Utsavam

Launched in 2016, Utsavam is the annual arts and culture festival curated and presented by the DakshinaChitra Heritage Museum, in collaboration with the Shreya Nagarajan Singh Arts Development Consultancy. The festival brings together artists, academics and organisers across disciplines such as dance, folk arts, heritage, music and theatre.

Over the years, the event has showcased presentations of Carnatic classical music, Bharatanatyam, and south Indian folk dance and drama forms such as kattaikoothu from Tamil Nadu and yakshagana from Karnataka. Poet Arundhathi Subramaniam, writer and theatre director Gowri Ramanarayan, theatre scholar Hanne De Bruin, journalist Kavitha Muralidharan, artist Laya Mathikshara, koodiyattam practitioner Nepathya Sreehari Chakyar, historians Nivedita Louis and V. Sriram, and Bharatanatyam dance company Vyuti are among the many speakers and performers to have participated in the festival over the years. 

Utsavam is based on a different theme every year. Previous themes include ‘Sangeetham and Bharatham’, ‘Women and Goddesses: Myth and Reality’ and ‘Future of the Arts’. In 2022, the theme was ‘Crafting a Women-Centric Future’. The event focused on the launch of the Gwillim Project, which is centred on the artwork and life of two British sisters who settled in Chennai in the early 19th century. The theme for Utsavam 2023 is the “Future is Feminine”. This year, the festival invites women and women-identifying entrepreneurs from Chennai to flaunt their products, services and businesses at DakshinaChitra.

Over the years, the festival has sought to highlight multiple perspectives on the achievements of women in India across class, caste and genres. It celebrated women and female-identifying persons and their contributions in fields such as the arts, politics, business and technology through exhibitions, performances, talks, discussions, screenings and networking events. 

Check out more multiarts festivals here.