In a world where suffering, violence and turmoil surround us, the need to speak up becomes ever more important. Art, more specifically, poetry is a great way to channel and communicate what we feel to the people around us. It binds people together and more importantly, it gives those a platform to speak who often go unheard. Focusing on similar themes and bringing about the understanding of, ‘planet, prosperity, people and peace,’ Artmantram Trust presents the first offline edition of The Glass House Festival, a poetry event bringing to the people — poems and poets from around the world.
In conversation with Yumna Hari Singh, one of the curators of the festival, we get an insight into the intent and the inspiration that drives the festival. “I believe there is a sort of universal belief among people that my interests are more important than your interests,” says Yumna, commenting on the need for a platform for conversations. Regardless of whether two people agree on the same thing or not, the most important part remains to be the need for discourse among people. Poetry, according to her, holds the power to make a person feel the gravity of a situation that may have gone unnoticed by them as they live in the protective bubble of their privilege.
“I wish for art to not be an elitist idea,” says Yumna, further helping us understand the vision behind the curation of the festival. Making the festival all the more interesting with workshops and award shows, The Glass House Festival was started during the lockdown when the world was under immense distress. The registration fee for the festival is absolutely zero, thus further highlighting the intent of making the festival accessible to everyone. The team, along with Yumna Hari Singh, also includes Rochelle Potkar from Mumbai, the co-curator of the festival, Somrita Urni Ganguly and Jagari Mukherjee from Kolkata, Raphael d’Abdon from South Africa and Rugmani Prabhakar from Bengaluru.
Entry free. March 23 and 24. At Bangalore International Centre, Domlur.
Written by: Shambhavi Ranjan
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