We had a fantastic and impactful launch event in October for Kala the Arts’ new exhibition, The Art of Dance from the Sub-Indian Continent, now open at Reading Museum. The day resonated with many visitors, some local to Reading and some guests from London, Slough, Southampton and our special visual artist visitor from Sweden.
“This is an art form which is amazing, people should learn about it, it’s more about sharing and educating everybody, not just South Asians. It’s a way of life.”
— Kiran Ratna ji, a senior Bharatnatyam dance artist and a member of ISTD South Asian dance faculty
“It was a really enjoyable and impressive event – many congratulations! The display looks great and I enjoyed meeting the people involved. Thank you very much for inviting me.”
— Senior Curator, South and South-East Asia
To mark the occasion, we welcomed local, national, international visitors, including workshops, performance talks and a visit from Dr Pradyumna Kumar Mahanandia, a writer and a famous international visual artist with his wife Charlotte and son Karl, a film maker. We’d like to say a huge thank you to those who could attend and also all performers.
“I was born in a Muslim family, and I lost my Mum when I was seven years old. I had no support for dance, but I wanted to dance… my father was very religious and very conservative, and I had no support from my family. Finally, when I was 16, I started dance. Dance is my love, my heart. Kala The Arts support me with dance and training, and I am still learning from Sushmita.”
— Yousuf Hossain, Kala The Arts’ young people’s coordinator
Working together with members of our community and curators at Reading Museum, we chose items from the museum’s archive and Kala ‘s archive and communities that resonated with our work on South Asian dance and culture. Bringing these artefacts out for public view was a special moment for us, with many discussions about how the museum can best represent the communities it serves here in Reading Berkshire. We chose images of gods and goddesses, and were told from the curator when these artefacts arrived in the museum and their history in the UK.
“We added meaningful items from Kala’s archive, and objects from South Asian communities in Berkshire. This includes musical instruments used for Odissi and a special folk drum seen for the first time in the UK. and objects from South Asian communities in Berkshire. Ghumura from Kalahandi in Odisha, artifacts known as Patachitra, created by visual artists, there are photographs of young people learning and celebrating many artists and communities. One to look out for is Ganesh depicted on a preserved palm leaf, beautifully crafted in Patachitra, which took the artist two months to create in a small artisan village of Raghurajpur and was donated for this exhibition. Kala’s Artistic Director and a member of our team also worked with the curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum to research items for this exhibition, sharing their findings with the Reading Museum.”
— From the Curator – Reading Museum Berkshire
“I mentor artists and I teach the next generation of dancers. Dance was in my family, and for me, learning dance was a discipline, bringing in storytelling, and confidence. For the younger generation, I’m creating more opportunities, for them to teach, to learn, to perform, to create more dances… also for them to tour performances. This helps them become more focused, understand life in a different way, engage with people they wouldn’t usually have engaged with, and sharing their experience with others in a creative way.”
— Sushmita Pati, Artistic Director of Kala The Arts
“We curated items that represented festivals and celebrations for communities, and Kala has greatly enjoyed leading the way in bringing these artefacts out of storage and into the public, so communities can see their rich histories and heritage properly represented. We’ve also been collecting stories and accounts from our communities, speaking about what Kala The Arts and dance mean to them.”
— From the Curator – Reading Museum Berkshire
“There were families visiting the museum who were drawn towards the event looking at the performances, the dancers and the artefacts display. In addition to that, the way the whole programme was organised, details to even the tiniest things like a great introduction about Kala the Arts, welcoming the Chief Guest, thanking the Museum collaborators and all others finally by introducing the different dance performances established a great connection with the audience. All kudos to Kala The Arts!”
— Prachi
“I’m a student of Odissi. This form of art is very close to my heart. Dancing has always been a deep passion for me, it makes my soul free and happy. I’ve found great joy in learning Indian classical dancing.”
— Dr Sukanya Ayatakshi