Gururaj L

Gururaj’s project has a two-pronged approach, where, as a corrective to the corroding effects of popular culture on the school ethos, it empowers students to creatively link their process of learning in the classroom with local folk art traditions that they are immersed in. As students develop a theatre script on a topic of their choosing, they simultaneously embark on a process of community engagement by learning and documenting a range of folk traditions that stretch from a repertoire of domestic work songs of women to the more established theatre and dance forms available within the community. Aided by series of workshops from local artists on scripting, set and costume design, lighting, and rehearsals, the project will culminate in performances in area schools that showcase the adaptation of text to relevant art forms, and highlight the dialogic relationship between the school experience and the life of the community.

This grant is made possible with support from Goethe Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan, Bangalore.