A series of delightful performances, followed by a series of intense brainstorming, our conference on Livelihood Models for Skilled Street, Circus & Folk Artists went exactly as planned. It encountered several questions but at the same time it managed to work towards building a potential roadmap towards a lasting enterprise. Opening Ceremony The event opened with an welcome speech by Dr. Navina Jafa which was followed by an evocative Keynote speech by renowned designer and curator Rajiv Sethi. These events set the platform for an intense brainstorming session, but not before some delightful impromptu performances by some of the invited artists such as Sheesha Nath ji's "been", Suresh Vyas's Bhavai, as well as some gravity-defying performances by the artists from Manipur's Narayan Nrityalaya. Amazing gravity defying acts by artists from the North East #PreventDeSkilling #Northeastindia #Manipur #tripura pic.twitter.com/UsoEsQwhCt — Centre4new
The congested and dilapidated slums of Kathputli Colony can be seen even from the Blue Line of the Delhi Metro. But the aerial view does not tell you what lies beneath that shanty town and the way it is going, probably no one will be left to tell you that story after a few years. So, the Kathputli Colony (Literally, the colony of puppets), came into existence almost 60 years ago, originally to settle some puppeteers from Rajasthan who lacked a settled address till then due to the itinerant nature of their trade. Originally they only had a few tents but gradually various other types of street performers, musicians, and artisans from different states settled down here permanently. With more than 3000 families, this space soon was overflowing with people but they had no other option. Over the years it become sort of an offbeat tourist destination, visited by eclectic travellers, writers, and photographers chronicling the dying art forms. They got good stories out of these walks