Prakriti Foundation is proud to present for the first time in December 2007, the Park’s New Festival. This five-day festival being held from December 2 to December 7 at the Museum Theatre, showcases new and emerging work in the field of dance, music and theatre for a Chennai audience. In this inaugural year, we have curated work by leading performers like Dr. Mallika Sarabhai, the Vayunaidu Company, U.K, and Dr. Rekha Tandon from Bhubaneshwar, as well as fresh sounds from Ramu Ramanathan and, and a solo performance by Preethi Athreya.

In the nine years of its existence, Prakriti Foundation has always attempted to inform, delight, and extend the audience of art and culture lovers in Chennai. We now have no less than six annual festivals to offer in diverse areas. These are:

• The ‘Tree of Life’ Festival in January, that explores the theme of our connection to the environment through puppetry and performance, story telling, art, and spinning workshops. 
• The ‘Hamara Shakespeare’ festival in February, that presents Shakespeare in Indian languages.
• The ‘Gharana’ festival in March, that presents classical Hindustani music to a city known for its Carnatic tradition.
• The ‘One Billion Eyes’ documentary festival in August, a competitive event presenting the work of documentary film makers around a specific theme. The 2007 theme was ‘Caste’.

In December 2007, Prakriti Foundation will present the Park’s New Festival from December 2 to 7, and ‘Poetry with Prakriti’, a unique poetry festival from December 15 to 30.

Apart from the events we curate and present on our own, Prakriti Foundation has also collaborated from 1998 to 2006 with the Arangham Trust, on the ‘Other Festival’, an event that provided an alternative to the Chennai music and dance season, featuring fresh and experimental work by national and international artistes.

The Park’s New Festival in 2007 opens in a time when Chennai has become more receptive to work from different regions and encompassing different forms. This festival brings us closer to a discerning Chennai audience with some senior and some emerging artistes presenting new and meaningful initiatives in dance, music and theatre. We are confident that this annual event will carve a significant space of its own, in this and following years.