Cultural fest on social justice by Pa Ranjith

After the success of his earlier initiative Casteless Collective,a fusion of various music forms from indie music composers and singers, which was a first of its kind in Chennai, director Pa. Ranjith is gearing up for yet another attempt. His Neelam Cultural Centre, a collective of artists, ‘artivists’ and activists, is organising the Vaanam Arts Festival: An art-literature festival to celebrate the spirit of social change.  

It is being planned as a three-day celebration of visual and performing arts. The carnival aims to attract and educate youth from across the city on the importance of arts and culture towards striving for social justice and equality. The three-day festival will have theatre, dance performances and a live show by The Casteless Collective. Apart from this, arts and crafts activities and storytelling sessions will be organised for children.

Speaking about his endeavour, Pa. Ranjith says, “It is important for us to be able to create the spotlight for those art and cultural forms which have been kept in the periphery all this while. It is also an attempt to get people to partake in the celebrations with ‘Social Justice’ as its core message. There is hardly a scenario or space in this country now where we can gather beyond our religious, caste and political differences.  These 3 days are important because we are coming together in unity to remember the year-long cultural-political journey we have had and in the hope that in the coming year we will continue working towards Social Justice.”

The 3-day art-literature festival scheduled on December 29, 30, 31 is non-ticketed and open for all. The festival will also host the launch of the first album of the Casteless Collective, Magizhchi.