The Government of Sikkim has announced Sikkim Arts and Literature Festival – Khangchendzonga (SALF) – to be presented in collaboration with Teamwork Arts, the producer of the iconic annual Jaipur Literature Festival.
The festival will be held at the historic town of Yuksam, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, from May 6-8, 2023.
India’s Northeast is a treasure trove of stories, lore, legend, art, and layered history. The region as a whole, and Sikkim, in particular, are witnessing an unprecedented flowering of literature, poetry, and art, with their creative arts extending to the oral literature and heritage of these hallowed lands.
The programme will celebrate the literary landscape of the region while addressing important local and global concerns, including climate change, wildlife conservation, and biodiversity, history, culture and ethnicity, poetry, architecture, folklore, mental health, writings from the North East, fiction, young adult literature, and more.
During the event, PS Golay, Chief Minister of Sikkim, said, “The artistic and literary treasures of Sikkim are deeply ingrained in the cultural matrix of India, and the first landmark edition of this Festival will open them up for the entire country and beyond to explore and partake in.”
Sanjoy Roy, Managing Director of Teamwork Arts, mentioned, “We are delighted to announce our first festival in the North East – SALF – which will focus on bringing together local writers and artists with national and international writers, thinkers, and artists. The choice of one of the most pristine world heritage sites – the Khangchendzonga National Park – as our primary location is to continue our effort to focus on the climate crisis and the need for environmental awareness and positive action.”
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The festival, located next to the Himalayan mountain of Khangchendzonga, will feature a stellar lineup of speakers including Amit Sen, Director and Senior Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist at Children First; Anand Neelakantan, one of India’s top-selling authors, columnist, screenwriter, and cartoonist; Ankush Saikia, recipient of the Shanghai Writers’ Association’s 2018 fellowship, author, and journalist; Anuja Chauhan, author of bestselling books such as The Zoya Factor and Those Pricey Thakur Girls; Hoihnu Hauzel, journalist, and writer from Manipur; Manjiri Prabhu, an Indian author, TV producer, and filmmaker; Moushumi Kandali, author, bilingual short story writer, art historian, and translator; Nawaraj Parajuli, Nepalese poet who popularized the slam poetry genre in Nepal; Neel Madhav, Indian television personality, mentalist, illusionist, public speaker, author, and TedX speaker; Panay Lal, author, biochemist by training, caricaturist, and animator; Priyadarshini Gurung, who works at the Remote sensing and Climate Change division of Sikkim State Council of Science and Technology; Rosy Chamling, academic and writer; Shobhaa De, celebrated Indian author, and columnist; Shombi Sharp, United Nations Resident Coordinator for India.
The event will also feature some celebrated artists like Harpreet, a versatile artiste who sings original musical compositions in Hindi, as well as in Punjabi, Bengali, Assamese, Rajasthani and Haryanvi; Bipul Chettri, an Indian singer-songwriter who sings in the Nepali language and plays Himalayan folk music with a contemporary touch; Kutle Khan Project, a unique collective of Rajasthani folk-sufi musicians led by Kutle Khan, a multi-talented musician and many more. The programme will include local performers from Sikkim as well.
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