The Centre for Studies in Gender and Sexuality would like to invite you to the launch of an archive of Queer Performance in India, developed by CSGS and Young India Fellows Serene George, Kehkasha, and Heer Nimawat. The event "Queer(ing) Performance" will take place on Sunday, the 4th of May, from 4.30 PM to 7.30 PM at Kathika Cultural Centre, Sitaram Bazaar, Delhi.

A stage – an act – a dance – a song – a story – an audience – a memory – a moving body of moving bodies.  Among existing queer archives, we are India’s first archive of queer performance. Digital – globally accessible – dynamic – diverse – multilingual – a record of remembered and unremembered collective memory.

The archive, launched as a part of the  Mapping Sexuality in India Project by CSGS emulates the fluidity of body, space, and language, and actively questions form, whether it is that of a performance, or of an archive. 

We will begin the event with a brief introduction to the archive by Team CSGS and fellows Serene, Kehkasha, and Heer who have worked on its concept and compilation under the mentorship of CSGS as part of their Experiential Learning Module during their Young India Fellowship. 

Introductions will be followed by an engaging panel discussion on Archiving as Disruption with speakers Raqeeb Raza (Photographer, Filmmaker, Artist), Bishnupriya Paul (Professor in Theatre and Performance Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru’s School of Arts and Aesthetics), and Ankush Gupta (Filmmaker, Artist). The panel will be moderated by CSGS Director Prof. Madhavi Menon.

After the panel, artist Sangram Mukhopadhyay will join us to deliver a beautiful performance piece, and the event will be concluded with high tea at a quaint haveli right next door.

We cannot wait to see you there!