CULTURES OF PEACE FESTIVAL

 

Dimapur, February 8: Conceptualised and produced by Preeti Gill and Mary Therese Kurkalang, Festival Directors, the Cultures of Peace festival is three-way collaboration between Zubaan, the Heinrich Boell Foundation and Khublei.

 

‘Building bridges and connecting NE with the rest of India’
A press release said that the festival has been growing each year and it brings together writing, music, film, theatre, media, photography etc. It aims to showcase the cultures of the Northeast and foreground important and pertinent discussions, to build bridges and make connections with the rest of India, and to create awareness of the region, both historically and in its present day context.

Now in its third edition, the festival is moving out of Delhi and expanding its reach to other cities. 2014 will take it to three cities, Pune, Mumbai and Guwahati. Earlier editions have included over 60 speakers - writers, academics, Journalists, filmmakers, social activists.

In 2014, the main two-day festival will be held in Pune, the city that witnessed the exodus of large numbers of North easterners, as a result of the rumours spread by vicious sms messages in 2012. The festival is dedicated to Sharmila Rege (1964 -2013) Phule-Ambedkarite feminist and pedagogue, and Irom Sharmila the 'Iron Lady of Manipur' on hunger strike since November 2, 2000.

The Pune festival will comprise panel discussions organised in collaboration with the Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule, Women's Study Centre - Pune University, which will focus on human rights and women's issues in the Northeast, Kashmir, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. Day two of the festival will see the Tetseo Sisters in concert at The Symbiosis School of Liberal Arts at the Vishwabhavan Auditorium. In partnership with FTII, film screenings are being organised which includes films from Tripura, Manipur and Assam.

In Mumbai, in collaboration with the Kala Ghoda Festival, the festival will bring together ten writers and Tripura's rapper, Borkung Hrangkhawlaka BK who will set the tone for an evening in the lawns of the David Sassoon Library.
In Guwahati, within the framework of the Indian Association of Women's Studies conference at Cotton College, the festival will host an evening of writings by women with 14 writers from the different states of the Northeast, and will include fiction, non-fiction, folk storywriters, poets, historians and journalists. Eminent personalities from Nagaland include Rosemary Dzuvichu, Monalisa Changkija and Avinuo Kire.

About the organizers:
The Organisers Zubaan is a leading independent publishing house based in New Delhi with a strong academic and general list. It was set up in 2003 as an imprint of India's first feminist publishing house, Kali for Women, and continues to publish books on, for, by and about women in South Asia. Zubaan's name is associated strongly with high quality fiction by women in South Asia, both in translation and written in English. The trade non-fiction includes memoirs, popular history and books on the women's movement for a general audience. Alongside publishing activities, Zubaan functions as a not-for-profit trust handling a variety of research and outreach projects in the areas of gender, feminism and the women's movement.

The Heinrich Boll Foundation (HBF) is the Green Political Foundation, affiliated to the "Greens/ Alliance 90" political party represented in Germany's federal parliament. Headquartered in Berlin and with more than 25 international offices, HBF conducts and supports civic educational activities and projects worldwide. HBF understands itself as a green think tank and international policy network, working with governmental and non-governmental actors and focusing on gender equity, sustainable development, and democracy and human rights. With a presence in New Delhi since 2002, the HBF India office coordinates the interaction with local project partners. Its programme activities are focused on climate change and energy, gender and economic policy, and democracy and conflict.

KHUBLEI is founded by Mary Therese Kurkalang in 2012. It is a company working in the field of Art, Books, Culture and Design. Offering varied services including event curation and production, marketing consultancy, communication, PR, branding and promotions. KHUBLEI also works actively to promote the cultures of the Northeastern states of India, and raise awareness on issues related to these states. KHUBLEI is a Khasi word, which means 'Thank You', it is also a greeting and literally translated, the two syllables mean 'God Bless'.