Curator’s Note

For the fourth edition of our annual culture festival, the framework is guided by our theme ‘Boundary’. An idea that provokes us to consider the state of our cultural and ideological fabric, how it has evolved to its current iteration, and the roles we as individuals and as communities have played.

There has never been a time in recent history more fragmented, divided, or fractured. It is our sustained belief that we must simultaneously examine the individual threads as well as the worlds they weave together, to understand how and why we got here. It is through the arts, and through the festival, that we can reflect, understand, express, and relate, not only to one another but to our collective possibilities. Art is the stories we hold on to and while our individual experiences are our own, they deeply inform the world around us.

The festival is named “Should Art” for this very reason. To question and explore the purpose of art and the vital role it plays in our understanding of the ever-evolving human condition. It is to the arts and artistic expression that we turn to and are able to connect to our ‘selves’ and to our communities, across the multitude of human-made, real and imaginary, borders and boundaries.

Through the three weeks of this year’s festival, we explore and share a wide range of stories that will evoke deep reflection, compassion, and care. Together these stories give us a sense of something even stronger and more powerful: that we are in this together. What we do and do not do, very directly impacts others and the world around us. We must remember that as we navigate and voyage through our multiple worlds.

Join us on this journey of Should Art 2023!

Anuradha Parikh
Founder and Artistic Director, G5A