Asma Mundarwala
Asma Mundrawala is a visual artist and theatre practitioner with a DPhil degree from the University of Sussex UK. Her interdisciplinary practice intersects the visual arts, theatre and performance, and education. Her research interests in popular culture, public spheres, Urdu literature and its performative traits critically inform her creative practice and approach to art education. She teaches at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture, and is Professor in the Department of Fine Art. Asma is the co-founder and creative director of Zambeel Dramatic Readings. Her current practice renders texts from Urdu literature in a dramatised form to a live audience. She has also initiated and curates the ongoing project Zambeelnaama, a monthly online audio channel for Zambeel Dramatic Readings.
3:00 PM -4:00 PM Performance
Saturday 1st Feb
Muntakhab Tehreerain: Ismat Chughtai aur Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi Presented By Zambeel
Location: Central Garden
Zambeel Dramatic Readings was founded with a view to present texts from Urdu literature in a dramatised form to a live audience, creating a dynamic collusion between literature and performance. Referencing traditions of storytelling and the contemporary form of the radio play, the productions traverse time and geographical boundaries to interpret and enliven narratives through sound and recitation. The Zambeel performers imbue texts with a poignant expressive quality and perform narratives that are supported by a soundscape, enriching the aural experience of the audience through acoustics and narration. Zambeel Dramatic Readings was founded by Mahvash Faruqi, Asma Mundrawala and Saife Hasan in 2011. The word Zambeel Referencing the legendary tales of the Hamzanama, the Zambeel is a furry bag of tricks that belonged to Umar Ayyar (also written as Amar), a trickster and loyal companion to Amir Hamza, the hero of the Hamzanama. Alluding to the magical properties of this bag that yielded boundless possibilities, the choice of the word Zambeel suggests not just its infinite nature, but also its relationship to the enduring tradition of storytelling.