Maraa Collective is back with their October Jam Festival, inviting artistes from all over the country to perform and showcase their work on this year\u2019s theme \u2018Stone Flowers,\u2019 which merges the concepts of masculinity and femininity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maraa was founded in 2008 by three friends who wanted to use spaces in Bengaluru for artistic expression as the city was on the cusp of massive infrastructural developments, as a result of which many were getting displaced. Ekta Mittal, one of the co-founders of Maraa says, \u201cWe wanted to represent voices that are not dominant, and challenge the status quo.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year, Maraa is indeed challenging the status quo with their theme. \u201cMaraa conducted a research study about masculinity over the last two years, and we will showcase our report on November 1,\u201d she says. \u201cIn addition to featuring artistes from all over the country, we also launched a Mirrors Fellowship in March, centred around research and projects about challenging fixed ideas about masculinity and selected 12 fellows who will showcase their work between November 1 and 3, at Bangalore International Centre.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"From](\"https:\/\/th-i.thgim.com\/public\/incoming\/8m1tnz\/article68780084.ece\/alternates\/FREE_1200\/Upar%20Wala%20Kamra%20by%20Anoop%20Gupta%20at%20SMART%20Studio.jpg\" "\\"From")
<\/div>\n\nFrom Maraa\u2019s October Jam
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<\/div>\n There will be theatre performances, dance, music, poetry readings, film screenings, and painting exhibitions, not only limited to the city centre, but spread out all over the city. \u201cWe decided to take some of the performances as far as Anekal and Kolar,\u201d Ekta says. \u201cArtiste Anushi Agrawal is going to perform Lifafiya<\/i>, an unsettling, autobiographical narrative in about 50 to 60 locations around Bangalore.\u201d <\/p>\n Maraa is also specifically conducting some performances for the benefit of government college students and residents of rural Karnataka.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are so many unresolved fears that arise from our childhood. The Kannada play Kappeya Kanasu<\/i>, which was staged on October 19 at Samvada, delved into those unresolved fears.\u201d Other theatrical performances include Du Saraswati\u2019s dramatic monologues, advice that she imparts while moving from one corner of Bengaluru to another in her performance Love Purana & Pakshi Purana<\/i>.<\/p>\n Another upcoming performance to look forward to is Launda Naach<\/i>, a Bhojpuri folk theatre form that is an amalgamation of drama, dance, music, and dialogues. This year, one of the performers is Raju Kumar Ranjan, a prolific dancer from Bihar who has toured all over India. <\/p>\n \u201cMasculinity and femininity exist in each one of us, although it is not visible to the eye due to societal expectations,\u201d says Raju over phone from Bihar. \u201cWe, as a community, want this to be recognised,\u201d He will perform on November 3 at BIC, and will later be in conversation with author Brahma Prakash.\u00a0<\/p>\n \nFrom Maraa\u2019s October Jam <\/div>\n Rumi Harish, a trans musician and painter, and one of the mentors for the Mirrors Fellowship, is also performing and showcasing his paintings at an exhibition for October Jam. \u201cI started painting in November 2021, to battle depression, and have been painting every evening since then between 5pm and 11pm, in the manner a singer practises riyaz<\/i>,\u201d says Rumi. <\/p>\n \u201cMy voice transitioned from a female voice to a male voice, so I will be showcasing that in my performance,\u201d he says, talking about his show scheduled at CIEDS Collective on October 27. He also exhibited his paintings from October 18-22 at Shanthi Road Studio Gallery, as part of October Jam.<\/p>\n Dadapeer Jyman, a Kannadiga poet who wrote Rumi\u2019s biography in close collaboration with him, is a Mirrors fellow this year, and is being mentored by Rumi. He will be reciting poetry in a session facilitated by the Queer Poets Collective, co-founded by him and Rumi, and the Razaai Collective on October 26. \u201cEach poet will recite two of their own poems as well as two poems from other renowned queer poets,\u201d says Dadapeer.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cArtistic expressions always surmounts that which is finite,\u201d says Ekta. \u201cWe keep changing the quotients of masculinity and femininity in ourselves, and this year, we are displaying that through our art.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n For details on October Jam events log on to maraa.in or their Instagram handle @maraacollective <\/i><\/p>\n \nFrom Maraa\u2019s October Jam <\/div>\n![\"From](\"https:\/\/th-i.thgim.com\/public\/incoming\/purur8\/article68780089.ece\/alternates\/FREE_1200\/Maatu%20by%20Deepak%20Kurki%20Shivaswamy%20and%20Mirra%20Rau%20at%20Goethe%20Institut.jpg\" "\\"From")
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\nSpecial Arrangement\n<\/p>\n![\"From](\"https:\/\/th-i.thgim.com\/public\/incoming\/frms37\/article68780092.ece\/alternates\/FREE_1200\/Lifafiya%20by%20Anushi%20Agrawal%20Maraa%20Studio.jpg\" "\\"From")
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\nSpecial Arrangement\n<\/p>\n