A collective celebration
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The 10th edition of Gender Bender will be held in Bengaluru this weekend. Initiated in 2015, Gender Bender is a first-of-its-kind, arts-centric festival in South Asia celebrating fresh perspectives on gender. Conceived by Sandbox Collective, the festival has, over the years, become an important destination for artists and audiences and anyone interested in or curious about the intersection of art and gender, says the festival director for 2024, Prerana YSK. “It also brings together a diverse audience across age, class and other social realities to converse on concerns of gender and sexuality.”

Prerana is the artistic director of Conflictorium – Museum of Conflict, Ahmedabad and will be in the city during the festival. “This year’s edition has been crowd-funded with more than 500 people from across India and abroad contributing to make the event happen,” says Prerana over phone from Ahmedabad. “It is also the first time that the multi-arts festival will also be held across multi-venue in Bangalore International Centre (BIC), 1, Shanthi Road (Shanthinagar) and Beru (Ramamurthinagar).”

Prerana YSK, festival director
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Gender Bender will feature over 75 artists, who will be a part of the festive edition’s exhibitions, visual installations, workshops, parties, quiz, open mic, DJ sets, listening party, film screenings, photography and sound installations.

This is the first time, Gender Bender has a comprehensive programme for children and adolescents with a vast range of books and literature, Prerana says. “We also have the Feminist Library, which has a collection of crowd-sourced books.”

The 30-year-old festival director worked in the development sector for a couple of years and before moving into the arts. “I was looking at how we can have meaningful conversations around what the world is grappling with currently.”

It was this that led her to join Conflictorium – Museum of Conflict. “It is a 30-year-old museum that responds to concerns of democracy and citizenship. It is a non conventional museum.”

Prerana says her aim with Gender Bender this year is to make art accessible for all. “Anyone can walk into an art show without hesitation. At times, walking into an art gallery requires a certain level of confidence, which not everyone is comfortable with. We aim at making art more enjoyable for a larger segment of the society.”

This year’s international artists at the festival will be She She Pop from Berlin and Lapdiang Syiem from Shillong. “She She Pop is one of Europe’s most respected independent feminist collective. They have been into making feminist theatre and movement productions for three decades.”

They will not be performing in Bengaluru, Prerana says. “They will be giving a talk on November 30. There will be a workshop by Lapdiang Syiem, a poetry installation by Shripad Sinnakaar, photographs by Bhumika Saraswati, a queer sensorium by Mycodyke, and film screenings by Ektara Collective.”

“Every year we also give away grants to 10 artists and the same will continue this year too. We have grantees from across West Bengal, Delhi, Maharashtra, Himachal, Kashmir and Karnataka for 2024.”

She She Pop from Berlin
| Photo Credit:
Special Arrangement

Gender Bender is a platform that calls people together to have conversations and respond to concerns, thoughts, feelings on gender, Prerana says. “The art will be experiential. The installations can be touched and heard. There will be poetry installations, which people can listen to on headphones.”

Gender Bender will be held between November 22 and 24 at Beru (Ramamurthi Nagar) , 1, Shanthi Road (Shanthinagar) and on November 27 at Bangalore International Centre. The event is open to all.