About
Kahani Project is the love child of the people behind it: creative writers, artists and freethinking bohemians, who believe in the good ol’ dream of a more inclusive world. In this fast-paced age of scrolling and swiping ‘stories’, we believe that the essence of real storytelling is fading out: stories that have ignited our folk landscapes and have travelled from the hearts and minds of our ancestors to us.
What are the stories that we want to leave behind for the generations to come? Social media stories? In short, when our lives are infested with a consumerist and a toxic breaking and fake news culture, fiction is what we need. This is exactly why the Kahani Project has come into being: a first of its kind literary collaboration between India and Pakistan that brings together short story writers and visual artists for a journey that transcends borders.
Anthology
'The Other in the Mirror' is a rare literary anthology, featuring twenty authors from India and Pakistan, with stories that bring warmth to the barren inner lands that have remained frozen since partition.
The anthology, edited by Sehyr Mirza, has been released by Yoda Press in India and Folio Books in Pakistan.
Film
Over 40 visual artists from India and Pakistan — apart from several voice-actors, sound designers & musicians — are collaborating to produce a mid-length hand drawn 2D animated film, based on some of the stories from the book. The f
Come back later for more details!
Story Labs
StoryLab is a traveling literary space that offers participants a possibility to understand, question and embrace otherness.
StoryLabs use original fiction stories and animated films, exclusively created by the Kahani Project.
Host a Story Lab
Do you want to pull off a story lab in your city?
How to pull off a story lab?
Request for a free copy of the Story Labs toolkit, which has been especially developed and designed to help you facilitate the story labs in your city with your circle.
Who can pull off story labs?
You can! If you have a passion for telling stories and would like to play your part in bridging the gap between the people from Pakistan and India, you can pull off a story lab.
What would a story lab entail?
Story labs would incorporate performative storytelling, animation film screenings, interactive story recitals and lots of fun activities specifically designed for young people.
Where can story labs be conducted?
Story labs can be conducted in any city of India and Pakistan. If you’re an Indian or Pakistani based in any third country, you can still conduct story labs with South Asian participants.
Why pull off story labs?
Currently, in both India and Pakistan, we are the third and the fourth generation since the two countries got their independence in 1947. Some of us have grown up listening to the stories of co-existence and pluralism from the pre-partitioned times. We have also heard the tragic stories of the partition from our grandparents. There has been very limited interaction between the citizens of the two countries because of political reasons. And there’s nostalgia, curiosity and desire to meet and get to know people from across the border. We have grown up with a lot of stereotypes and often hatred for each other. It’s about time we let the old wounds heal and create a better future by changing our present.
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