Shilpa & Ramakka

Shilpa Mudbi Kothakota is a 1st generation urbanite who identifies herself strongly to her ancestral roots. She has spent several years working in the hinterlands of India, documenting agrarian lifestyles and cultural politics, as a filmmaker. Shilpa has been in the field of social justice as a social activist and media consultant with NGOs working on women and child rights. She has worked in theatre as an actor, vocalist, and administrator. Her artistic research is motivated by the search for counter-narratives, conscious of class and caste dynamics. Her main study is the human voice, which she uses as a lens to understand and fight hierarchies in society.
Shilpa is the creative artist behind Urban Folk Project, a collective that looks that collating and curation folk knowledge systems. The folk content UFP showcases includes documentary films, theatre productions, lecture demonstrations, workshops, seminars, and other audio-visual content. The material is a collation of insights from academic history, archives, and most importantly, the experiences gained while working with individuals from different communities and cultural backgrounds.
Shilpa from Urban Folk Project will be performing at ŪRU on one of the evenings alongside our beloved Ramakka. They will also be curating a workshop during the day – The Folk Voice Lab – a space to understand the possibilities and limitations of our voices.