I am a lucky participant of the theatre residency programme “South Asia cross-regional theatre project” organised in Kathmandu, Nepal by the British Council in March 2018. Riddled with excitement, anxiety, joy, and wonder, I set out for an unknown Nepal by a US Bangla flight. Straight from the airport, I was transferred to the traditional Tajaa Pha Heritage Home of Patan city, where our accommodations were arranged for the trip. Tajaa Pha Heritage Home is indeed the epitome of what we mean by a ‘home-stay’ experience. It was a beautiful, tidy and clean residential hotel and it was the perfect opportunity to sample Nepal’s traditional lifestyle and cultural heritage.
Everything was done on schedule. We met all the other participants and organisers in the evening. Among them were those with whom I have been regularly corresponding with: James Tyson, Theatre and Dance Programme Manager, British Council, UK and Nischal Oli, Head of Arts, British Council Nepal.
Early next morning, the inaugural ceremony of our Residency Project took place at the Yalamaya Kendra, one of the main centres of Kathmandu's arts-literature scenario. The residency was organised to build a network of young, professional theatre-makers and cultural leaders from across South Asia to meet over a series of skills, leadership and creative exchange platforms during a three-year period. The focus of the network and the platforms is to promote cultural dialogue, social cohesion, empowerment of women and girls – through generating new theatre performances, digital platforms and artistic collaborations that can be showcased at other British Council events and support the development of cross-regional platforms for arts-loving audiences and young people across South Asia.
I loved getting to know this diverse gathering of people from different backgrounds. 13 theatre-makers including writers, producers, directors, performers or theatre artists from all over South Asia attended the programme. Six were Nepal-based, and the rest were from the subcontinent, including three from Sri Lanka and one each from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and myself from Bangladesh. The programme was moderated by James Tyson and Bimal Subedi, Director, Theatre Village, Kathmandu. We had open discussions surrounding the themes of women and theatre, theatre in post-conflict zones, how theatre takes to national stages and encompasses local issues, festivals and multilingualism etc. Over four days, there was a collaborative work with the participants. Each of us had to bring an unfinished work to the team, which we had to complete with a partner by volunteering ideas into script development. We also had sessions where each participant talked about their works and experiences in the context of their own cultures and countries. This exercise gave everyone an idea of what the scenario for art and theatre is like in countries other than their own. The programme also consisted of professional development workshops for developing skills in the lines of fundraising or grant-request proposals, international touring proposals and blogging about research visits to cultural sites or performances. A site visit to Bhaktapur was also conducted to further familiarise us to the Nepalese culture and performing arts of Kathmandu Valley. In fact, the entire Residency Project was about the sharing and exchange of artistic thoughts – each participant offered their ideas about contemporary performing arts, their personal stories as individual artists and different life experiences along with problems and possibilities. All this combined helped me to understand the real nature of contemporary performing arts exclusive to South Asia.
My experience at the Kathmandu residency has given me a new outlook towards arts and culture. It led me to realise that the primary purpose of any tremendous artistic creation is the exchange of love and thoughts. Differences in language, nationality and age can only enrich the trade of those thoughts and ideas. We only need the desire and sincerity to follow through. I know I speak for all the participants when I thank the British Council for this opportunity.