The third iteration of Per°Form Open Academy of Arts and Activations opens with urgencies surrounding indigeneity in Nepal. It pays homage to indigenous sovereignty movements, acknowledges the historical and political complexities faced by these communities, situates embodied practices, and re-examines contemporary and ancestral understandings of identity — including queerness.

In a series of keynote, in-conversation and interactive sessions, from 12–15 February, join ArTree Nepal, a collective of five diverse indigenous artists (Hit Man Gurung, Lavkant Chaudhary, Mekh Limbu, Sheelasha Rajbhandari and Subas Tamang) who intersect with the younger collective Kalā Kulo (Bishal Yonjan and Priyankar Bahadur Chand), and an independent writer working on histories and archives (Indu Tharu).

Day 1
POA 2025 Opening: Mapping Faded Dreams — Keynote by Hit Man Gurung
Wed, 12 February 2025, 7.30–9.30pm

Fresh from the 11th Asia Pacific Triennale in Queensland Art Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA), artist and curator Hit Man Gurung (co-curator of Kathmandu Triennial 2077, Jogjakarta Biennale 2023, Colomboscope 2024, and Nepal Pavilion at 59th Venice Biennale) will present Mapping Faded Dreams. The keynote draws on Hit Man's longitudinal inquiry into migratory patterns of both human and non-human, including the evolving legacy of the Gurkhas in post-colonial nation states as well as his most recent research on birds.

Day 2
Kaiten — Mangdem’ma: Invocations on history and healing — Talk by Subas Tamang and Mekh Limbu
Thu, 13 February 2025, 7.30–9.30pm

How do indigenous communities navigate the intertwined landscapes of history, trauma, and cultural loss?

This session reflects on artistic practices that transform memory into resistance, from the tactile impressions of woodblock prints to the evocative power of oral traditions and the layered narratives of textiles and moving images.

Day 3
Muktik Dagar: A Path of Liberation — Talk by Lavkant Chaudhary, Indu Tharu, and Priyankar Bahadur Chand
Fri, 14 February 2025, 7.30–9.30pm

Jokhan Ratgaiya, a Tharu poet, Maoist revolutionary, and editor of “Muktik Dagar” (Path of Liberation), published politically charged poetry and essays during Nepal’s People’s War in the late 1990s. Drawing on the legacy of this publication, this session presents recent, collective efforts at resisting and remembering; particularly, examining protests as active sites of cultural production and the act of remembering as protest manifest.

Day 4
Ending with a Nepali Hangout
Sat, 15 February 2025, 3–9.30pm

• 3–5pm: Untamable Dankini: An interactive session with Sheelasha Rajbhandari — How can we cultivate sensorial resistance to society that compels us to dissociate?

• 5pm: Sip tea and chat amidst the exhibitions.

• 6-7.45pm: Drop in fireside chat with the artists from Nepal, moderated by Artistic Director Ong Keng Sen.

• 7.30pm: End the night with … relax, chill and commune with drinks, reverie, music and dance.