‘Maati Katha’ (Earth Stories)
Performed by Choiti Ghosh, with Abhisar Bose, and Mohammad Shameem
Followed by a discussion with Choiti Ghosh, Shayoni Mitra (Barnard), and Sufia Uddin (Connecticut)
Time: 6:00pm - 8:00pm, followed by a reception
Location: Glicker Milstein Theatre, Diana Center, Barnard College
Sponsored by the South Asia Institute, the Glicker-Milstein Theatre, and the Dasha Epstein Visiting Scholars and Artists Fund, Department of Theatre, Barnard College
Campus Map
Limited seating is available. Registration for this event does not guarantee a seat at the film screening. For all registrants, valid Barnard or Columbia ID, or for non-affiliates, a Photo ID, must be presented to Barnard College Public Safety Officers for entrance.
SYNOPSIS
In the dangerous and magical land of Sunderbans – the vast forested delta area in West Bengal (eastern India) and Bangladesh where great rivers combine and split before merging into the Bay of Bengal, a region of extreme ecological and environmental vulnerability - living is about a fragile balance between land and water, forest and field, domestic and wild, human and human, human and non-human, calm and storm.
CONTEXT
‘Maati Katha’ (Earth Stories) came to life as part of an ongoing ethnographic research project that documents and archives the myriad stories surrounding traditional & contemporary doll making practices of West Bengal (a state in eastern India) ~ exploring their histories, folklores, oral traditions, myths, communitarian stories, as well as stories that are contemporary, quotidian and personal ~ and linkages to tangible and intangible heritage conservation. ‘Maati Katha’ draws inspiration from the arts, lifestyles and philosophies of one of Eastern India's most marginalized & at-risk people – the people of the unique deltaic mangrove region of Sunderbans.
Choiti Ghosh is an Object Theatre practitioner, puppeteer, actor, singer, writer & director. From 1999 – 2003, she worked in the field of alternative education with the well-known educationist Prof. A.K. Jalaluddin. She gained her experience in different kinds of theatre in India by working as a freelance actor, singer, designer, writer with various theatre companies in India. In 2010 she trained in Object Theatre under the well-known Belgian Object Theatre artiste Agnes Limbos at the Institut International de la Marionnette in Charleville Mezieres, France. In 2011 she founded Tram Theatre with like-minded colleagues with the vision to specialise in Object Theatre in India.
Shayoni Mitra (Director, South Asia Institute) works at the intersection of performance and politics. Her interest in political theatre stems from her years as an actor with Delhi based street theatre group Jana Natya Manch. She is currently revising toward publication her manuscript, “Contesting Capital: A History of Political Theatre in Postcolonial Delhi.”
Sufia Uddin is Professor of Anthropology and Religion at Connecticut College. Uddin's book, "Constructing Bangladesh: Religion, Ethnicity, and Language in an Islamic Nation," was published by UNC Press in 2006.
