Kolkata Centre for Creativity is organising its third edition of Learn Togetherness from June 24 to July 5 on the fourth floor of the cultural centre on the EM Bypass. This year the theme is ‘What is in our gait? The Performative and Queer’, which aims at addressing the aspect of “performative” (if there is any) in the LGBTQIA+ community. The artworks and performances in this latest curation will be navigating the “potentially performative and transformational emotions of varied representations of diverse gender and sexual identities”. Eighteen selected visual artists, including Anup Let, Archan, Nabarun Raha, Pallavi Aseri, Prasenjit Chandra, Sahitya Dutta, Subhanil Roy, Suchandra Das, Utpal Halder, Rudra Kishore Mandal, Indrani Banerjee, Sebabrato Mandal, Deepak Dhiman, Adhidarshan T, Sawan Taank, Jugal Kumar, and Lakshya Bhargav, will display their work at the inaugural ceremony. In the evening, multidisciplinary artist and curator Sujoy Prasad Chatterjee will be moderating an engaging conversation, “Why do we need the boxes”, with adman Kanchan Datta, activist Bappaditya Mukhopadhyay, scholar and poet Abhirup Mukhopadhyay, and actor Solanki Roy on the panel.
Sujoy told t2: “As a curator of the festival I would say it’s going to be an engaging project where we will show art is about expression. In this world we have an adverse cultural tapestry around us. Expressions have different conduits of manifesting, of transforming and even of transmitting…. This place is to express yourself. There is a lot of discrimination that happens because of misgendering and misinformation. I am glad KCC has given me the opportunity to see, oversee, select and curate works out of such brilliant minds. As a curator I unlearned a lot of things while I was going through these artworks and the performances that we chose.”
Richa Agarwal, chairperson, Kolkata Centre for Creativity, said: “Learn Togetherness III provides an extraordinary platform that allows KCC to celebrate the vibrant spirit and creative brilliance of the LGBTQ+ community and its allies. By incorporating art, culture, and thoughtful discussions, our goal is to foster inclusivity, understanding, and appreciation. We are honoured to have Sujoy Prasad Chatterjee curating this edition, ensuring an experience that will undoubtedly leave a lasting impact on participants and audiences alike.”
Reena Deewan, director, KCC, said, “We are really glad that visual artists from all over India are participating in this event. Under one roof, the audience will see so many perspectives. The name ‘learn togetherness’ suggests everything. We are going to learn how to be together and how to welcome everybody.”
Artworks by (L) Rudra Kishore Mondal (R) Subhanil Roy