Kri's Pathbreaking Work

Kri was the first NGO invited to create a non language based child friendly entertainment cultural equity for the children of Afghanistan. This was part of the nutritionally enhanced biscuits that GOI sent to Afghanistan. We sent mime artist Padmashri Niranjan Goswami and his stay was extended as he was invited as the first guest lecturer at the theatre department of Kabul University.

KRI Foundation was tasked to create a child friendly play by the International Labour Organisation office in Delhi to highlight the dangers of child labour and create awareness on the Child’s helpline 1098.

We worked extensively with UNODC to popularize drug Prevention messages with artistes through seminars. Subsequently some artistes created artistic works like dance, short plays to highlight these messages.

Kri Foundation has worked extensively in Tihar Jail individually and collaboratively with other NGOs working in penal and carceral settings to ensure artistic expression and develop life-skills, health, hygiene, positivity and knowledge.

Kri Foundation is known for it's Artivism. Artivism is a portmanteau word for Arts and Activism. Our first such effort was the place created for ILO on child labour. Our second example was the work we did on women's issues especially in a Kathak dance production called "Black and White", which looked at the rights of Indian Muslim women under Muslim Personal Law. We looked particularly at the issues of triple talaq, khula and iddat- all through dance, music, spoken word and Poetry.

Kri Foundation was tasked to create a seminar on the intangible heritage of Delhi and a festival that was Curated around Delhi's unique culture, all as part of preparing the dossier for the 8nscription of Delhi as a UNESCO recognised World Heritage City.

KRI Foundation has initiated the focus on Arts and the Law, through multiple series of public talks, community trainings, lectures and workshops on the many areas in which the arts intersect with the law, including significant ones like copyright, contracts, plagiarism and sexual harassment in the arts. We have worked with artistes, law colleges, Arts and Law universities and stand alone training institutions. In the process Kri Foundation co-created the portal unmute.help as a one window to relevant knowledge and legal literacy necessary for empowering artists and arts leaders on their rights and responsibilities.

In the wake of the many allegations against sexual abuse that came forth just before, during and after covid, Kri Foundation supported survivors in multiple ways including legally, with counsellor help and writings in media. But probably most unusual was artivism again- using the arts for activism. Kri Foundation financed the creation of a dastangoi script called " Dastan- e- Bhanwari Devi " that has already had 7 showings. The script has been made available to feminist theatre groups for use in their own respective genres.

Kri Gpundayion has supported the writing of a book called " Non- Gharanedaar: Pt Mohanrao Kallianpurkar the Paviour of Kathak. This book has resurrected the life of a key modernist Guru of Kathak who gave it it's current syllabus and was responsible for early efforts of institutionalising the art. It is also the first book on Indian dance to have a cloud attached to it which carries archival material on him and which cam be accessed via a QR code. Unexpectedly the book is serving to create an archive around the Guru.

Kri Foundation was a pioneer in establishing a dance film movement in India. This was Kri's DanzLenz, dance and the camera initiative. It focused on dance captured through the lens of the camera - stills, videos and dance films, framed through showcases, roadshow, seminars, festivals. Now that A new generation of dance film makers has come to be and some have the leadership qualities too, Kri has taken a backseat and plays more of a mentoring role. It's last curation was an exclusive South Asian Dance Film Festival edition for the Chicago International Dance Film Festival- spread over 9 individual thematic curations of 45 mins each.

Kri has supported the new International online journal South Asian DANCE Intersections (SADI) which is housed in the stable of online journals of the University of North Carolina, Charlotte. It's efforts have been mostly in the form of editing digital material for uploading on the site.

Kri foundation has worked collaboratively with United States India Education Fund to host and present 41 bilateral speaker forums featuring Fulbright Fellows from India and USA. The series was valled Vidvatva. It has never been attempted anywhere in the world before as such a long, robust and intellectually rigorous series.