Ashish Khokar: ‘Performing arts is not like a painting’
The Hindu
Ahead of the 10th edition of attenDance Awards, to be held in Bengaluru on November 30, art historian Ashish Khokar talks of the need to celebrate, assess and value dance
The 10th edition of attenDance Awards , initiated by Art historian and author, Ashish Khokar, honouring dance talent will be held on November 30 in Bengaluru. Ashish has done extensive work documenting dance, dancers and their contribution to the art. With over 45 books and 4,000 articles in the last 40 years to his credit, he teaches dance history modules at various universities and is the chairman of Dance History Society and curator of Mohan Khokar Dance Collection, named after his father, also a writer, historian and a patron of the performing arts.
Ashish talks about attenDance, that he founded in 1999, its vision and more, saying it all as it is, albeit, with a tinge of humour.
Edited excerpts:
“Writing, in general, is a very solitary process,” says Yauvanika Chopra, Associate Director at The New India Foundation (NIF), which, earlier this year, announced the 12th edition of its NIF Book Fellowships for research and scholarship about Indian history after Independence. While authors, in general, are built for it, it can still get very lonely, says Chopra, pointing out that the fellowship’s community support is as valuable as the monetary benefits it offers. “There is a solid community of NIF fellows, trustees, language experts, jury members, all of whom are incredibly competent,” she says. “They really help make authors feel supported from manuscript to publication, so you never feel like you’re struggling through isolation.”