Paramjit Rai was a volunteer and co-coordinator at Desh Pardesh for a number of years. She discusses her experience as a social policy worker and academic at the festival and how this role of “outsider” informed her perspective on the festival. She…
Sharon Fernandez begins by discussing her various works within the people of colour community prior to the Dash Pardesh festival, with a specific goal to push women of colour’s involvement in the writing and in the community. She then discusses the…
Punam Khosla was the coordinator of the Desh Pardesh festival from the second festival in 1991 to 1993. She headed the festival with clear political goals, which often clashed with other organizers of the event but she was not willing to compromise…
Shelly Bahl was one of the founders of the South Asian Visual Arts Centre (SAVAC). In this interview she discusses her role in several small collectives prior to her full involvement in SAVAC, and how these collectives worked hand in hand with the…
In this interview Anthony Mohamed, and HIV/AIDS activist and attendee of the Desh Pardesh festival discusses several social movements that took place for the LGBTQ community from the 1940s till the 1990s. He discusses the impact of racism within the…
Heidi McKenzie was the co-coordinator of the Desh Pardesh festival alongside Steve Pereira for a year and a half, beginning in 1994. She discusses in this oral history interview the notion of multiculturalism in Desh discourse, representation in the…
Acharya was an activist that was involved in the progressive feminist scene in Toronto prior to hearing about Desh Pardesh. She later went on to work in the programming committee for Desh Pardesh. In this interview, Acharya discusses how the…
Sheila and Rachel, in this oral history interview, speak about their roles in Desh Pardesh, as a contributor and a programming coordinator, respectively. They explain the internal mechanisms of Desh, as well as its public perception at the time. They…
Leila Sujir is an artist that first worked at Desh Pardesh in the late 1980s. Her work India Hearts Beat screened in Toronto, and she was invited to discuss it. She felt that Desh was a space of both validation and contention. She argues it gave…
This program outline details some of the programs that will take place at the March 24-28 1993 Desh Pardesh festival. It brings forward significant artists to premier and special guests.