Priya Srinivasan
Priya Srinivasan is an artist/curator/writer living and working in Naarm / Melbourne committed to exploring decolonization and interdisciplinary feminist performance. She uses her training in classical/experimental Indian dance to look at performance as a tool to inspire critical thought and reflection on the contemporary world. Current global events and social justice issues inspire her creative process including issues of climate change and prevention of violence against women working with people of colour, First Nations artists and local communities to rethink what is contemporary performance.
Biography
Priya Srinivasan is a dancer/choreographer whose performances work towards social justice issues. She has choreographed several solo, duet, and large-scale projects internationally and nationally for festivals such as Australia Festival (India), AsiaTOPA (Australia), Jaipur Literary Festival (India), India Dans Festival Korzo (Netherlands), and has collaborated on major projects with the Hermitage Museum Amsterdam, Berlin Wall Memorial, Rockbund Art Museum Shanghai, Typografia Gallery Romania, Showroom Gallery London, Dakshina Chitra and Spaces Chennai, Adishakti Puducherry, Highways Los Angeles, DCA Darwin, Dancehouse and Bunjil Place in Melbourne. In the last three years, Priya has given over 30 performances in Naarm and 32 international performances around the globe in museums, universities and theatres. Her large span of intercultural work focuses primarily on feminist collaborations most notable of which is “Churning Waters” a feminist Indigenous Indian work which was selected to tour India for Australia Festival.
Priya has a PhD in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and was the first South Asian professor of dance at the University of California, Riverside. Her award-winning book Sweating Saris: Indian Dance as Transnational Labour was published by Temple University Press (2012).
Priya's new performance work 'The Durga Chronicles' won the 2023 Green Room award for Breaking Ground. 'The Durga Chronicles' remembers the stories of women who have been harmed and harnesses the force of Durga to provoke empowered resistance against gendered violence.
Priya is the Artistic Director of Sangam: Platform of South Asia and Diaspora which she founded in 2019. Sangam is a transformative cultural platform addressing inequity in the arts in Naarm. Since 2019, Sangam has thrived under her guidance, showcasing over 300 South Asian creatives towards self-representation and artistic excellence.
In 2024, Priya was the recipient of the Creative Australia Asia Pacific Arts Award - Impact.