Podcast | Why Puppetry is Always at the Periphery?
Why Puppetry is Always at the Periphery, hosted by Kapil Paharia, a performance art and theatre practitioner based in India, explores the marginalisation of puppetry as an art form, despite its deep cultural roots.
This podcast is commissioned as part of culture360.ASEF.org's Going beyond 'green' open call. Through a series of articles and podcasts, we look at various endeavours, insights and trends that broaden the discourse of sustainability beyond the environmental aspect within the arts and culture sector.
The conversation features DeboSmita Dam, an Indian puppeteer and arts educator, who shares her experiences of working with puppetry in various fields like education, therapy, and art. The practices of puppetry are also often passed down through oral practices amongst the local community. Coupled with the lack of academic resources and formal training in India, and the difficulty of pursuing it as a career, these are just a few of the many reasons why puppetry remains at the periphery of academic and artistic discourse.
With these challenges, how can we sustain this sometimes invisible, sometimes absent artistic practice?
Listen to the episode on Spotify here:
Episode show notes:
- Podcast episode transcript: Why Puppetry is Always at the Periphery
About the Podcast Host & Interviewee
Kapil Paharia works as a performance art & theatre practitioner and individual researcher in India. He has done Master of Arts in Performance Studies from Ambedkar University (2020), Delhi. He presented papers in an international seminar and participated in International festivals with video essay and performances. He is interested in making performance in a mixed medium because he thinks the medium for contemporary art is a mixed medium and multidisciplinary performances. His artistic interests include performances & films related to social and environmental with digital technologies, projection, documental videos, experimental puppetry, objects and research & writing.
Debosmita Dam is a puppeteer, arts educator and filmmaker. Her work lies at the intersections of arts, health and education. She teaches Performing Arts, Puppetry and Visual Theatre, across schools, universities and community libraries. She also designs, facilitates and manages workshops, exhibitions and other public engagements at these interactions.