Stand-up with a casteless comedian, literary conversations about anti-colonialism, concerts and film screenings are on the poster for Melahuset this spring.
Marking International Women's Day has been a regular program item since Melahuset's inception in 2017, and this year there will be both a breakfast in collaboration with the MiRA center and an evening event with concerts, appeals and DJs in collaboration with Kvinnefronten.
- " Women's struggle is also an anti-racist struggle, and Melahuset marks March 8 by shedding light on topics such as women's rights, oppression and intersectionality from a nuanced perspective," says Melahuset's director Khalid Salimi.
Raga, hip hop and new variants of jazz and other musical traditions
In addition to the concerts with LINNIA, Nadia Essah, PAVNA and Sarah Camille on March 8, there will be concerts with the Ivan Mazuze Group in March, in April there will be a concert with musicians from the South Vietnamese folk music tradition Đờn ca tài tử and in June Nils Petter Molvær will play with Rohini Sahajpal and Jai Shankar, among others. The Ragatid concert series focuses on classical music from Southeast Asia, and this spring Uma Ranganathan, Shantala Subramyanam Trio and Raganor will be performing. The All Hail the Queen concept, which highlights female hip hop and r&b artists, is also back, and the first concert in April will feature Kristine Blir Rapper and PAVNA, and in May RÜ, Zae Aio and Lea will perform. Nyege Nyege is East Africa's largest music festival and combines electronic music from Africa with other musical traditions, and in May Melahuset will be one of the stages when Nyege Nyege Remix Oslo takes over the city.
The struggle against class and colonialism
In February, Mirjam Idriss published the critically acclaimed novel "Halvt", in which she writes about Norway's dark colonial history in the Caribbean. In April, she comes to Melahuset in a conversation led by Selma Benmalek. In March, the Norwegian premiere of the documentary film "Walter Rodney: What They Don't Want You to Know", which explores the life of historian, politician and activist Walter Rodney and how his ideals still influence today's global struggles and social movements. In June, the book "Frantz Fanon: the rebel's clinic" will be launched and author Adam Schatz will meet journalist and author Yohan Shanmugaratnam for a conversation.
What happens when a so-called untouchable starts joking and criticizing the Indian caste system and society? Indian stand-up comedian Manjeet Sarkar is a Dalit, a so-called untouchable, and uses humor to convey his perspective on caste, class and the contrasts between rural and urban life. He is the first untouchable comedian to perform at the UN and in April he will be coming to Melahuset for the screening of the documentary film about his life "Untouchable: Laughing Out Caste". After the movie, there will be a stand-up show with Manjeet Sarkar.
Panel discussions, slam and art
This year is also the election year in the world's largest democracy, India, and in connection with this, various panel discussions are being organized that take stock of and problematize the political development in India over the past decade. Melahuset also continues with MelaFantasi, which is an event for kindergartens, and this spring invites you to everything from opera to rock concerts for the youngest. At Slam "Shake" poetry evenings, the audience can experience both new and more established slam poets, the pop-up art event KOBE shows art from various Oslo-based artists, and Grenseløst Oslo is a safe and drug-free meeting place that uses cultural elements and activities to address topics such as identity and belonging.