the democratic ENCOUNTER

Colloquiums, Agora Dialectics & Midnight Vigils

We reject the idea that audience members are passive consumers of theatrical commodities. Here in Thrissur, spectators are fellow jurors. The festival convocation creates an unmoderated arena where artists, citizens, activists, and theorists interrogate power without deference.

AGORA GUIDELINES

check All sessions free of cost and open to all citizens.

check Wireless interpretation headsets (Malayalam & English).

check Audio recordings archived daily in Festival Media Vault.

Curated Colloquium Sessions (10-Day Roster)

LIVE DIALOGUE TRACKS

SYMPOSIUM 01 // ARCHIVE INDICTMENT DAY 01 • 10:30 AM — 12:30 PM IST

Witnessing Under Surveillance: The Playwright as Subversive Archivist

SEMINAR HALL 01 • KSNA ACADEMY CAMPUS

When official state archives are subjected to systemic redaction, custodial disappearance, and censorship, the play text and rehearsal diary transform into evidentiary counter-dossiers. Theatre theorists and Middle Eastern dramaturgs discuss clandestine writing practices under biometric police surveillance.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Prof. Rustom Bharucha (Kolkata) & Manal Khader (Jenin/UK)

CHAIR & RESPONDENT: Dr. V. C. Harris Chair in Critical Humanities

Headsets: English & Malayalam Channel 01

AGORA 02 // STREET RECLAMATION DAY 03 • 03:00 PM — 05:00 PM IST

Theatre of the Streets: Decolonizing the Proscenium

BANYAN TREE ALTHARA AGORA • OPEN TO ALL

A participatory open-air debate underneath Thrissur's century-old banyan tree. Street performance companies from Santiago, Delhi, and Kerala debate reclaiming municipal roundabouts from commercial advertising and paramilitary policing.

FEATURED ARTISTS: Marco Layera (Teatro La Re-sentida) & Moloyashree Hashmi (Janam)

MODERATOR: Dr. B. Rajeevan (Cultural Theorist)

Unregulated Agora • No Passes Required

TRIBUNAL 03 // FORENSIC DRAMATURGY DAY 04 • 10:00 AM — 12:00 PM IST

The Body as Evidence: Forensic Theatre & Truth Commissions

SEMINAR HALL 01 • SIMULTANEOUS INTERPRETATION

When physical evidence is suppressed or incinerated by repressive states, what forensic claims can an ensemble make on stage? Featuring directors and researchers examining Truth & Reconciliation trials from Johannesburg to Bogotá.

PANELISTS: Dr. Camila Restrepo, Zwelakhe Mthembu, Prof. K. Satchidanandan

MODERATOR: Anuradha Kapur (Festival Curator)

Channel 02 Wireless Headsets Available

VIGIL 04 // MIDNIGHT CONVOCATION NIGHTLY • 10:00 PM — MIDNIGHT IST

Midnight Assembly: Poetry of Dissent & Protest Songs

PALACE COURTYARD GROUNDS

An open nocturnal circle for delegates, local student unions, folk balladeers, and traveling actors. Spontaneous choral recitations of banned literature from Iran, Myanmar, Palestine, and Kashmir accompanied by traditional percussion.

Bring your instruments & voice • Open floor

Curatorial Theorists & Speakers

Prof. Rustom Bharucha Cultural Critic & Author of 'Terror and Performance'

Leading international voice on performance ethics and non-violence in civil conflict zones.

Manal Khader Dramaturge, Developing Artists (Palestine / UK)

Co-creator of 'And Here I Am', exploring verbatim theatre methods in refugee camps.

Dr. Camila Restrepo Human Rights Jurist & Dramaturge (Bogotá, Colombia)

Specialist in artistic testimonies before the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP).

Prof. K. Satchidanandan President, Kerala Sahitya Akademi

Eminent poet, theorist of subaltern literature and pioneer of Malayalam resistance verse.

Dispatch Archives (PDF Downloads)

Symposium 01 Full Transcript download The Street Manifesto: Janam & Oorali download Full ITFoK 2026 Curatorial Booklet download