I Live Here

I Live Here and UR/Unreserved were creative inquiries into the formation and journeys of identity.

Here configures itself differently in speech and silence. Here lies amidst contested geographies as they await imagined territories. Here is an apparition, in the absence of there.  Here is the persistent memory of a gun shot.  Here often sleeps concealed, beneath opinions and beliefs. Here lies the difference between you and I.  Through concerts and sound installations in public spaces, I Live Here featured the voices of   musicians and poets presently living in Bangalore, between silence and assertion. Their music and poetry resonates the difference which constitutes all of us. Join us Here in all its possibilities, frictions and fantasies.

UR/ Unreserved was imagined as a performative journey on trains traversing several cultural terrains to arrive at multiple notions of identity. It is a quiet resistance. A gentle defiance of the single story, a refusal of the stereotype. The Unreserved team consisted of young people from Karnataka, Kerala, Kashmir and Assam who journeyed on a train interacting and reflecting on the formation of identity. Across 14 states, over 30 days, with 4 halts at Assam, Karnataka, Kashmir and Kerala, Unreserved showcased performances, short films, podcasts, installations and a travelling exhibition. Maraa collaborated with theatre practitioner Anish Victor to conceptualize and implement this process.In 2019, performers from Assam, Karnataka and Kerala who were a part of the journey came together to work on a fresh performance, drawing from material generated on the journey. ‘The Inverted Erotome’ a multi-media performance was devised, with each performer exploring their own notions around identity. The performance had six iterations, and was held at Venkatapa Art Gallery.

Sound Installations | Concerts | Exhibition