While most of the Indian performing arts claim a heritage of several centuries if not more, none can be said to have followed an unchanging pattern. As generations of performers make the art their own, change and evolution are natural. In addition to the contribution of the practitioners themselves, however, the arts are also affected by historical events such as wars, migrations, colonisation, and changing social mores. This year at SRF ’25, we have selected artists representing forms that experienced significant vicissitudes during the 20th century and eventually found a fresh place in India and the world. Today as these artists perform, they form a link between the old and the contemporary. Some have inherited family traditions and are born to the art, while others have trained systematically in an area their elders would never have considered entering. During the lecture-demonstrations held every morning of the festival, the artists will touch on the history of their respective practice.
