Clockwise from top: Sabeen Mahmud, Sheena Khalid, Varun Grover, Puja Sarup, Danish Husain, Munizae Jahangir, Anand Patwardhan
Sabeen Mahmud, founder and director of PeaceNiche and a member of the Asia 21 India-Pakistan Young Leaders network, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in her hometown of Karachi late in April. In Karachi, Sabeen established a not-for-profit organization "to promote democratic discourse and conflict resolution through intellectual and cultural engagement," called The Second Floor (T2F). T2F worked to keep its doors open for artists, performers and marginalized voices, with Sabeen's fearless and welcoming attitude creating a home and a safe space for conversations, discourse and peace in Pakistan. As an Asia 21 fellow, Sabeen was an advocate for building bridges between India and Pakistan and an activist for free speech within the country. In her last hours Sabeen had organized and led a talk titled "Unsilencing Balochistan" in the space at T2F.
From T2F in Karachi to Sitara Studio in Mumbai, join us as we celebrate Sabeen Mahmud with an evening of creative expression and tribute to her life and vision with Anand Patwardhan, Documentary Filmmaker,Danish Husain, Poet, Actor and Theatre Director, Munizae Jahangir, Journalist and Documentary Filmmaker, Patchworks Ensemble and Varun Grover, Stand-Up Comedian.
Anand Patwardhan is an award winning documentary film maker who has been making political documentaries for over four decades, pursuing diverse and controversial issues that are at the crux of social and political life in India. His films include 'Prisoners of Conscience', 'A Time to Rise', 'Bombay our City', 'In Memory of Friends', 'In the Name of God', 'Father, Son and Holy War', 'A Narmada Diary', 'War and Peace' and 'Jai Bhim Comrade'.
Danish Husain is a poet, actor and theatre director who runs his theatre company The Hoshruba Repertory. He is also a columnist, but is most of all known for reviving Dastangoi, the lost art form of Urdu storytelling, with Mahmood Farooqui.
Munizae Jahangir, an Asia 21 fellow is an award winning TV journalist and documentary filmmaker, currently freelancing at NDTV, while simultaneously anchoring and reporting for Pakistan’s leading media news network, Express TV. She also contributes towards the English daily newspaper, The Express Tribune. Jahangir has focused on conflict areas and her documentaries include: 'Battling the Taliban', 'Gangs of Karachi', 'Smuggling racket of South Asia', 'The Baloch Battlefield', and'Pakistan: The War Within'.
Patchworks Ensemble founded by Puja Sarup and Sheena Khalid aims to create new, exciting and surprising theatre. Collaborating with artists from all fields, they create work that is meticulously pieced together involving storytelling narratives that place importance on the performer's body. Their creations include, 'Once upon an appletide', 'Ila' and 'It does wonders'.
Varun Grover is an engineer from IIT (BHU) with over 7-years of stand-up comedy writing experience for Indian TV. His comedy is derived from milking the holy cows of society, stories from his middle-class upbringing, and bizarre politics and contradictions of our times. His comedy and musical show 'Aisi Taisi Democracy' is currently touring India. He has also written lyrics for 'Gangs of Wasseypur','Katiyabaaz', 'Ankhon Dekhi', and 'Dum Laga Ke Haisha'. |
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