It’s curtains up for Buddhan at IIMA, CEPT
Students from city’s premier institutes as well as foreign universities to learn how Buddhan theatre can bring about social transformation; they will also explore cultura dimension of Chharanagar slums
Workshops will be held to make students aware of stigmas and prejudices that Chharas and other denotified tribes face
They were once ‘born criminals’. Today, Chharas are all set to teach at premier institutes like IIM Ahmedabad, CEPT university. They will teach Buddhan — a powerful form of development and political theatre — not only to students from the city, but to those studying at international universities.
Confirming this, IIMA assistant professor Navdeep Mathur says, “The theatre here is similar to the ‘Theatre of the Oppressed’ which was created by Augusto Boal during the 1960s in Brazil.
“The theatre offered a creative way to bring about social transformation. It showcases socially relevant scenes of injustice and asks the audience to become spectactors and take part in solving the issue on stage The actors will help bridge the disparate worlds of IIM and Chharanagar.”
Theatre artist and social activist Dakshin Chhara says IIM students will conduct workshops at Chharanagar. “They will come to our premises and learn the art of theatre directly from people here. These students will be made aware of stigmas and prejudices that Chharas and other denotified tribes face,” he said, adding: “Apart from theatre, the Chharanagar library is growing, too. Our society is attracting a lot of overseas students.”
Close to 30 students from the University of Columbia will come to Chharanagar later this year to study urban designing and how theatre here is building a stronger community. CEPT is also planning to conduct field research here. During a two-month period, they will study how space is utilised here, said Chhara.
Utpal Sharma, dean of Planning & Public Policy faculty at CEPT, says: “We are setting up a studio at Chharanagar next semester. Students from the faculty of arts and humanities, faculty of housing (planning) and some students from Boston university will be a part of this exercise.”
He adds, “It will be an exercise for a development case study ‘Learning to Build’ during which the students shall explore the cultural dimension of the slums. The students of Arts faculty will also come up with a theatre production.”
Says Sharma, “At the end of the exercise, we will submit a report to the state government, requesting them to allocate funds for the development of the area.” Chhara says, “If students from premier institutes and foreign institutes mention Chharanagar in their dissertations, an academic discussion about this tribe will kick off, opening avenues for development.”
By Dhwani Pathak
Posted On Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 03:21:11 AM
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