Women in History, Culture, and Performance: What to Expect at Oppam Vaayo Fest
- ARPO
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
There are stories that make it into official archives, and then there are stories that live in memories carried through songs, folktales, ritual performances and everyday conversations. At ARPO, we are curious about both.
Our Vaayo fests grew out of this curiosity. On March 7th and 8th, 2026, we invite you to join us for Oppam Vaayo, a two-day gathering where female artists, thinkers, performers, and cultural practitioners come together to share, reflect, and listen. The name translates to “Come, let's gather together!” because we think it’s necessary now more than ever to come together to celebrate sisterhood.
The event is not just a symbolic nod to Women’s Day, nor do we want to celebrate women’s stories as mere seasonal themes. Instead, the fest emerges from ARPO's ongoing work with archiving and cultural research, and from our belief that memory is material, and that documentation is not limited to paper or institutions. It lives through conversations, in performances, and through interaction.
Over two days, we have curated an event that reflects this spirit of gathering and exchange. You can experience performances, conversations, workshops, and storytelling sessions that bring together different ways of remembering history and interpreting culture.
The Thudippu dance foundation will showcase their theatre-dance performance called Gossip, which explores female friendship as refuge and resistance in a patriarchal world. You will have the opportunity to take part in a Nangyarkoothu workshop, which will introduce you to one of Kerala’s oldest temple performance traditions. In this workshop, you will learn how gesture, storytelling, and classical expression come together to narrate stories with remarkable depth.
Movement takes another form through a Kalaripayattu workshop for women, the martial art tradition of Kerala that blends discipline, strength, and grace, reminding us how bodies themselves become vessels of history and knowledge.
Combining stories of womanhood, labor, struggle, and resilience, artists Mini Kananvu, Aparna Raj and Bindhu Irulam will render their stories through music and poetry.
The fest will feature talks by female academicians like Professor Litty Chacko and Professor Malavika Binny. These talks will reflect on how history is remembered and written, especially when it comes to women. There will be a performance of Fugdo, a vibrant folk dance of the Kudumbi community, preserved and carried forward by generations of Kudumbi women. There will be a Vattakali workshop, where you can step onto the stage and learn the traditional dance of the Paniya community, rooted in rhythm, land, and collective memory.
Oridathoridath by Kalyani invites children and parents into a storytelling session shaped by Malayalam folktales, the kind many of us grew up hearing from grandparents. Finally, in a beautiful crossing of cultures, Keiko Okano brings a Mohiniyattam performance shaped by more than a decade of dedication to Kerala’s graceful classical dance tradition.
Over these two days, we hope Oppam Vaayo becomes a space to gather, listen, and reflect together. A space where stories travel across generations, and where culture, history, and performance remind us of the many ways women continue to shape the worlds we live in.
Planning to come and have fun? Register now!
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