Gender Bender 2018 will feature a range of artworks from across the world as well as a series of talks

From an installation by Furqan Jawed and Sohil Bhatia examining the legal material required to undergo official gender transition to a short film capturing the journey of two transwoman by Nairita Thakurata and Sreecheta Das, many works at this year's Gender Bender showcase seem to revolve around the transgender community, observes Sandbox Collective’s cofounder Shiva Pathak. Gender Bender is a joint project of the Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan and Sandbox Collective.

“We started the festival four years ago, and the idea is to look at gender from different angles to see how conversation can be furthered. We give out trigger grants, which has never been done before, for artists, or anyone who wants to work on gender, to experiment with an idea that reimagines gender,” she explains.

“It is an open call for people to apply for the grant and once they apply, a jury selects individuals or a collective who then showcase their works. We have been doing this for the last three years, so this year we thought we could have other events as well.”

They have done this by featuring illustrated talks as well as a Lavani performance.

There will be a series of talks from August 22-25: Paromita Vohra talks to Nisha Susan on ‘Love, Sex and Feminism’; Ramachandra Guha will talk to ESPNcricinfo and ESPN.in’s senior editor Sharda Ugra about reporting on sports; and Franziska Werner, the artistic director of Sophiensaele Berlin, will share her thoughts. There will also be a Lavani performance comprising music, dance, songs and stories. The performance will bring a contemporary twist to the dance form by combining several narratives and bringing out old, forgotten Lavani songs.

“This is not your regular festival where the audience simply has to watch. We want people to come in as part of a thinking audience by asking questions and engaging with the artists, who will be present there. It is important for the artists to get feedback as well because their works are still in progress,” explains Shiva.

Unlike previous editions, she observes, this year’s festival features more visual art and the team will be using the whole building (including classrooms), of the Goethe-Institut/ Max Mueller Bhavan, for the festival, instead of just a hall.

One of the biggest challenges since the festival’s inception, she adds, has been to reach out to as many people as possible across the country.

“We also decided to accept proposals in other formats such as audio since language is an issue for some people. This year, for the first time, we received applications from small towns and villages and we are thrilled about that. We don’t want the festival to be restricted to the city, these are not conversations we want to have in one circle. We want the word to go to out to people from all walks of life, from across the country.”

This year’s jury panel, comprising Aastha Chauhan, Rahaab Allana, Urvashi Butalia and Vikram Phukan had to choose the grantees from over 100 entries received from across the globe.

“The festival has a life of its own after the event. A lot of grantees have gone on to create full-length works of their performances, pieces and films, which have gone to various festivals and have won awards (works by artists such as Anuja Ghosalkar, Diya Naidu, and Deepika Arwind). This is a great space for people who are trying out ideas. This time we are also looking at the possibility of an exchange with a space in Germany. We hope the scope of the festival grows over the next few years.”

Gender Bender 2018 will take place from August 22 to 26 at Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Bangalore, CMH Road, Indiranagar (open to ages 14 and above). Visit sandboxcollective.org for details.