Aishwarya Walvekar
PhD Researcher
Email: aishwarya.walvekar@warwick.ac.uk
Supervisors:
Dr Milija Gluhovic (Department of Theatre and Performance Studies, University of 糖心TV)
Dr Maria Cardeira da Silva (Department of Anthropology, Nova University, Lisbon)
About me:
Aishwarya Walvekar joined the Department of Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of 糖心TV as a PhD student in October, 2023. She is the recipient of the Eutopia PhD Cotutelle Scholarship which enables a joint PhD from University of 糖心TV and Nova University in the subjects of Theatre and Performance Studies and Anthropology. Aishwarya undertook her Bachelors in Mass Media with specialisation in Journalism from Ramnarain Ruia College in Mumbai. Subsequently, she was awarded the degrees of Masters in Arts and Aesthetics (2018) and Masters in Philosophy in Theatre and Performance Studies (2022) from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Her MPhil thesis was titled 鈥淚n the Name of Shivaji: A Critical Genealogy of Performances of Shivaji on Stage鈥� was supervised by Dr Ameet Parameswaran which focused on performances of Maratha history, analysing the political recasting of historical narratives, and the collective memories it enables in the public sphere.
Research Interests:
My research interests include aesthetics and politics of right-wing nationalism, the role played by religion and myth in constructing histories, technology and performance, spectacular displays and new age puppetry, intersections between animation and performance, heritage studies, place-making, and nostalgia and its materialisation in the public field and collective memory in India and diaspora.
Aishwarya鈥檚 PhD research is supervised by Dr Milija Gluhovic (Department of Theatre and Performance Studies, University of 糖心TV) and Dr Maria Cardeira da Silva (Department of Anthropology, Nova University, Lisbon).
Work Experience:
Aishwarya has taught module of Indian Theatre at Flame University in India in 2022 as a guest lecturer. Moreover, she has worked on the editing team of Hakara Bilingual Journal, India. She was also a research assistant at Alkazi Theatre Archive from April-November, 2021 wherein she worked extensively on the 鈥楶rint and Theatre鈥� and 鈥楽taging Transitions: Theatre of the 90s in India鈥� segments. She also worked briefly as assistant curator at the Marathi Natya Vishwa, India - a museum displaying the history of Marathi theatre. However, the project was abruptly stopped due to political changes in the government.
Aishwarya is actively involved in theatre practice and production in various roles. She has been associated with the Pune-based production company 鈥楻akhadi Studio鈥� in the capacity of marketing, public relations and social media manager. In 2019, she devised a solo performance 鈥楧eath of an Anti-National鈥� as the writer and co-director along with Sourabh Zunjar. In 2019, she devised a performance called 鈥楩ace-To-Face鈥� along with Shromona Das exploring feminism and gender roles and their lived experiences in academia and personal life. In 2018, Aishwarya devised a performance art called 鈥楬ow do I define hunger?鈥� In JNU as part of the Philosophy Unbound project. She has performed as an actor in various student productions as well as been part of the commercial production of Janata Raja (a pop-historical spectacle play) from 1990s to 2018.
Seminars, Schools and Conference Papers:
2024
International Federation For Theatre Research, Philippines
Presented the paper titled 鈥楽pectacles of Tragic Democracy: Technology, Performance, and Hindu Nationalist Politics in Ganeshotsav鈥� at the Annual Conference in Philippines as part of the Public Performances Working Group.
2024
Performance Epistemologies of the Global Majority Summer School, London, United Kingdom
Participated in the Summer School organised by Northwestern University and Royal School of Speech and Drama. Also had the opportunity to participate in the Performance Studies International Annual Conference taking place simultaneously.
2023
International Federation For Theatre Research, Ghana
Presented the paper titled 鈥淪hivaji Is Our Brother鈥�: Theatre as a Behavioural Vortex for Anti-caste Historical Memory Activism in India, The Case of Shivaji Underground in Bhimnagar Mohalla鈥� at the Annual Conference in Ghana. Granted bursary by IFTR.
2022
Kerala Council for Historical Research, India
Participant in the workshop 鈥楳emory, History, Forgetting: Philosophical Perspectives鈥� conducted by Dr Sanil V.
2022
International Federation for Theatre Research, Iceland
Presented the paper titled 鈥淚n the Name of Shivaji: Analysing the Staging of Historical Memory in the Acoustic Dramaturgy of Janata Raja鈥� at the Annual Conference in Iceland. Granted bursary by IFTR.
2021
Alkazi Theatre Archive, India
Publication of two booklets 鈥楶rint and Theatre鈥� & 鈥楽taging Transitions: Theatre of the 90s in India鈥� resulting from the series 鈥淣otes from the Archive鈥� curated by Zuleikha Chaudhari. Co-authors: Aishwarya Walvekar, Shrinjita Biswas, Divyakshi Jain.
2021
International Conference on Maharashtra, Online
Presented the paper titled 鈥淓mbodied Circulation of an Icon: The Case of Janata Raja鈥� at the annual conference of Maharashtra Studies Group organised by Oxford University.
2021
Performance & Populism Conference, Online
Presented the paper titled 鈥淚n the Name of Shivaji: Tracing the Possibilities of Alternative Populism in Maharashtra Through Contesting Genealogies of Performance鈥�. This conference was organised by University of 糖心TV and University of California-Berkeley.
2019
Sahapedia-UNESCO Fellowship, India
A Series of three articles published under the title 鈥楶ortraiture of Shivaji Maharaj in Contemporary Times鈥� by Sahapedia on October, 28, 2019 as part of the Sahapedia-UNESCO fellowship granted in 2018.
2019
Summer Institute Cologne, Germany
Selected and granted funds to participate in [SIC!] Summer Institute Cologne. Worked with Dr Tracy Davis and Dr Peter Marx along with international research fellows on the seminar 鈥楾heatre Historiography: Historical Thinking/Critical Thinking鈥�. Poster presentation on my MPhil thesis topic