Shehzor, previously rapping as COM.Ü.L, is a rapper-poet from Hyderabad. Ae have written, produced, and performed 13 songs in the past three years, all exploring the intersections of power and queerness in the Dakhni context. Ae are currently working on a single titled "Shehzor.flac", describing aer life as a runaway queer cat trying to live with Spinozist ethics, and announcing the intention to rap with aer birthname.
Revival Disability India is a queer disabled collective in India for disabled folks by disabled folks exploring disabled queerness, pleasure and intersectional desire.
Revival Disability India
(they/them)
Haryana
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The Bitter Feminists (by Tej & Apu)
(she/they)
Bangalore, Karnataka
Rishabh Shetty
(they/them)
Karnataka
Pranami Rajbangshi
(she/her)
Assam
Anup Let
(he/him)
New Delhi
Anup Let is a process based artist engaging with the politics of body and social gaze. He is particularly interested in sexuality and gender politics of representation, and in researching different tools of representation in visual culture, and exploring performance based dialogue that often deals with the ritualistic aspect of making and addresses issues like confinement, social exclusion and patriarchy.
His practice moves between traditional tools like drawing, painting and performance art and focuses on the relationship of self and material culture in an urban hybrid society. Anup Let also completed his BFA and MFA in Painting from Visva Bharati, Kala Bhavana, Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India.
Jafrin is a feminist grassroots community organizer who is engrossed in understanding and building narratives on 'the personal is political' with a cup of chai. Their work encompasses youth leadership development, community organizing, Menstrual Health Management, Sexual and Reproductive Health, and Climate Politics via their founded venture Spread Love And Peace and the organizations that they have been currently working with, called Leading Change Network and Haiyya. They are a neuroqueer ecosexual polyamorous, non-practicing Assamese Muslim person, living with epilepsy from a small village in Assam, Balipara. Find them documenting the self-liberation journey on Instagram at #BeingJeffu
Jafrin Akhtar
(she/her)
Assam
Mridul Kanti Goshami
(he/they)
Bangladesh
Mridul studied Photography and Music. Their works have been adopted from the family snapshots they made when they were younger. Their works focus on Political Violence, Gender Diversity, re-examining history and freedom of speech. Mridul is non-binary and uses He/They pronouns, explaining only as human. They take their inspiration from the people they meet in everyday life, as well as animals, poetry, music, and painting.
MRS TAN, Filipino drag and performance artist, is a by-product of the need for political expression, and to make a creative statement. She transcends boundaries that limit the art of drag by elevating the vapid, and normalizing the off-kilter. These binaries are what has created a body of work with solid foundations, but one that is also open to growth.
MRS TAN
(they/them out of drag and she/her in drag)
Philippines
Pranami Rajbangshi is a Masters of Design student in Photography Design at the National Institute of Design, Gandhinagar. She is a queer, indigenous woman from Assam, interested in the politics of gender and identity which is often drawn from her lived experiences. She is intrigued by the visual medium and believes in its impact.
My name is Rishabh Shetty, my pronouns are they/ them. I am 21 years old and was born and brought up in Pune. I am currently in my 4th year of a Bachelor in Fine Arts in Srishti, Bangalore. I am an aspiring game designer who enjoys horror RPGs, travelling, cooking and playing the keyboard.
Shehzor
(ae/aem)
Telangana
Swaja/Saransh
(they/them)
New Delhi
Swaja/ Saransh likes to play with avatars. They are a filmmaker, researcher and performer and have been invested in ideas of climate change, gender and identities; an avatar that is close to their heart, is Avatari Devi, who helps them reimagine launda naach. Their films have been nominated and won at national and international film festivals such as Mumbai International Film Festival, Dominican Republic Film Festival, CMS Vatavaran and the Kerala film festival. Sab mila ke, they are curious and forever hoping to gain nine lives.
Apurupa and Tejaswi are queer, neurodivergent platonic partners of historically-marginalized genders.
They are The Bitter Feminists, employing emotions and personal narratives instead of theory and random sampling to delve into the praxis of feminism.
Over the years, Gender Bender has grown into a much needed and recognized space for important conversations that aim to contribute to our constantly evolving understanding of gender and its implications, including the need for intersectionality, with artists and audiences alike.
The jury members spent several days going through all applications, before making a final decision on the list of 10 grantees for this year!
9-11 DECEMBER
BANGALORE INTERNATIONAL CENTRE
