, the first online activity under SMART, is built on the eight years of SMART’s experience of working with theatre groups from across India’s diverse language, regional and disciplinary contexts. The series hosts conversations that address topics of concern and relevance to the theatre community. In this year, one conversation was organised on the important topic of creating safe spaces by exploring ideas of consent in intimate practices. 

SMART In the Round #6: The Ideas of Consent in Intimate Practices
Thursday, May 26, 2022 | 07:00 PM | Zoom and Facebook
Panelists: Mandeep Raikhy, Neha Vyaso, and Sharanya Ramprakash in conversation with Arundhati Ghosh (Moderator)

Theatre and movement arts constantly, by their very nature, involve physical intimacies in their rehearsals and performances. As a result, the field often deals with many questions like how we must explore the idea of consent in intimate practices like dance and theatre; how we can analyse, reflect and take action to create spaces that are brave, safe and nurturing, among many others. In this panel, Arundhati (SMART Core Team) speaks with Dancer-choreographer Mandeep Raikhy, intimacy director Neha Vyaso and actor-director Sharanya Ramprakash on how we can engage with what is permissible and what is not; and what needs to change in terms of thinking and behaviour to imagine what our future spaces for performing arts can be. 

 SMART in FY 2022-23 was supported by Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan New Delhi.