'Me and My Trash'

'Me and My Trash' is a performance work by artist Preethi Bharadwaj that seamlessly brings together movement, story-telling, spoken word, poetry and object theatre to explore the complex relationship between art, trash and humanity. The artist looks at everything that humans generate from plastic, technology, tradition, stories, ideas, ideologies and even art as trash and attempts to examine the responsibility and accountability that comes with this act of creation. She creatively subverts stories to address the concept of belief, equity, fairness and ethics in these narratives that often determine the social fabric of our society. Her work also challenges the norms and conventions of identity and womanhood that are often imposed on the female bodies. The performer deals with trash not just metaphorically but also literally, and examines the human impact on our environment in some of her pieces. Preethi practices managing waste by reusing, recycling and reducing trash in her daily life. She has been vocal about sustainable practices and her advocacy has been an inspiration to many artists.

In ‘Me and My Trash’, Preethi primarily works with the form of Bhartanatyam to ask these contemporary questions thereby challenging its aesthetics and elitism that comes with classicism. This experimental work is bold, witty, insightful and aims to leave the audience with questions about their connection to the self and the environment.

About the artist Preethi Bharadwaj is a movement, voice and theatre artiste based in Chennai. A well-known face in the field of classical dance, Preethi is also a teacher, performer and choreographer who engages in conversations that resonate and are relevant to the current state of Art and Classical Dance(Bharatanatyam) in particular. She constantly experiments by using Bharatanatyam as a gestural and narrative tool to communicate ideas that question and appeal to people of all ages and backgrounds.

About Cartoon Natyam Performance Series Cartoon Natyam is an initiative by Veena Basavrajaiah designed to create a space that addresses the issues of the art world. It started with an online forum where cartoons and illustrations are used to elicit discussions that are socially and politically impacting the artists and their practice. Taking this idea of dialogue between art, practice and audience further, Cartoon Natyam will be curating a series of live performances in collaboration with Courtyard Koota. The series will bring to the audience works of various artists who have been engaging with personal and political questions through their art.