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Screenshot from Oral history with Anthony Mohamed (1 November 2019)
A screenshot from the oral history interview with Anthony Mohamed in 2019.
reclaiming the paki faggot
Newspaper article by Gordon Bowness in XTRA! newspaper December 1992 issue about reclaiming derogatory terms in the South Asian community.
Oral History with Leila Sujir (2014)
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…
Oral History Interview with Shyam Selvadurai (2015)
Selvadurai, a writer and cartoonist, discusses his involvement with the Desh Pardesh festival and analyzes the deep identity politics that permeated every conversation held at the festival. He is a Sri Lankan born gay man in a festival where Sri…
Oral History Interview with Shelly Bahl (2015)
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…
Oral History Interview with Sheila James and Rachel Kalpana James (2014)
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…
Oral History Interview with Paramjit Rai (2014)
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…
Oral History Interview with Pamila Matharu (2014)
Matharu discusses the critical progressive nature of the Desh Pardesh festival, and how this was targeted specifically for a population of people of colour. Matharu also touches briefly on the intergenerational nature of the festival, and how this…
Oral History Interview with Natasha Singh
In her oral history, Natasha Singh articulates why Desh was so influential, and also goes into depth about the world-wide influence Desh had on South Asian festivals. Additionally, she gives an example of how Desh empowered her in her everyday life.
Oral History Interview with Leela Acharya
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…