Kabir Kala Manch (KKM), a Pune-based cultural troupe first came together in response to the communal carnage in Gujarat.

A Newsclick feature on the Shadi Khampur Neighbourhood Museum. Conceptualised and curated by Surojit Sarkar and Sudhanva Deshpande, it is a unique presentation of everyday objects from one the oldest parts of the city. A collaborative project of Jana Natya Manch and Ambedkar University, Centre for Community Knowledge, the exhibition brings complex and layered histories of the our city through fascinating narratives, everyday objects, photographic prints, artefacts, audio playback and video recordings. Using pen and paper, cameras, recorders and mobile phones, stories here at the exhibition come from over three dozen local residents, of varying ages, gender and walks of life.

Ali Kazmi of the NAPA Repertory Company, Karachi speaks on the cancellation of plays by Pakistani theatre troupes in the recently concluded 15th Bharat Rang Mahotsav. Kazmi also gives an insight into the kind of theatre being practiced and performed in Pakistan and the growing response of the people.

Sadananad Menon, well known cultural critic, speaks on 'New Imaginaries in Cultural Activism' wherein he explores the intricate relationship between politics and culture. He says it is doing the political, culturally and adds that it is a belief in the power of art to transform and radicalise conventional meanings. Cultural activism, according to him, would imply being able to change the terms of discourse that whoever dominant is trying to force upon. He cautions that the move today is to specifically transform culture into what is called revenue model and thereby convert cultural diversity into a supply side window.

Newsclick discusses with Mahmood Farooqui how far has he and his co-workers been successful in building a new community of Dastango's or story tellers.

Badal Sircar remained, in many ways, the outsider in Indian theatre.

On 4 April 2011, the Israeli-Arab actor, director and film maker Juliano Mer Khamis was shot dead in Jenin, Palestine.

At Palfest we have come as visitors, well wishers, writers come to a land that is undergoing great difficulty. I thought of the stumps of olive trees, a scarred field glimpsed out of the bus window one morning near Nablus. The Israeli soldiers had cut the trees because they were deemed to be a security risk. Whole families depended on the livelihood from the trees. 

Indian People's Theatre Association, IPTA is known for its rousing plays but not many of us are familiar with its strong tradition of protest through music. Sumangala Damodaran, trained in music has documented IPTA songs and reconstructed its revolutionary legacy.