THE MOBILE GIRLS KOOTTAM - Residency & Festival at Adishakti
August 26, 2024 15:28:59 IST MTG editorial
THE MOBILE GIRLS KOOTTAM is a decade-long project, which began with Madumita Dutta’s doctoral research on the labour geography of a mobile phone factory in Sriperumbudur, Chennai. The participatory action research model gave space for this to transform into a podcast in collaboration with Radio Potti and Samyuktha PC, where six factory women and they chatted about everyday issues of being woman at home, on the streets and workplace. When the factory shut down and the workers scattered back home, they got together and wrote a play about their lives. Later, Madhumita wrote a beautiful monograph on the action of listening along with the transcripts of this podcast and lively illustrations by Madhusree, which was published by Zubaan. This provided the shot in the arm for the koottam to regain energy and with the Arts Practice Programme of the India Foundation of the Arts, with the support of Sony Pictures Entertainment Fund, the play hit the floor after six years. The Play has been touring since 2022.
The collective is extending these methodologies to create a sharing ground with comrades from rural and urban areas to exchange knowledge and ideate artistic interventions during this four-day stay at AdiShakti Theatre Arts, Pondicherry. It is a confluence of years of work in arts and activism. The four days will act as a bouncing pad for a year-long resource circle, which will support each other in their arts practices.
Who’s coming for this? Kalpana and Beula are the original Mobile Girls. They once worked in the mobile phone factory. After it shut down, Kalpana has done a variety of things like running a mobile repair shop, a photo studio and is now focusing on farming. She is also a vocal Dalit activist and has had a long-standing collaboration with the CPI-M party. Beula moved on to the beauty industry, and she is now also Zumba artist among other things. Selvi has been a part of the Mobile Girls play cast since 2022. She was once a caretaker in a household, and before that, worked in retail shops and supermarkets as the cashier. She currently works as a floor manager and aspires to get into modelling and creating one woman plays.
The rest of the Mobile Girls crew includes - Malavika, a visual artist and performer with a wide portfolio of work that breaks into abstract narrative forms. Nimmy is an actor and dancer who enjoys using the synergy of dance and community to bring a feeling of community. Atchaya is an actor, dancer and photographer, who works on a variety of expressions including gender, healing, and so on. Sollisai Sistahs is the first all-woman Tamil rap crew who have been breaking into stages across Tamil Nadu.
THE MOBILE GIRL'S KOOTAM - Residency and Festival, slated to happen at Adishakti between the 29th of August to the 1st of September, 2024.
*Mumbai Theatre Guide takes no responsibility for change in schedule.
