Mandala Makers Festival is an annual platform that supports multidisciplinary South Asian performing artists. The festival holds space for artists to progress and challenge traditions of the South Asian diaspora.
This festival is free to the public. Events take place throughout the Devon Avenue neighborhood in “Little South Asia”, Chicago. Experience art at community spaces such as parks, shops, street corners and social service centers. The festival culminates with finale dance, music and visual art events in June.
Seating is limited for some events. Please register to reserve your seat!
This festival is made possible with your support. Donations go towards the performing artists, Mandala Arts, and the festival for years to come.
April
DATE | VENUE | ARTIST DESCRIPTION |
4/10/2024 | Helen C. Peirce School of International Studies
| Mandala Music Circle
|
4/12/2024 | Chethan Anant and Hrishikesh Majumdar in an Indian classical flute recital | |
4/14/2024 | Jayshree Venkatesh
| |
4/20/2024 | Gusti Ngurah Kertayuda |
May
DATE | VENUE | ARTIST DESCRIPTION |
5/12/2024 | Mandala Music Circle | |
5/5/2024 5/9/2024 5/19/2024 | Indira Frietas Johnson w/ Devon Community Advisory Council | |
5/26/2024 | Indira Frietas Johnson w/ Devon Community Advisory Council | |
5/26/2024 | TBD |
June
DATE | VENUE | ARTIST & PERFORMANCE DESCRIPTION |
6/2/2024 | Northeastern Illinois University 10 am – 6 pm | A festival celebrating innovative dance fusions with roots in the South Asian diaspora. When the dancer’s body carries more than one language of movement, it transforms into a vessel of myriad experiences, seamlessly blending diverse cultural influences and narratives into novel expressions of form, motion, and emotion. |
6/9/2024 | Mandala Music Circle, Sonny-Riyaaz Qawwali, … | |
6/15/2024 | Indira Frietas Johnson w/ Devon Community Advisory Council– Public opening of Mural | |
6/27/2024 | Ambi Subramaniam w/ Mandala Musical Circle |
Artist Line Up 2024
Sonny Riyaz
Sonny composes music, performs concerts, and produces videos with his ensemble, Riyaaz Qawwali, which was founded in 2006. Qawwali is motivational spiritual music, rooted in South Asia and Islam.
Sonali Skandan
Jiva Dance strives to present work that is inclusive, universal and challenging. Jiva Dance explores the intersections of classicism, modernity and experimental. Jiva Dance is not tied to Bharatanatyam’s cultural specificity, but creates work that reflects our lives in a diverse urban environment. Jiva Dance holds the belief that tradition is a continuum of evolution and hopes to invigorate classical works with a freshness and unique voice. As a Company, we feel the vocabulary of movement and expression has the ability to transcend both time and culture. The work we create seeks to expose the dynamism inherent in Bharatanatyam by incorporating modern ideas, movement patterns and music. The Company creates original works that and reenergizes classical pieces with innovative staging concepts. We believe that Indian classical dance is a living, breathing, holistic art form, and is not fixed but is continually evolving. Jiva Dance has received considerable recognition in the press and has been recognized as a leader in the arts. Jiva Dance presented work in major venues in the US, becoming the first Indian Classical dance company to be presented at the prestigious Victory Dance Series at the New Victory Theater, the first Indian Classical company to be part of the CUNY Dance Initiative (2017 and 2018) at Queens College Jiva Dance was also featured on NBC Learn, in a short documentary titled ‘Why We Dance.’ Jiva Dance’s first dance film short, ‘Urban Nritta,’ has received much attention, and was an official selection in the 17th NY Indian Film Festival. The Company continues to receive choreographic commissions from a wide range of arts organizations. Jiva has been the recipient of National Endowment for the Arts grants, New York State Council on the Arts awards, NYC Dept. of Cultural Affairs awards and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council awards. Jiva Dance was the inaugural recipient of the Dance/NYC Dance Advancement Fund and receives ongoing private donations to continue its work from its supportive patrons and community base.
Chethan Anant
Chethan is a Hindustani musician and student of legendary Indian classical musicians Pandit Ronu Majumdar (Flute player) and Dr. Vikas Kashalkar (Vocalist).
Indira Freitas
Award winning artist, Indira Freitas Johnson’s art practice has evolved as part sculptor, cultural worker, peace activist and educator. Johnson grew up in Mumbai, India and received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Johnson is the recipient of numerous grants and awards including the Illinois Arts Council, PEW Charitable Trust, the Illinois Governor’s Award for the Arts and Chicago Magazine named her the 2013 Chicagoan of the Year. Johnson has exhibited nationally and internationally. Her work is represented in numerous private and public collections including the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, RI, University of Illinois, Champaign, IL. Chicago Veteran’s Home, City of Evanston, Loyola University Museum of Art and the Chicago Transit Authority.
Ngurah Kertayda
Gusti Ngurah Kertayda is a graduate of the National Performing Arts Institute (KOKAR) in Denpasar, Indonesia. He has taught and performed traditional and modern dance and gamelan since the 1970’s both nationally and internationally for numerous dignitaries and festivals. Since his relocation to the United States in 1989, he has served as the artistic and choreographic dance director for the Indonesian Consulate General of Chicago and has just retired from this position in December 2012. He is now the director of Indonesian Dance of Illinois, a non-profit organization in the greater Chicago area promoting Indonesian culture through dance and music.
Ishami Dance Company- Amit Patel & Ishika Seth
Ishami is an Award-nominated South Asian Contemporary dance company, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, who combine elements of South Asian Classical and Folk dance forms with Western dance forms, treading the line between traditional and modern. Ishami was founded by Amit Patel & Ishika Seth to spark conversations through art. After four sold-out shows in Oakland, they toured their original production “Pehchaan,” to New York earlier this year. Ishami's mission is to explore, unite and amplify the diverse voices, stories and histories of the South Asian diaspora and dismantle social and cultural constructs. They aspire to show the beauty, depth and immense range of South Asian Contemporary movement locally and across the globe.
