One afternoon in early November, I received an interesting email from Prateek and Priyanka Raja — the co-founders of Experimenter, one of India's most thought-provoking art galleries today.
“We write to you with a thought, a possibility, a provocation to stir ourselves, not only from the numbness that we feel from the violence and inhumanity that has enveloped our world but also to speak truth to power, question the hegemonies of state structures and to express freely," the email read.
"It is imperative to explore a grammar of courage, which is conscious that justice is an unfinished pathway."Prateek and Priyanka Raja, Experimenter
The email made me think about the kind of world we live in today, and especially about being artists, writers, and witnesses of that world. Globally, liberal democracies — and the political rights and civil liberties enshrined in such systems — have been steadily declining since the early 2000s, and it feels like we're fast approaching an inflection point. With a world still reeling from a post-pandemic cost-of-living crisis, worldwide climatic and environmental degradation, wars in Europe and the Middle-East, civil wars across Africa, and state-backed communal tension and violence closer to home in Manipur, something's got to give. But what might that be?
The post-fact media landscape and hyper-personalised algorithmic social network echo chambers we spend most of our time in have made collective thinking and consensus building seem like near-impossible tasks.
Set against these challenges, the Rajas wanted to create a safe space and a place for fearless collective thinking and open dialogue. Be-khaufi — named after the Urdu word for 'fearlessness' — will bring together some of India's most progressive thought leaders, journalists, writers, activists, and arts workers, each of whom have strived to foster change, for a day-long gathering at Experimenter — Hindustan Road. "The current times demand a moment of pause and reflection," the Rajas say. They aim to actively enable unhindered and constructive conversation, and create a safe space for fearlessness, collective thinking, and open dialogue through this symposium.
"The program at Experimenter aims to actively enable unhindered and constructive conversation and in light of the same, we have envisaged 'Be-khaufi', a symposium rooted in fearlessness, collective thinking and open dialogue."Prateek and Priyanka Raja, Experimenter
The panel at Be-khaufi will consist of Rana Ayyub, award winning Indian journalist and opinion columnist with The Washington Post; Kavita Krishnan, feminist activist, and writer; Sabika Abbas Naqvi, gender rights activist, poet, and educator; Rimjhim Sinha, feminist researcher and a key campaigner of the 'Reclaim the Night' movement in West Bengal; and Moushumi Bhowmik, singer-songwriter, writer, sound archivist, and folk music researcher. The event will be moderated by Natasha Ginwala, Artistic director of Colomboscope, Sri Lanka, and co-curator of Sharjah Biennial 16, and Anish Gawande, author and co-founder of Pink List India.
Experimenter presents Be-khaufi, a day-long symposium rooted in fearlessness, collective thinking, and open dialogue on Saturday, December 7, 2024, at Experimenter — Hindustan Road, Kolkata. Attendance at the event is free by prior registration only.
To learn more, visit experimenter.in.
Follow Experimenter here.
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