VISION

As Narthaki turns twenty three, it poses an opportunity to look back at how the platform has grown over the years and the course it will take in the years to come. A rethinking of identity seems not only timely and necessary but also a responsibility it has towards the user base it has accrued over the years and to the performing arts community that it has platformed.

Going forward, Narthaki will aim to be your dynamic digital companion for all verticals of the Indian performing arts, as it has been, but one that is more responsive to the cultural consciousness of the present. Whilst remaining rooted in histories and contexts, we wish to foreground contemporary concerns and perspectives.

Narthaki is looking to expand both lengthwise - by bringing in more diverse writers from various age groups, backgrounds and disciplines, and an editorial board that can bring in generational expertise, and breadthwise - by expanding the range of subjects that are discussed on the forum to dance histories, anthropology, education, ethics, movement and meditative arts, health and wellness and the allied fields of music, theater, craft, design etc.

While our vast archive spanning over two decades, including contributions from some of the best dance historians and critics in the country, will remain the foundation of Narthaki, we will welcome new ideas inspired by contemporary issues. The platform will be a space for critical inquiry, thought and research to stimulate further art production.

Narthaki holds the relationship it has created with its writers, the performing arts community and all of its stakeholders in the utmost regard and feels accountable and responsible for positively enabling the discourse around Indian dance. The Indian performing arts comprise numerous art forms that have been practiced for many years. We propose our way forward as engaging with these art forms more critically, with current matters concerning the performing arts, and making the boundaries around these forms more porous in order to foster productive exchange and collaboration across formats.