queering heritage – Xploring interventions
In a dialogue between academia and performance, this series of events is an experimental format that inquires into possibilities beyond the norms. The series is part of the research project "Queer Heritage-Making in Times of Political Turmoil: a Transcultural Approach" funded by the Flagship Initiative Transforming Cultural Heritage (FITCH) at Heidelberg University.
queering heritage – Xploring interventions
with:
- Dr. Marion Wettstein (anthropology, religious studies, project leader “queer heritage making in times of political turmoil”, Heidelberg)
- Madhubanti Chanda (transcultural studies, bharatanatyam dance, Heidelberg)
- Yash Gurbani (physics, photography, art, Heidelberg)
- Dr. Manik Bachracharya (history, Buddhist studies, charya nrtiya dance, Heidelberg)
- Ritu Srestha Bachracharya (teacher, charya nritiya dance, Heidelberg)
- Yubraj Gurung (bharatanatyam dance, Kathmandu)
- Shuby Battarai (performance, Queer Honkytonk, Kathmandu)
- Kavya Ganesan (transcultural studies, mohiniyattam dance, Heidelberg)
- Saahitya Kota (transcultural studies, baratanatyam dance, Heidelberg)
- Zhiyan Jiang (transcultural studies, Chinese opera performer, Heidelberg)
- Vinit Vyas (art history, New York and Ahmedabad)
You are cordially invited to join us and contribute to the discussions!
24.11.2025 - Ritual space/time, the Newar experience
Meeting point CATS library, 18:00
“Ritual space/time, the Newar experience” consults ritual traditions of the Newar in the Kathmandu valley of Nepal. How is gender approached in their embodied Tantric Buddhist practices? Bungadyah exhibition visit (CATS library) followed by a performance of Charya Nritya by Dr. Manik Bajracharya, Ritu Shrestha Bajracharya (SAI room 010.00.01).
12.12.2025 - Myth and the ambiguity of gender
CATS/SAI Hörsaal (010.01.05), 18:00
“Myth and the ambiguity of gender” inquires possibilities beyond the norms through a performance of Bharatanatyam dance by Madhubanti Chanda, Kavya Ganesan, and Saahitya Kota, and a discussion on Hindu myths.
16.01.2026 – Dance of desire in traditional Chinese theatre
CATS/SAI Hörsaal (010.01.05), 18:00
In “Dance of desire in traditional Chinese theatre” we seek to understand the fluidity of love and desire with an evening of traditional Chinese theatre where our colleague, Zhiyuan Jiang performs the piece Peony Pavilion 牡丹亭( Kunqu 昆曲).
30.01.2026 – “Why don't you play the way it is played?”
CATS/SAI Hörsaal (010.01.05), 18:00
"Why don't you play the way it is played?" inquires into female-female desire in Sahibdin's Rasikapriya (ca. 1630). By a lecture by Vinit Vyas and a Bharatanatyam performance by Madhubanti Chanda we ask: What does it mean to visualize a sudden erotic encounter between two women in 17th century South Asia?
Watch out for the image archive to follow soon.
