We are riding on the fourth wave of feminism. The call for gender equality is stronger than ever before, yet most of us still grow up learning that blue is for boys and pink is for girls; boys play with guns and trucks while girls get dolls and skipping ropes. It is more than just limited to our attire and appearance. It conditions a mindset that gets instilled and perpetuated from a young age. Patriarchy is hard to break away from once it’s deep-rooted into one’s thinking, but over the years as we’ve progressed and become more open-minded as a global society, it has slowly begun to loosen its hold. More so, being ripped out by groups of people fighting for gender equality and redefining gender roles all over the world. In India, one of the early pioneers of this could well be the Gender Bender, a platform that has evolved from a showcase festival to a recognised space for conversations on gender with artists and audiences alike. Now in its fourth year, the festival invites applications from artists who want to express their ideas of gender.
Organised jointly by the Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan and conceptualised by the Sandbox Collective, the project encourages artists to express their creativity through any media as long as it is new work that can be presented, performed, screened, or exhibited to an audience. Be it dance, art, photography, pottery, mime or mixed media – the art is required to approach and perceive gender in a personal yet a critical way. The aim of this festival “has been to contribute to the ever-evolving understanding of gender and its implications, to help produce works that re-examine and re-imagine the concept.” Needless to say, they have been quite successful in doing so.
Many of the projects featured in their previous editions have gone on to become full-length projects being performed across the country. Some of these include Anuja Ghosalkar’s Lady Anandi which is a full-length performance that after touring India went international; Vikrant Dhote’s ‘Dekho Magar Pyar Se’ performed at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, and across Mumbai and Bangalore, Deepika Arwind’s ‘Brief History of your Hair’ which received a grant from IFA and the New Voices Theatre Project.
Gender Bender’s panel comprises of talented individuals, veterans in their respective field. These have included personalities like Kirtana Kumar (Actor, Director and Film-maker), Paromita Vohra (Creative Director of Agents of Ishq), Gautam Bhan (Researcher, Writer, Faculty member at the Indian Institute for Human Settlement) and Sadanand Menon (Cultural journalist). This year too the jury is going to be an independent panel, comprising of eminent individuals in the arts who will shortlist projects that will receive a trigger grant of a maximum of INR 30,000 towards the creation of the work. Selected projects will be presented in Bangalore between 22 and 26 August 2018.
The deadline for the submission of applications is 5 June, 2018. The decision will be announced by 1 July 2018.
To apply fill in the application form here. For eligibility and other details of submission, visit their website here.
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