Mandala presents fourth Annual Makers Festival

Harish Rao

CHICAGO: Mandala South Asian Performing Arts, which connects audiences and students with the vibrancy, flavors, and colors of the performing arts traditions of South Asia, presents its fourth annual Mandala Makers Festival June 16–26, returning to in-person performances after two years of digital programming.

The festival features nationally recognized and emerging artists who reside in the community in and around Devon Avenue, a hub for immigrants and members of the South Asian diaspora.

 “One of the festival’s goals is to amplify voices and draw attention to the generations of artists, communities, and culture in the neighborhood to promote positive change through better representation of and advocacy for artistic communities of color,” said Mandala Associate Artistic Director AshwatyChennat, who is curating the festival.

Artists and collaborators, who represent performance disciplines including music, dance, drag, storytelling, community-devised work, and interdisciplinary creations. Participants—all responding to specific cultures, art forms, and perspectives from South Asian traditions—include:

• LakshaDantran, dance artist creating Indian classical theatre with LGBTQ perspectives
• Radia Ali, multidisciplinary performance artist exploring themes of transcendence in music and dance
• Abhijeet, drag performer who is curating artists highlighting South Asian Pride
• Masood Haque, storyteller and comedian
• Chethan Anant, Bansuri flautist (wooden, side blown flute) and vocalist performing Khayal music
• Max ZT, dubbed the “Jimi Hendrix of the Hammer Dulcimer”, performing a solo set
• Anvita Hariharan, Carnatic (South Indian classical) saxophonist
• PM Tummala, multi instrumentalist and experimental sound artist taking cues from from Tropicalia, Dub, Jazz, Ambient Indian cinematic and popular music
• OchinPakhi, a group of Bengali musicians representing folk styles from Bangladesh and West Bengal, India
• Ishti Collective, performing site-specific dance work drawing from folk forms and classical dances of South Asia and beyond
• Priya Darshini, a vocalist and composer combining folk, Indian classical, jazz, and pop whose album Periphery was Grammy-nominated in the “Best New Age” category

Programming, some of it site-specific, takes place throughout the neighborhood and in unusual spaces, such as street corners and social service agencies, including Mandala’s partner Indo-American Center. The festival culminates in a showcase June 24–26 indoors and outdoors at Indian Boundary Park.

“In this Year of Chicago Dance, Mandala Makers Festival highlights the contemporary South Asian dance that has emerged in Chicago from independent dance-makers, many of whom work with the popular classical form of Bharatanatyam dance,” said Chennat. “The festival also showcases less common forms embedded in South Asian arts—and their diaspora responses—such as Sufi dances, Odissi and forms from the Caribbean diaspora. The festival explores the juxtaposition of generational continuity and preservation from traditional practitioners with contemporary artists.