The Kaavad Project

Writer & Performer: Akhshay Gandhi

Visual Artist: Rohit Bhasi

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Kaavad katha, a 400 year old tradition of story-telling from Rajasthan on the verge of
extinction, is about maintaining genealogy of families in various villages in Rajasthan. The art
of Kaavad brings wisdom through genealogy, alongwith mythological, historical & family
stories accompanied by beautifully painted Kaavad. The Kaavad is a portable wooden shrine,
(like a house of stories) that has visual narratives on its multiple panels that open and close
like several thresholds of a temple.

Kaavadiya(Story-teller) with Kaavad

About The Kaavad Project

The Kaavad Project is an initiative to bring artist of varied fields together to create work
inspired by Rajasthan’s folk form Kaavad Katha. It is on the verge of extinction; suffering
from ignorance, it has been reduced to artifactual value. It is rare to find a storyteller of Kaavad
these days and it has been limited to a few patrons; clinging on to its religious values. We
strongly believe that any performing art form survives and flourishes if there are
practitioners of the form experimenting, creating and exchanging ideas with other
practitioners. We hope that, the project will open up a new space for many creators and
will strengthen the inter-disciplinary, collaborative nature of theatre, along with bringing
the tradition to new audiences.
The aim of the project are as follows:
1. To bring the unique experience and wisdom of Kaavad katha to varied audiences around
the world.
2. To bring together artists and creative professionals together to collaborate and create
more inspired work in this form and enable it to prosper.
3. To bring together students, scholars, educators and experts to adapt the form in
educational contexts.
4. To further research various aspects of Kaavad katha through documentation,
collaboration and formalization of Kaavad framework.

Kaavad Katha – Maya: The Re-imagined performance of the tradition:

“Maya” is a contemporary revival of the Kaavad, wherein artistic collaborators have

blended the traditional form with modern ideas and sensibilities. Each aspect of Kaavad
has been researched and finely recreated through thorough discussions, exchanges and
sharing between representatives of different art forms.
It is a composition of finely threaded stories with various mythical characters set in
different time and spaces, structured in ancient format of "KathaSaritaSagar", of frame
with-in a frame, where each story leads to a new story, creating a vast network of stories.

STORY: The story of gate-keepers of Kaavad, whose identities are hidden inside Kaavad
leads us into the world of mythical, folklore land, where space and time has been
intertwined intrinsically. A powerful king - "Mahabali" is on his way to destroy and re-
curate the three worlds, and the tales are weaved around our protagonists Ram & Rahim's
attempt to stop him. Each tale with-in then explores the multi-facet idea of Maya and how it
drives and triggers every aspect of tales and metaphorical our lives.
The work mostly written in Hindi verses, delves into various philosophical questions and
human emotions, like duality, passion, love, bravery, moral dilemmas, companionship etc.
The performance is a result of an extensive collaborations between theatre makers, visual
artists, musicians, and designers to re-imagine the world of Kaavad katha.

In Proscenium version of the performance, the stage comes to life with a performer
accompanied by sixteen paintings on moveable frames; original sound tracks along with
live musicians; masks, movement and poetry combining to provide a theatrical
interpretation of Kaavad.

In Intimate version, We explore more traditional setup of smaller space and limited
audience with Solo performer and a Kaavad box with paintings of the composition.
Traditionally, Kaavad katha is a form of intimate story-telling under a tree or in a living
room space of patrons. Additionally, to address modern concerns, we have a Sur-title(Like
Subtitles in film) with paintings, projected or played on a screen. Lecture demonstration or
a talk on Kaavad katha could also be possible with or without complete performance.

Recent Performance & Updates on Project:

Performances:
US tour:
Ziesler Studio, New York | Columbia University, NY | Mercer Island Center, Seattle
Stanford University | UC Berkeley | UC, Irvine | UC, LA | Purdue University
India shows:
Bangalore: Swastika School of Dance & Music | The Living Room Kutcheri | Rangashankara
| Jagriti | Atta Galatta | Lahe Lahe
Mumbai: Cuckoo Club | Harkat Studio | Khar Gymkhana
Upcoming
Encate Arts South Asian Arts festival, San Francisco, USA
Kommune International Spoken Fest, Mumbai, India
Call for support:

The Kaavad project is a not-for-profit project, running with the support of friends, family &
art lovers. As a passionate team, each Artist has contributed to the project by offering their
skills and creativity.

Kaavad project has inspired these artists, friends and patron to come forward and help
build its first production, "Maya". The production, named has been received well by
audiences and as well as Art critics.

To support:

1. Bring Kaavad katha - Performance & Lecture Demonstration:

We are looking forward to perform the creation inspired by Kaavad Katha at various formal
and informal venues including community halls, living rooms, proscenium spaces, college
arts clubs to take the Kaavad performance to audiences in various parts of world. You can
extend your support by:

a. Hosting a performance (Proscenium or Intimate version) or Lecture demonstration:

You can help us organize an evening of kaavad katha performance or a lecture
demonstration.
 b. Extend financial support towards touring, continual experimentations & next
production.

c. Connect us with various performance institutions, venues, patrons, festival

organizers.

d. Volunteer with us.

e. Extend your technical and soft skills for various tasks, like editing, website, admin
tasks, networking etc.

2. Connect with interested artists, researchers & educators:

If you are yourself interested in working creatively and create another inspired work or
research, please join us, irrespective of geo boundaries, we would be interested in sharing
and exchanging.

3. Talk about the project, share information about it or simply come for the show.

About Akhshay Gandhi: Akhshay Gandhi is a theatre artist & practitioner, collaborating
with creators in various disciplines to create & perform theatre. An alumni of Saratoga
International Theatre Institute, New York and BITS-Pilani, he is recipient of prestigious
Tata Scholar Grant and BITSAA 30u30 award. His performance training includes, Suzuki
Method, Practice of Viewpoints, Adishakti training, Devised and Movement Arts. His recent
work includes, Mahesh Dattani’s Clearing the Rubble in India, Chales Mee’s Adam & Evie in
New York and No Place in New York. Currently, devising a new production tentatively
titled, #whatsitsrole. He is founder & Artistic Director of Bangalore based multi-
disciplinary theatre company, Still Space Theatre.
More Info: www.akhshaygandhi.com

For more details on Project:

https://kaavadkatha.wordpress.com/

Press coverage & reviews:

https://kaavadkatha.wordpress.com/2016/03/04/press-and-social-media-coverage/

Glimpses of Proscenium performance:

https://youtu.be/vlMJGlpySW4

Full Baithak performance:

New York Show:
https://youtu.be/fR9QE96GcrI

Contact us:
+91-7829765688 | agandhi.post@gmail.com