Maraa Bangalore: A Creative Collaboration in Art Activism

An independent arts festival in Bengaluru brings together musicians, artists, and cultural activists from across the country to perform and engage with each other. Among the diverse projects that the Bangalore collective, Maraa, has spearheaded, is a photo exhibition featuring artistic—and fantastical—portraits of elderly role models from the trans community. Another standout project is an “experiment in creative protest” that selects and trains voices from marginalized or underrepresented communities across Maharashtra in the art of standup comedy, taking them on tour. Additionally, a newspaper by and for workers in Bengaluru is another initiative under Maraa’s umbrella. These are just a few examples of the diverse and impactful projects that the Maraa Bangalore collective has been involved in over the past 15 years.

The Origins of Maraa: A Collective Media and Art Activism Endeavor

In 2008, a small group of artists and media practitioners—including Ekta Mittal and Ram Bhat—came together to establish Maraa as a non-profit organization. Their goal was to holistically address issues of social justice through the lens of media and the arts. Maraa began by setting up some of India’s first community radio stations, training the people who ran these stations—some of which are still broadcasting today—in everything from research and programming to production and financial planning. Simultaneously, they launched October Jam, a festival that remains free to attend and independently funded. October Jam began as a way to reclaim Bengaluru’s public spaces for the arts, a theme that remains central to the festival and the collective’s ongoing mission.

Expanding Representation and Imagination Through Art Activism

“Speaking broadly, the thrust of our work is to try and diversify representation within the arts and also to open up the imagination within activism through the arts,” says Angarika Guha, a researcher, and practitioner at Maraa. Guha’s work focuses on the intersections between caste, gender, and labor. “For us, the arts have always been a way of opening up a landscape of [both personal and political] imagination. The arts can build empathy and allow for a story or experience to be understood differently.”

Maraa’s work has particularly emphasized the intersection of media and the arts with notions of gender, caste, and labor. This art collective in Bangalore has produced internationally acclaimed documentary films and radio documentaries on issues such as migrant labor rights and sexuality. They have also put together collaborative learning programs for community media practitioners and worked with musicians and theater groups from across the country. Maraa acts as connective tissue, a support system, and an enthusiastic cheerleader for disparate counter-cultural groups spread across India, bringing together radical artists from different cultural traditions to learn from and collaborate with each other.

Taking Art Beyond the White Cube: Maraa’s Impact

Part of Maraa’s mission as a Bangalore collective is to expand the idea of what issues art can address and to take the arts beyond the confines of traditional spaces like white cube galleries and posh nightclubs. For example, in 2017, Maraa collaborated with the Marathi YouTube channel Bhadipa to discover and train participants from the interiors of Maharashtra in standup comedy. They organized a tour—and eventually, a documentary—where these newly trained comedians performed in places that had never seen a comedy show, sharing jokes specific to their experiences and challenges.

A more recent flagship program is Maraa’s work with Freeda Theatre Group, a collection of eight women from rural Madhya Pradesh who are survivors of violence. Maraa initially connected with the women to conduct interviews for research, but the relationship blossomed into a creative partnership. Now an independent theater group, Freeda uses dramaturgy to encourage other disempowered women from rural India to take to the stage and share their experiences.

The Future of Creative Collaboration in Bangalore

“With fifteen years of wide-ranging work under its belt, Maraa continues to evolve while staying true to its foundational values of interdependence and collaboration,” says Guha. The collective is looking to build on the work they’ve already done and dig even deeper under the surface.

“So we want to keep October Jam going as a platform for younger artists to make their debut, to experiment, and also for different artists across genres and forms to listen to each other and interact,” she explains. “We also want to dig deeper into our work in music, theater, and comedy. One other thing that we always wanted to do was try and set up and nurture young collectives, and that’s something we’re working towards now.”

Maraa Bangalore is more than just an art collective; it’s a force of creative collaboration and art activism that has made a lasting impact on the cultural landscape of India. The collective’s dedication to diversifying representation and pushing the boundaries of traditional art spaces continues to inspire and influence communities across the country.

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