Last year, we inaugurated the Kutty Kutchery Festival during Margazhi — a 10-day celebration showcasing the vibrant diversity of Indian performing arts in intimate spaces. Through this festival, we presented 10 unique “performative conversations” across genres, including classical, folk, contemporary dance, music, and theatre, hosted in alternative spaces throughout Chennai. We are delighted to share that the festival was last year’s most-searched event on Google for breaking conventional “Margazhi” formats and making art more accessible in intimate, personal settings. These performative conversations have set the stage for a new era of art, where the artist’s story and the audience’s experience are deeply intertwined.

This year, the festival will run from December 13–22, 2024, featuring 75-minute-long performative conversations with artists from 10 different genres. These sessions are unique in that artists will engage with a registered audience of 50–100 members, guiding them through their artistic process and performance while sharing captivating stories and anecdotes from their personal journeys. Artists will also explore the history, evolution, and relevance of their art forms in an informal, interactive atmosphere that fosters deeper connections.