The starting point of Jaskaran Anand’s research is to challenge traditional notions of identity politics. In the face of today’s polarized political landscapes, characterized by the rise of right-wing ideologies rooted in fixed identities, Jaskaran Anand invites the audience to explore various facets of “becoming” to find a way out of the “identity trap”. Anand gathers voices through street encounters, cafés, and social media to enrich the project’s content. He explores this “becoming” and the voices of the people performatively. For that he creates the atmosphere of four realms, the “celestial”, the “hell”, “memories”, and something like “the void” realms. For the development process of these realms, philosopher-researcher Manu Sharma will explore existential themes through the facilitation of “Mehfils”, which steam from the south-asian diasporic context and mean formats of festive gatherings with poetry, and music . These gatherings foster open dialogue and connections, allowing diverse perspectives to be heard. Further, Historian Karin Schneider gives a touch on historical narratives bridging flair of time, deepening the essence of such “Mehfils”.

At the Handle with care, Anand presents the first draft of the theatrical text and embodiment of spirits of such realms. During the sharing, Anands is interested in exchanging with the audience poetry, investigating on how they would call the spirits of such realms.

Jaskaran Anand, based in Vienna and Linz, is an internationally recognized performance artist, working in directing, project leadership, choreography, education, cultural initiatives, and films. His* work explores reality formation and networking within the geopolitical human body, and space-time anomalies. He* does sothrough the philosophy and avatar Harmonical.Self. His long-term projects like place of belonging and L-INKED (imagetanz festival 2021 and 2022 at brut) delve into transdisciplinary approaches and his recent works such as In-between Privacy, Hibernating Further, and MachinedHuman! tackle digitization, ecological-psychological aspects, body-politics and posthumanism. His* transdisciplinary works encompass dance, performance, music, film, scientific ontologies, and technological interfaces. He has performed, choreographed, and taught across Europe, and India since 2009 and has also been seen at ImPulsTanz Vienna International Dance Festival, Ars Electronica Festival, Europäsische Theater Nacht, Lange Nacht der Museen, Opera de Lausanne, Tanztage Burgenland, and Rome Europa Festival. Further, having collaborated with renowned practitioners like Ivo Dimchev, Salvo Lombardo/CHIASMA, Dr. Sandra Chatterjee, and Liz King.

http://www.jaskarananand.com/