KHULI KHIRKEE
Khuli Khirkee is a shared co-working space for makers, movers and do-ers engaged in the performing arts. Located in Khirkee Extension in South Delhi, this studio is used by professionals who wish to create an accessible space dedicated to their diverse interests as choreographers, theatre makers, dancers, movement enthusiasts, actors, light designers, musicians, and film makers. While it has the potential for several multi-disciplinary explorations, the studio spaces in Khuli Khirkee lend themselves best to movement-based work. They are suitable for rehearsals, healing/ recovery sessions, classes, workshops, photo-shoots and intimate performances. Other spaces such as the space outside the studios, are a great place to gather, relax and reboot in between rehearsals and classes, but also suitable for working alone or in small groups. Khuli Khirkee's library includes books and video material on contemporary dance, theatre and performance.
The professionals at Khuli Khirkee co-rent and self-manage the space, not as a collective or company, but as group with an intention to create and participate in making a shared space for creation that is democratic, inclusive, collaborative and joyous. Among us, we strive to create a safe space that upholds equality, solidarity, curiosity, responsibility, sharing and learning.
That said, we are a Khuli Khirkee - an open window - open to new possibilities. Presently, we are 40 performance-inclined practitioners who are part of this loose assembly. If you would like to join us, write to khulikhirkee@gmail.com.
The People
We are a loosely held bunch of people who practice various forms of performing arts in this co-shared world. To be an artist in India has been a supreme privilege while coming with its own set of systemic challenges. So it becomes imperative that we share this immense opportunity with as many as we can and come to a collective understanding of dealing with these challenges. In order to make this journey together we opened up Khuli Khirkee in September 2020 post the first lockdown. Though it is a physical building comprising studio spaces, a patio, a kitchen and adequate office space within Khirkee Extension, it houses the passionate energy, creative urge, community ownership, dreams and struggles of 40 of us. All of us co-rent and co-manage this space along with an in-house family while we build a new community for ourselves and others.
The Commune
Khuli Khirkee is open to and invites any and every artist across caste, religion, gender and economic or cultural class. It belongs to whoever wishes to become part of a community of artistic practitioners in Delhi-NCR, sharing a core common understanding of the human condition. This is a space where you keep your everyday practice going, build a new home, hide away from others, recover from injuries, pain and discomfort, sit and reminisce in a corner, read at the small library, take a snooze, enjoy a home-cooked meal, share a chat, laugh aloud, drink cups of idle tea, create new artistic works, collaborate, sweep and mop, water the plants, do the dishes, make compost, play, hold a listening circle, cry your lungs out, run a workshop, share ideas, exchange techniques, learn and unlearn, construct new narratives and discourses, bring in a friend, earn money and of course perform.
The Guidelines
At the heart of this space lies a heart-felt commitment to individual and collective dreams. As a principle, we have designed a method where the equity of the relationship with the space is not linearly tied to the financial contribution of an artist. In fact, we aim to create and nourish this space so it becomes one of our emotional, physical, and creative endeavours as artists. We hope this would eventually bring in the financial sustainability and stability towards raising this community and building our collective works.