South Asian arts festival returns with its biggest programme to date
Sensasian will take place across four venues in Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme
A South Asian arts and culture festival is expanding across four venues and eight months, bringing film, music, dance, storytelling and shared cultural experiences to audiences across Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Organised by Appetite in partnership with the New Vic Theatre, The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery and Arts Keele, the third annual Sensasian will include a film screening, performances and an outdoor programme featuring dance, music, storytelling and hands-on creative activities.
Sensasian begins during South Asian Heritage Month with a screening of Joyland, an award-winning Pakistani film exploring gender, sexuality and patriarchal family structures. The screening takes place on Friday 3 July at 7pm as part of The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery’s Friday Twilight series and is free to attend, with audiences invited to donate what they feel.
Set in Lahore, Joyland follows a family whose lives are transformed when the youngest son secretly joins an erotic dance theatre and falls for an ambitious trans performer. The film was Pakistan’s first official submission to the Academy Awards and won international praise for its sensitive exploration of identity, family and social expectations.
Sensasian will continue with a new dedicated area at Appetite’s flagship festival, The Big Feast, in Hanley from 11am to 5pm on Saturday 29 August.
Located at Smithfield, the Sensasian zone will showcase a range of performances and activities including storyteller Peter Chand, henna art with Cherrie Matharu, Indian block printing workshops with Jo Sumpter of Hello Tinka and Nandita Shankardass’s critically acclaimed dance production Roots to Rise.
Roots to Rise follows the journey of three women as they reconnect with the earth, ancestral wisdom and futures yet to emerge, celebrating freedom, resistance and community. Audiences will also have the opportunity to take part in a related workshop.
The programme continues on Wednesday 18 November with a performance by the Inner Vision Quintet, led by virtuoso sitar player Baluji Shrivastav OBE, at Keele Chapel.
The ensemble – most of whom are visually impaired – blends Indian classical traditions with Middle Eastern, Western classical, jazz and folk influences. Featuring instruments including tabla, oud, sitar, viola and voice, the performance will journey across cultures and continents while celebrating the transformative power of music.
Sensasian concludes at the New Vic Theatre on Thursday 11 February with Aunusthan – A Celebration of Neo-Classical Indian Dance and Music from Pagrav Dance Company.
The production showcases the North Indian classical dance style Kathak – which expresses stories through movement, footwork and facial gestures – with choreography, live music and performances by a cast of British Asian dance artists.
Appetite director Emily Labhart said: “What makes Sensasian special is that it has been shaped alongside members of the South Asian community in Stoke-on-Trent and North Staffordshire since it launched in 2023.
“The festival creates opportunities for people to come together through shared cultural experiences – whether that’s watching a film, seeing a performance, taking part in a workshop or simply spending time with others and discovering something new.
“We’re particularly excited to introduce a dedicated Sensasian area at The Big Feast this year. It’s a chance to bring the programme to even more people and celebrate the richness and diversity of South Asian arts and culture as part of one of the region’s biggest free outdoor events.”
Booking is not required for the Joyland screening or The Big Feast. Tickets for the Inner Vision Quintet at Keele Chapel cost £16, with free admission for students and under-16s. Tickets for Aunusthan will be available from the New Vic Theatre from Monday 22 June, priced £20.
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