PhD Researcher

Email: aishwarya.walvekar@warwick.ac.uk

Supervisors:

Dr Milija Gluhovic (Department of Theatre and Performance Studies, University of Warwick)

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 Warwick 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 Warwick 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 “In the Name of Shivaji: A Critical Genealogy of Performances of Shivaji on Stage” 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’s PhD research is supervised by Dr Milija Gluhovic (Department of Theatre and Performance Studies, University of Warwick) 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 ‘Print and Theatre’ and ‘Staging Transitions: Theatre of the 90s in India’ 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 ‘Rakhadi Studio’ in the capacity of marketing, public relations and social media manager. In 2019, she devised a solo performance ‘Death of an Anti-National’ as the writer and co-director along with Sourabh Zunjar. In 2019, she devised a performance called ‘Face-To-Face’ 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 ‘How do I define hunger?’ 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 ‘Spectacles of Tragic Democracy: Technology, Performance, and Hindu Nationalist Politics in Ganeshotsav’ 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 “Shivaji Is Our Brother”: Theatre as a Behavioural Vortex for Anti-caste Historical Memory Activism in India, The Case of Shivaji Underground in Bhimnagar Mohalla’ at the Annual Conference in Ghana. Granted bursary by IFTR.

2022

Kerala Council for Historical Research, India

Participant in the workshop ‘Memory, History, Forgetting: Philosophical Perspectives’ conducted by Dr Sanil V.

2022

International Federation for Theatre Research, Iceland

Presented the paper titled “In the Name of Shivaji: Analysing the Staging of Historical Memory in the Acoustic Dramaturgy of Janata Raja” at the Annual Conference in Iceland. Granted bursary by IFTR.

2021

Alkazi Theatre Archive, India

Publication of two booklets ‘Print and Theatre’ & ‘Staging Transitions: Theatre of the 90s in India’ resulting from the series “Notes from the Archive” curated by Zuleikha Chaudhari. Co-authors: Aishwarya Walvekar, Shrinjita Biswas, Divyakshi Jain.

2021

International Conference on Maharashtra, Online

Presented the paper titled “Embodied Circulation of an Icon: The Case of Janata Raja” at the annual conference of Maharashtra Studies Group organised by Oxford University.

2021

Performance & Populism Conference, Online

Presented the paper titled “In the Name of Shivaji: Tracing the Possibilities of Alternative Populism in Maharashtra Through Contesting Genealogies of Performance”. This conference was organised by University of Warwick and University of California-Berkeley.

2019

Sahapedia-UNESCO Fellowship, India

A Series of three articles published under the title ‘Portraiture of Shivaji Maharaj in Contemporary Times’ by Sahapedia on October, 28, 2019 as part of the Sahapedia-UNESCO fellowship granted in 2018.

https://www.sahapedia.org/portraiture-shivaji-maharaj-contemporary-times

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 ‘Theatre Historiography: Historical Thinking/Critical Thinking’. Poster presentation on my MPhil thesis topic