Rokeya Project Phase 2
Bengali, Muslim feminist, human rights and peace activist, Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain (1880-1932), wrote much about women’s’ education, community cohesion and ecology.
Aimed at reaching a wide audience and providing an accessible introduction to the work of Rokeya, the Bangladeshi women's group, Mahila Sanga, commissioned Tara Arts to work with students from Rose Bruford College to produce Rokeya’s Dream (2009). A year after the original London tour the group was invited to India to present interactive workshops about the production, at the prestigious Rabindra Bharati and Viswa Bharati universities, and the Sakhawat Memorial Government Girls School (founded by Rokeya in 1911). The team also contributed a presentation on the role of women in ecology to a conference at Burdwan University.
The workshops and presentations about the original production acted as stimuli for the Bengali Drama students to demonstrate the impact of Rokeya in India and her legacy today. Inspired by Rokeya and adding their own stories to their performances, all the students chose the theme of female oppression in relation to religion and education. One student said that “Rokeya’s problem is our problem”.
FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES
Rose Bruford supported and funded the project as a research and development initiative, with the ex-students creating opportunities for cultural links and student exchanges with Rabindra Bharati University, and the potential residency of Mr. Tarak Sen Gupta, Head of Tagore Drama from Viswa Bharati University to create a commemorative Tagore production at Rose Bruford.
The Rokeya Project group has greatly raise its awareness of Rokeya and her philosophies. It is formalizing its status as a ‘not for profit’ company to develop further productions and adaptations of Rokeya’s writings, including a showcase of three stories in England, and returning to India in 2011 for a collaborative production with some of the students from this visit.
Further aims include establishing links between Sakhawat Memorial Government Girls School and Plumstead Manor School in London, and hopes to work with the House for Disadvantaged Girls at Panihati Estate. In the future our company hopes to work in Rokeya's country of origin, Bangladesh; and round the globe in places such as Fiji, USA and Japan to promote Rokeya and to perhaps discover their lost cultural hero and voice of inspiration.
PROJECT TEAM
Mr. Prantosh Bandyopadhya (Rokeya academic, India), Mrs. Shaheen Choudhury Westcombe (founder/visionary) Showmi Das (choreographer), Claudia Jazz Haley (designer/director), Rae Leaver (writer/director), Alia Wilson (publicity).
14/04/2010