Speaking scripts, resisting censorship: the journey from disavowal to care

Varun / Varun's Worklab

Censorship directly attacks authorship that attempts puncturing systemic violences. Questioning and critiquing the oppressive use of power has encountered multiple forms of author- versus- authority collisions throughout history and everywhere in the world. In India, the present coalition government formed with by a 'winning majority' has laid blatant censors on voices in film storytelling and live- performance storytelling. Film schools, performance schools, film festivals, theatre festivals, music concerts, book launches & literature festivals, and all such public gatherings have been directed to fall in line or risk losing their 'autonomy' through government- appointed stooges. What does this mean for an authorship of care~ care for the voices that are suppressed, care for pushback and resistance against easily formed majoritarian, nationalist, casteist, religious narratives?

Through the lens of the Lacanian reference to disavowal as a characteristic mannerism of power, this paper/ paper- performance cites Alenka Zupančič and Joan Tronto to theorize on what it means to counter power's disavowal of the reasons for status quo, with an ethics of 'repairing the world’ through care.

Embedded in the presentation is a performance of 'Nice Person Manifesto'~ a scripted workpiece in which multiple voices speak at the same time~ the first voice of the nice person speaking acceptable truths of the world, the second voice of the ironical body performing cynicism, sarcasm and irony, the third voice of the performer indicating that the nicenesses of the world are indeed cruel, a fourth questioning  voice, a fifth artistic voice and so on.

Varun's formal training, work, and practices intersect at various junctions of performance, theatre, design, poetry, music, philosophy, education, somatic- embodied praxes including yOga-s, sAmkhya, Butoh, alongside other traditions. Supported by independent critical research, performance arts praxis and travel- teaching experiences across India and Europe, they deeply enjoy co- holding learning spaces together with students and co- workers. Their work draws inspiration from and is based on oral and written histories as also the relationship of gender, caste, sexuality, 'dis' ability, educational and environmental injustice hegemonies with the social politics of our time.