The private home of Tasqeen and Asad Macchiwalla in Bangalore serves since years as a social and cultural “hotspot” in the city, hosting numerous cultural, artistic, philosophical and social events. Tasqeen, a director with the Azim Premji Foundation, and Asad, an independent artist and entrepreneur, have transformed their private home into a platform for social-cultural expression, dialogue and civic engagement. It was in that spirit, that they hosted this “premiere performance” of Rama Mani of Theatre of Transformation and Alexander Schieffer of TRANS4M. Together, they designed a “Circle of Humanity” performance to explore through dialogue, poetry and stories how humanity can co-engage in co-creating “A World that is a Home for all Humanity”.
The evening opened with a short introduction into the integral transformative work of both TRANS4M and Theatre of Transformation, and an evocation of the relevance of art and culture to be purposefully integrated in transformative processes, given their unique power for personal and collective development and expression, as well as meaning generation. That set the scene for the then following interactive performance of transformative stories, enacted by Rama Mani, interspersed with Alexander Schieffer’s transformative poetry.
The performance, in turn, opened the space for a dialogue, involving all of the 25 guests – from all ages and professional backgrounds – including a joint reading of the Home for Humanity Manifesto. The dialogue culminated in a collective expression of intention to participate in building a regenerative future for all life.
The performance was followed by a “potluck dinner” that enabled the deepening of the dialogue between all participants. In summary, the evening was a perfect illustration of a “home” acting as a catalyst for social transformation and engaged citizenship – indeed a true “Home for Humanity” event.