Prakash - 1

BRAHMA PRAKASH ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

THEATRE & PERFORMANCE STUDIES

JNU, NEW DELHI-110067

Phone: (+91) 7838966326

bprakash@jnu.ac.in

prakash.brahma@gmail.com

Mailing Address

#007, School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU,

New Delhi 110067 INDIA

AREAS OF INTERESTS

Theatre and Performance theories ‘Folk Culture’ from North India

Ritual and Festival Studies Movement and Protest studies

Marginalized Cultural Performances

Non-Western Aesthetic with a special focus on Chinese, Japanese aesthetics

WORK EXPERIENCE

Assistant Professor, Theatre and Performance Studies, School of Arts and Aesthetics,

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, 24 July 2015 to the Present.

Visiting Faculty, Theatre and Performance Studies, School of Arts and Aesthetics,

Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 18 Aug 2014 to 23 July 2015.

Assistant Professor (tenured), Theatre and Performance Studies, School of Arts and

Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 12 July 2012 to 17 Aug 2014.

Assistant Professor (adjunct), Centre for Media Studies, School of Social Sciences,

Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (co-terminus)

EDUCATION

PhD University of London, UK, Theatre & Performance Studies Dec 2013

Dissertation: The Performance of Cultural Labour: Conceptualizing the

Folk Performance in India

MA National Central University, Taiwan, Chinese Aesthetics June 2008

Thesis: < [在「樂」和「舞」之間：一個中國和印度美學的比較研究]>

“Between Natya and Yue: A Comparative Study of Indian and Chinese Aesthetics”

MA Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Arts and Aesthetics June 2005

(Theatre and Performance Studies, Visual Studies) Unfinished Degree

BA Jawaharlal Nehru University, Chinese Language (Hons.) June 2004

Prakash - 2

HONORS AND AWARDS

CWIT-CRASSH Fellowship Cambridge University, UK 2019

CRASSH, Cambridge University 2019

Erasmus+Key Action 108 Swagata Fellowship 2018 For presentation at Heidelberg University, Germany

Dwight Conquergood Award (DCA) of the PSi 2013

Performance Studies International, Stanford University, USA

Charles Wallace India Trust, UK 2012

Central Research Fund, University of London 2011

Reid Research Scholarship, Royal Holloway 2009

Junior Research Fellowship (JRF)-NET of the UGC 2008

Republic of China (Taiwan) Government Scholarship 2005

PROJECTS & GRANTS

“The Epical Subalterns”, supported by the Centre for the Research in the Arts, Social

Sciences and Humanities, CRASSH, Cambridge University, UK (2019-20)

“The Musical Mediation: Competitive and Collaborative Lives of Popular Music in North

India” (Ref: IMPRESS/ P683/ 2018-19/ ICSSR, Amount 15 Lakhs), supported by the

IMPRESS-ICSSR, New Delhi (2019-21) Ongoing

“Reimagining Banaras: Plurality of Spaces and Performances in Banaras”, a collaborative

project with the CSRD, SSS, JNU; Ref: MRP-MAJOR-GEOS-2013-25205 (2015-18);

(Amount: 14 Lakhs), supported by the UGC, India; Completed

School of Arts and Aesthetics project on “Global Transactions, Transnationality and

Performance Practices”, Ref ID: 108, supported by the University with Potential for

Excellence, JNU, New Delhi (2014-19) (Amount 62.5 Lakhs); Completed

Prakash - 3

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Courses Taught July 2012 to August 2020

SAA 634: Movements and Concepts in Performance (MPhil Optional course)

SAA 435: Regional Theatre and Performance Traditions (MA optional) (Developed)

SAA-555: Living Traditions of the Indian Performing Arts (MA optional)

SAA- 632: Dissertation Seminar: Theatre and Performance Studies

SAA-566: Theory and Aesthetics: Theatre and Performance Studies (Developed)

SAA-409: World Theatre Scene (MA core course)

SAA-648: Sociology of Performance (MPhil Optional Course)

SAA-633: Rites, Rituals and Festivals: Cultural Enactments and Their

Transformations (Developed)

Doctoral Students Supervised

Kunwer, Subodh, “Festival as a Mode of Conceptualization in Adivasi (Indigenous)

Movement in Jharkhand” (Ongoing)

Pradhan, Prerna, “Menstruating and Maternalized Bodies: The Performance of ‘Ideal’

Body in Assam’s Ambumach Mela and the Tuloni Biya” (Ongoing)

Kumar, Amit. “Naye Rang, Nyi Rasmen, Nye Mele, Naye Pratik: Uttar Pradesh mein

Dalit Rajniti kee Nayi Sanskriti mein Nayapan ke Mayne.” (Ongoing)

Chakravarty, R.K., “Awadhi Ramlila: Text, Performance and Traditions,” Awarded:

15 June 2015 (co-supervision)

Kumar, Satish, “Exploring the Khap Culture through the Performance of Sang in

Haryana,” Awarded on 27 Sep 2016 (co-supervision)

MPhil Students Advised

Keertana, S. “Deixis of Muthappan: Debrahmanising the Discourse of Theyyam”

(Awarded 2020)

Rao, G. “The Poetics of Region: Andhra and Telangana in the Artists’ Imagination”

(Awarded 2018).

Lewis, S. “Refiguring Identity: Traces of Bhojpuri Female Migrants”(Awarded 2018)

Kumar, A. “Raag, Saaz aur Smriti ka Antr-khel: Dhola mein Sthan, Jati aur Gender ka

Performance”(Awarded 2017)

Pradhan, P. “Power flows from the Blessing of the Virgin: The Performance of Kumari

Worship as site of Manufacturing Consent in Nepal” (Awarded, 2016)

Prakash - 4

Kunwer, Subodh. “Performing Sarhul and Becoming Adivasi in Jharkhand” (Awarded

2016)

Dost, Jainendra K., “Performance of Gender in Launda Nach: The Politics of

Representation and Aesthetics of Performance” (Awarded, 2015)

“Performance in the Time of Displacement: The Sohrae of Santhal Adivasi in

Jharkhand” ( Awarded, 2015)

“The Performance of Emancipation: ‘Socialist Utopia’ in the Theatre of Utpal Dutt and

Badal Sircar (Status: Awarded, 2014)

Fieldwork and other Responsibilities July 2012 to the Present

MA and MPhil Students Fieldtrip to Rakhigarhi, Manali, Madurai, Banaras and Delhi

PUBLICATIONS

Books

Prakash, B., Gaddar: Songs and Memoirs of a Maoist Balladeer. (Forthcoming). Westland

Publication 2021.

Prakash, B., Cultural Labour: Conceptualizing the ‘Folk Performance’ in India. New Delhi:

Oxford University Press, 2019.

Journals/ Edited Volume

“Naach as an Act of Humiliation in North Indian Society.” Oxford Handbook of

Indian Dance, edited by P. Purkayastha and A. Banerji, forthcoming, 2021.

“The Erotic Power of the Dancer: Labour of the Erotic and the Bodies of the Sensory

in the Dance of Arkestra Girls in North India.” Journal of South Asia History and

Culture (Special issue on dance) forthcoming, 2020.

“Performers Meet Humanities: Underground Artists Shaping the Humanities”, World

Humanities Report of the International Council for Philosophy and Human Sciences,

UNESCO, 2020 (forthcoming)

“Musical Unfreedom and the Drummers Dilemma: Cultural Labour and the Value of

Music in Indian Caste Society” in Creative Economies of Culture in South Asia

edited by Anna Morcom and Neelam Raina, London and New York: Routledge,

2020.

Prakash - 5

Five entries into Keywords for India: A Conceptual Lexicon for 21st Century,

compiled by Rukmini Bhaya Nair and Peter Ronald deSouza, London: Bloomsbury,

2020. ISBN: 1350039233, 9781350039230.

“Rasa-dhvani Meets Jingjie: Intercultural Metaphor as an Alternative Frame in

Comparative Aesthetics,” in R.N. Mishra and Parul Dave Mukherjee (edi).

Comparative Aesthetics in Contemporary Frame, Shimla: IIAS, 2019.

“An Ode to Prof. Edward A. Rodrigues: The Unconventional Teacher,” The New

Leam, Vol. 5, No.41 (2019): 19-23. ISSN: 2455-4936.

“'Dangerous' Corporealities of Labouring Bodies,” in Marina Grzinic and Aneta

Stojnic edi. Bodies that Matter Again, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018.

“Review of Raising the Curtain: Recasting Women Performers in India,” by Lata

Singh, Social Scientist, Vol.46, no-7-8, pp. 81-84.

“Architectures of Fear and Spaces of Hope in Banaras: A City beyond Monolithic

Identity,” co-authored with B.K. Choudhary. Asian Journal of Social Science. Vol. 44

(2016): 34-53.

“The Contingent of Contemporaneity: ‘Failure’ of Contemporary Dance to Become

‘Political’”, in Anita Cherian, ed., Tilt. Pause. Shift. : Contemporaneity in Indian

Dance Production, New Delhi: Tulika Publication, 2016.

“Bidesiya in Bihar; Strategy for Survival, Strategies for Performance,” Asian Theatre

Journal 33, 1 (Spring 2016): 57-81.

“Review of Courtesans, Bar Girls and Dancing Boys and Bollywood Dance,” by

Anna Morcom, Seminar, no.676 (Dec 2015).

“Review of Theatre in Colonial India: Play-House of Power, Edited by Lata Singh,

and Performing Women, Performing Womanhood: Theatre, Politics and Dissent in

North India, By Nandi Bhatia.” Theatre Research International 37.1 (March 2012):

88-90.

“Review of Theatre of Roots: Redirecting the Modern Indian Stage,” By Erin B. Mee.

Asian Theatre Journal 27.1 (Fall 2010):175-179.

“The Politics of (Intra) Intercultural Performance and the Real Guinea Pig of Indian

Performance Theatre”, in 跨界對談:差異- 認同與混雜. Edited by Yu-ling Zhao

hui. Taipei: Chuban Publication, 2007. Pp. 109-120. ISBN (Print): 9789860117127.

Prakash - 6

Columns/ OP-ED Writings in the Media

Poets and Artists as Enemies of the State. Hardnews magazine.

https://www.hardnewsmedia.com/2020/08/poets-and-artists-as-enemies-of-the-

state/?fbclid=IwAR13aRXCrSdGWvTnA8nRlMmvCRV5BpT4jwm3mrquAtgJl25_2

AHLv7f3L8A

Tongues are on Trial: Why the attack on the Poets and Activists is Special. Indian

Cultural Forum. 17 August 2020. https://indianculturalforum.in/2020/08/17/tongues-

are-on-trial/

Death in the Village, Outlook India, Vol. 2. 27 July 27, 2020

https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/india-news-opinion-why-i-wont-live-

in-my-village-and-wont-leave-the-city-till-forced-to/303456

Accidental Deaths of Migrant Labourers, Karvaan India. 23 May 2020.

https://www.karvaanindia.com/2020/05/23/accidental-deaths-of-migrant-labourers-a-

modest-proposal/

Corona “Jihad” and Irrfan’s Unwanted Guests: Illness as a Metaphor, The Quint. 2

May 2020. https://www.thequint.com/voices/blogs/corona-jihad-irrfan-khan-illness-

metaphor-susan-sontag

Muslims as Contagion: The Image of “Terrorists” Carrying COVID-19 in India,

Indian Cultural Forum, 23 April 2020.

https://indianculturalforum.in/2020/04/23/muslims-as-contagion-the-image-of-

terrorists-carrying-covid-19-in-india/

Myths, Rumours and Spectacles in India’s Fight against COVID-19. The Wire, 6

April 2020 https://thewire.in/politics/covid-19-diwali-spectacle

The Liberal Rama Imaginary. Asiavillenews, 29 November 2019.

https://www.asiavillenews.com/article/the-liberal-rama-imaginary-22301

When Words are Prey: What Demagogues do with Words, The Newsclick and Indian

Cultural Forum, 4 July 2019 https://www.newsclick.in/when-words-prey-

demagogues-do-words

This is the Kabir That Modi Cannot Appropriate for Electoral Gain, The Wire. 20

August 2018. https://thewire.in/politics/kabir-kamal-and-kashi-straightening-the-

queer

Prakash - 7

When Kumbhipatua Rebels Attacked the Jagannath Temple in Puri, The Wire. 18 July

2018. https://thewire.in/caste/when-kumbhipatua-rebels-attacked-the-jagannath-

temple-in-puri

Gaddar: Our own Bob Dylan India hasn't heard of, The Daily’O. 28 June 2018.

https://www.dailyo.in/variety/gaddar-mf-hussain-amy-winehouse-court-rebellion-

dissent-poetry-urban-naxals/story/1/25161.html

PRESENTATIONS IN CONFERENCES/ SEMINARS

“Performing ‘Arts’ and Becoming Infamous in North India” in ‘Dragging Up and

Dragging Down’ with Kareem Khubchandani (Tufts University, USA) chaired by

Prarthana Purkayastha (RHUL), organized by the Centre for Asian Theatre and

Dance, Royal Holloway, University of London on 8th November, 2019.

“Cultural Labour and the Power of its Erotic Presence” in an International Workshop

on Labouring Dance, Labouring Performance: Interdisciplinary Conversations on

Erotic Dancing in India, organized by Kings College London and the CWS, Delhi, 4-

7 August 2020.

Making Sense of Disparated Knowledge: Culture, Labour and the Question of

Aesthetics in Indian Performance in the workshop on Margins and Borders across

South Asia, organised by Department of Sociology, Warwick University on 6th Dec,

2019.

“Between Image and a Maze: Exploring the Religious through the Lens of Culture”

(Panel Discussion) in Religion and Society in Contemporary South Asia, organised

by Jindal School of Journalism and Communication and Oxford University Press,

Jindal University, Sonipat, 4 March 2020.

“The Sensation of Common Sense: Epic in the Structure of the Popular Imagination

in North India”, organized by CSSS, JNU, 20 Feb 2020.

“Between Culture and Agriculture: Labour, Aesthetics and the Politics of the

‘Culturally Backward’ Regions in India” in the Lecture Series of Migration (Lecture-

16), organized by Centre for Development Practice and Research, TISS, Patna, jointly

organised by TISS, Patna and Patna Women’s College, Patna, Bihar, 23 Jan 2020.

“Performers as Artists and Labourers: Cultural Labour and its Aesthetic Production in

India,” organised by the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta, 21 Jan 2020.

“Unperformance” and “Anti-Performance” in India in Anti-Theatrical Reflections:

Aesthetics and Other Modes of Thinking, a national seminar organised by School of

Arts and Aesthetics, JNU, 14 Sep 2019.

Prakash - 8

“Un-maligned Monsters: Ugliness as an Aesthetic Condition in Indian Culture” in

Visualising Horror in the History of Indian Iconography, organised by School of Arts

and Aesthetics, JNU, New Delhi, 15 March 2019.

“Some Lessons from Chinese and Japanese Theatre Aesthetics” in For Theory, For

Practice, organised by A. Ulluri, G. Koland and B. Mahapatra, 23-28 Dec 2018.

“Performance Research and the Problem of Language” in After Dwight

Conquergood: Performance and Critical Social Praxis Group, a Working Group of

Performance Studies International, Daegu, Video skype presentation, 1 July 2018.

“What Modi does with Words, Slogans, Voice, Image and Gestures” in Theatricality,

Performance and the State organized by Queen Marry University, London, 7-8 June

2018.

“The Cultural Radicals: Artists (un)shaping Left Movement in India”, in the seminar

organised by the School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU in collaboration with the School

of Theatre, Performance and Cultural Policies at Kochi, Kerala, 21-22 January, 2018.

“Your Mother, You Perform: A Critique of Performative Regime and the Meaning of

Anti-Performance in India”, presented, Annual Conference of IFTR, University of

Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, 10-15 July 2017.

“Rasa-Dhvani meets Jingjie: Archetypes of Suggestiveness in Indian and Chinese

Aesthetics, presented in Comparative Aesthetics in Contemporary Frame, organised

by IIAS, Shimla, 17-18 Nov, 2015.

“Performing the Radical Being of Art and Revolution: Exerting Left beyond

Immediacy, Historicity and Everyday Life”, presented in the Annual conference of

the IFTR, HCU, Hyderabad, 10 July 2015

“Performance and Performatives of Violence in Operation Green Hunt”, in the annual

conference of ISTR, CURAJ, Kishangarh, Jan 14, 2014.

“When to Bell the Cat: Conceptualising Time in Indian Folk Performance” presented

at the Performance Studies International 19, Stanford University, 26-30 June, 2013.

“JNM’s Approach to Theatre and performance in Arts and Aesthetics in Globlized

World”, organized by Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and

Commonwelth, JNU, New Delhi, 5 April 2012.

“Paradox in Performance and Paradox of Performance”, presented in the New

Research in South Asian Performing Arts, organized by IMR South Asia Music and

Dance Form of Institute of Musical Research, School of Advanced Study, University

of London, 20 Jan, 2012.

Prakash - 9

“Body of a Dalit, Ballad of the Revolution: Role of balladeer Gaddar in Formation of

Revolutionary Culture in India”, presented in Conference on South Asia in

Transition, organized by Department of Sociology, University of Oxford, 25-26

November, 2011.

“Mind it! Folk is always Fucking: Aesthetics of Obscene in Bidesia”, CHIME-Asian

Performing Arts Forum Conference, 6-9 July, 2011.

“Showing Red Cape to Bull: Performing “Reshma-Chuharmal ka Khela in Bihar,”’

Annual Conference of Indian Society for Theater Research, Hyderabad, India, 28-30

Jan, 2011.

Towards a Research Methodology for Indian Folk Performance: A case study of

Bhuiyan Puja in Bihar, CHOTRO, Shimla, India, 11-15 Sep, 2010.

A Comparative Study of Indian and Chinese Theatre Aesthetics: Macro and Micro

Perspective, Annual conference of the IFTR, Chung-an University, Seoul, South

Korea, July 15-19, 2008.

The Politics of (Intra) Intercultural Performance,” organized by the Department of

Performance Studies, National Taiwan University of Arts, Taipei. Nov. 2007.

PRESENTATIONS, WORKSHOPS AND INVITED LECTURES

Participated in one day workshop on ‘Exclusion, marginalization, othering: how can

the arts respond?' organized by British Academy Rising Star Workshop for Early

Career Researchers, St John College, Cambridge University, 17 Oct 2019.

Invited Lectures on “Rethinking the Politics and Aesthetics of ‘Folk Performance in

India”, organised by Department of Performing Arts, Presidency University, Kolkata,

20-22 January 2020.

Performers Incarcerated: Folk Performance and its Aesthetic (De)Values in Indian

Society, based on Cultural Labour: Conceptualizing the ‘Folk Performance’ in India

organised by Organised by the Graduate Seminar for Postcolonial Literatures, Faculty

of English, Cambridge University on 20th November 2019.

Invited Lecture in the Workshop on “Folklore, Cultural Documentation and

Historiographies,” organised by the Centre for North-East Studies and Policy

Research, Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi, 13 March 2020.

Invited Lecture on “Fieldwork and Research on Folk Performance.” Webinar

orgnised by the Department of Sociology, Miranda House, University of Delhi, 15

May 2020.

Prakash - 10

“What do Performers Produce: Cultural Labour and Aesthetic Production in Rural

India,” organised by South Asia Institute and Agrarian Change Seminar Series,

SOAS, University of London on 11 Dec 2019.

Respondent in a panel discussion on Cultural Labour, organised by May Day

Bookstore, 25 Sep 2019.

Respondent in Panel discussion on Cultural Labour, organised by Department of

Sociology, South Asia University, 17 Sep 2019.

Illustrated talk on Cultural Labour (Chair: Dr. Shubha Chaudhury), organised by

Frontiers of History, India International Centre, Delhi, 16 Sep 2019.

Respondent in a Panel Discussion on Cultural Labour, organised by CSDS, Delhi, 13

Sep, 2019.

Invited Talk: “Art Producing Limits: Reconceptualizing the ‘Folk Performance’

India, at the School of Media and Cultural Studies, TISS, Mumbai, 9 Sep 2019.

Seminar Talk: Rethinking ‘Folk Culture and Performance in India’, organised by

Department of HSS, IIT, Mumbai, 9 Sep 2019

Talk on Cultural Labour in Culture and Society Lecture Series, organised by IGNCA,

Bangalore, 7 Sep 2019.

Respondent in Book reading and panel discussion on Cultural Labour, organised by

Visthar Academy of Justice and Peace, Bangalore, 6 Sep 2019.

Invited Lectures: Conceptualizing the ‘Folk Performance’ in India, organised by

Humanities Programme, Azim Premji University, Bangalore, 5 Sep 2019.

Respondent in book release and discussion on Cultural Labour, organised by the

School of Arts and Aesthetics, 30 August 2018.

Invited Lecture “Perils of the Popular and the Problem of Theatre Thinking in India”

in Popular Culture, organised by JDMC, University of Delhi, 1 March 2019.

Invited lecture on “Cultural Performance and Critical Ethnography”, organized by

Centre for English Studies, SLL&CS, JNU, 21 August 2019.

Three Special Lectures on “Ritual and Theatre” at National School of Drama 17-22

Dec 2018

Special lectures on the Current Trends in Theatre and Performance Studies,

Department of Perfoming Arts (Film & Theatre) MGAHV, Wardha 15-16 Nov. 2018

Prakash - 11

Invited Lectures on “Theatre and Performance Studies”, Dramatics and Performing

Arts, Mahatma Gandhi Hindi Vishwavidalya, Wardha, 16 Feb 2018.

Moderator and discussant on “Critical Conditions: Performing Politics”, organized by

Pro Helvetia-Swiss Arts Council in partnership with the School of Culture and

Creative Expressions, Ambedkar University, Delhi. 1 Feb 2018.

Discussant and a member of the Studies in Performing Arts and Embodiments: The

Way Forward seminar/ workshop at the Forum on Contemporary Theory (FCT) at

Baroda, 10-11 Nov. 2017.

Invited Lectures on “Living Traditions”, National School of Drama, New Delhi. 20-

23 Oct 2017.

“Art from the Limits of Theatre” in “Unpacking Ideologies”, Annual Academic Meet,

Department of Political Science, Lady Sriram College (LSR), University of Delhi. 31

March 2017.

Special lectures on Traditions of Performance in South Asia in the Department of

Sociology, South Asian University, New Delhi. 30 March 2017

Discussant- Imaginations and iterations: performative spectres of freedom in the

university context in Ignite, organised by Gati dance, New Delhi. 14 Oct 2016

“Antithesis of History and Memory: (Im)possibility of Writing History of Popular

Subaltern Performance” in a National Seminar on Archiving Marginalities:

Documenting Narratives of the Oppressed, organized by Centre for English Studies,

JNU (UGC-SAP), 16 March 2016.

Moderator and Chair, Rethinking Labour and the Creative Economy, Panel: Sudhanva

Deshpande and Dakxin Bajrange, organized by Performance Studies International and

School of Arts and Aesthetics, March 1, 2015.

Discussant in a National Seminar on Contemporary Indian Drama organized by

Sahitya Akademi, 16-21 Jan, 2015 in Bangalore.

Curricula Development Workshop-Seminar, Board member, Centre for Media

Studies, ASC, JNU, New Delhi, 28 Feb 2014.

“Reconfiguring Myth through Time, Space and Genre”, Thursday Seminar Series,

invited by CSSS, SSS, JNU, New Delhi. 20 Nov, 2014.

“Questions of ‘Cultural Justice’ and ‘Aesthetics Sensibility’ in Left Cultural

Movements in India”, invited by the PC Joshi archives on Contemporary History,

JNU, New Delhi, 18 Sep 2014.

Prakash - 12

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

Seminar or Workshop

UGC Sponsored Refresher Course, organized by Academic Staff College,

Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 19 Aug 2013-13 Sep 2013 (A Grade)

UGC Sponsored Orientation Course, organized by Academic Staff College,

University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, 19 Oct-15 Nov 2016 (A Grade)

MHRD sponsored Global Initiative of Academic Networks, GIAN Lecture and

Workshop, organised by the School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU on “South Indian

Models of Mind”, special lectures by Prof. David Shulman and H.S. Shivaprakash,

JNU, New Delhi, 9-22 March 2016.

Participated in Digital Media Workshop by Digital Media Training by JISC Media

Group in collaboration with University of Bristol, 2010.

Certificate in Film Appreciation, Film Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, 2005

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Fellow, CRASSH, Cambridge University, 2019-20

Member, Performance Studies International (PSi), 2013-2015

Member, International Federation for Theatre Research (IFTR) (2015-16)

Member, Indian Society for Theatre Research (ISTR)

Member, Society for Artistic Research (SAR)

Member, Board of Studies, School of Arts & Aesthetics, JNU (2015-the Present)

Member, Academic Council, Jawaharlal Nehru University (2018-20)

PROFESSIONAL SERVICE

Symposium Organizer/ Co-organizer

Book Discussion on Cultural Labour: Conceptualising the ‘Folk Performance’ in

India, SAA, JNU, New Delhi 30 August 2019.

Co-organizer: Gian Lecture: South Indian Models of Mind, special lectures by

Prof. David Shulman and H.S. Shivaprakash, JNU, New Delhi, 9-22 March, 2016.

Prakash - 13

Co-organizer: Rethinking Labour and the Creative Economy: Global

Performative Perspectives, Organizing Committee, Performance Studies

International (Psi) conference at JNU, New Delhi (Feb 27- 1 March 2015).

Organizer: National Seminar on Bidesia and the Cultures of Exclusion, organizer,

Organized, School of Arts & Aesthetics, JNU, 27 March 2014.

CHIME-APAF Annual Conference, volunteer, Department of Drama and Theatre,

Royal Holloway, University of London, 2011.

Co-organizer: Postgraduate Symposium on Postcolonialism, organizing

committee, Drama and Theatre, Royal Holloway, 2009.

Peer-Reviewed Book and Articles for:

Name of Publishers: Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press,

Routledge, National Book Trust

Name of Journals: Journal of Artistic Research, Text & Performance Quarterly,

Society and Culture in South Asia, South Asia History and Culture, American

Ethnologist,

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Jawaharlal University Teachers’ Association

[Joint Secretary], [JNU], Dates: 2017-18

Janrang, theatre Group

[Director, Janrang- theatre group], [Delhi], Dates: 2012-2015

LANGUAGES AND TRANSLATIONS

Hindi, English, Chinese, Magahi, Bhojpuri, Sanskrit (till 10th board), and Urdu (spoken)

THEATRE SKILLS

Directed and worked in a dozen of plays and productions including Shakuntala, Bashai ka

Bhoot, Prometheus Bond, Kaaldosh, Gadha-Purna and others.

Lyrical Translations of Pablo Neruda and Maya Angelou’s poems in Hindustani

The Caged Bird: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YamqDsxKi8I

Your Laughter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh0PvlhWr1o

And others

Prakash - 14

REFERENCES

Short Bio:

Dr. Brahma Prakash is an Assistant Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies at the

School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU, New Delhi. He earned his BA from JNU, MA from

National Central University of Taiwan and PhD from the University of London. He is the

author of Cultural Labour: Conceptualizing the ‘Folk Performance’ in India (New Delhi:

OUP, 2019). He specializes in regional performance traditions and non-western Aesthetic

theories (focus on Chinese and Japanese aesthetics). Combining art, academic and activism,

his works focus on the regional theatre and performance traditions in relation to the questions

of marginality, aesthetics and cultural justice. He has been the receipt of the Reid Research

Scholarship of the University of London, the Dwight Conquergood Award of the

Performance Studies International and the Charles Wallace India Trust Fellowship of the

British Council.

Prof. Helen Gilbert [Professor]

Drama and Theatre

Royal Holloway

University of London

TW 20 0EX

United Kingdom

Email: helen.gilbert@rhul.ac.uk

Prof. Shiau Jenn-Bang

Professor

Graduate Institute of

Philosophy

National Central University

Taiwan

Email: sjb@cc.ncu.edu.tw

Prof. Anna Morcom

Mohindar Brar Sambhi Chair of

Indian Music

Herb Alpert School of Music

UCLA, 2520 Schoenberg Music

Building, Box 951657

Los Angeles, CA 90095-1657, USA

Email:

afmorcom@schoolofmusic.ucla.edu

Dr. Urmimala Sarkar

Associate Professor

Theatre and Performance Studies

School of Arts and Aesthetics

Jawaharlal Nehru University

New Delhi

Email: urmimala.sarkar@gmail.com