MUMBAI: Culture Connects, a collaboration between Delhi-based culture curators and Wild City and San Francisco-based digital innovators MUTEK.SF, aims to be a catalyst for creative expressionand a platform that supports artists, creative entrepreneurs and cultural trailblazers to respond to and grow from the COVID-19 crisis.

This year-long series of digital and physical events will explore themes of music, culture and technology, and creative entrepreneurship. Made possible through the generous support of American CenterNew Delhi , Culture Connects will showcase the success stories of individuals and collectives from India and the United States.

You can register for the events here.

Events in March

Featuring a mix of conversations, multimedia performances and workshops, Culture Connects brings together thought leaders and trailblazers from the fields of music, technology, creative industry and social entrepreneurship from both India and the United States.

March 4

As Only Now, San Francisco-based producer Kush Arora makes music that is distinctly esoteric, a jagged melange of international club sounds as disparate as industrial techno and kuduro.

March 9

Smriti Parsheera, a technology policy researcher and advocate for digital rights, will be in conversation with Osama Manzar, founder of Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) India about how to bridge the digital divide that leaves rural artists and artisans behind.

COVID-19 has shone a light on the extreme political, social and economic implications of India’s great digital divide. For every one of the 700 million Indians who has access to the internet, there is at least one Indian who does not; that person is most likely living in a rural area, with decreased access to economic opportunities.

From online learning opportunities to accessing basic information; from selling handicrafts to local produce, internet awareness and access can be a gamechanger for artists and artisans in rural areas.

To date, DEF India has helped 2,000 artisans and weavers from marginalized communities improve their livelihoods by developing valuable digital skills.

March 10

Kusha Kapila breaks down what goes into being a content creator in 2021 in a conversation with Ambika Muttoo.

Famous for her on-screen portrayal of Zulmi Aunty, Maa Woke Anand or Monday Aunty, Kusha Kapila left a full-time job to pursue a career as an independent content creator.  Today, Kapila speaks to her ever-growing family of 1.6 million followers on Instagram and 261,000 subscribers on YouTube on issues as varied as fashion and skin care, body positivity, mental health and her joys of being a new dog parent.

March 11

Sneha Khanwalkar and AlokanandaDasgupta discuss the challenges that prevent women from taking their rightful place in Bollywood, India’s biggest cultural institution.

Just like the global music industry, the Bollywood film industry has a problem of representation, particularly in the category of women music directors. The industry that has been churning out movies since AlamAra – India’s first movie with sound – in 1931 has till date nominated only three women music directors for a Filmfare Award: Usha Khanna in 1983, Sneha Khanwalkar in 2011 and Parampara Thakur in 2020, with Parampara the lone winner. While OTT platforms in India – alongwithpushing more female-fronted narratives – offer talented composers like AlokanandaDasgupta a wider canvas, the scales are still not in favour of women.

March 11

Nick Hook, in-demand collaborator and producer extraordinaire will present a live mixed media audio-visual show.   

Hook’s digital and analog synth wizardry has vowed audiences on either side of the Atlantic, and he has lent his touch to projects from a wide range of artists, including Run The Jewels, Azealia Banks, Hudson Mohawke, and countless others.

March 26

For Culture Connects, Mumbai-based artist Kumail will present a live solo, multimedia performance.  

His positively radiant brand of electronica has seen the 26-year-old be anointed as the leading light of the alternative scene in India. Over the past few years, Kumail has swamped lo-fi meditative soundscapes for an R&B and soul-inspired lambent sound harkening to the L.A. beat scene - as heard on Yasmin, his nine-track album released on the futuristic Brooklyn-based label Bastard Jazz in late 2019.  

You can register for all events here.