GUWAHATI, Jan 27: Sattriya practitioner Madhusmita Bora is one of 11 artistes working for social change to win the prestigious Leeway Foundation Transformation Award 2020, stated a press release issued here today.
The award offers $165,000 in funding for 11 individual women and gender nonconforming artistes and cultural producers in Greater Philadelphia. The award recognizes each individual’s commitment to their communities and art for social change.
Spanning an array of artistic disciplines and social change intents, the 2020 award recipients are focused on issues like upholding cultural legacies, developing artistic responses to systemic racism, and raising questions of sustainability in the built and natural environment.
Stating that she has been deeply humbled by this honour, Bora said this recognition would not have been possible without the blessings of her teachers and their teachers, and the bhokots who have kept this glorious tradition alive for over 500 years.
Since 2009, Bora, along with her partner Prerona Bhuyan, have been relentlessly spreading the joy of Sattriya all over the USA through their organization called Sattriya Dance Company. The company has also performed in different parts of India, the UK and Mexico. Bora’s story and work have been documented in the US Library of Congress. Her work so far has been funded by the Pew Center for the Arts and Heritage, besides three Leeway Art & Change grants and two grants from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.
Bora is the only South Asian artiste to win the award this year. She is the daughter of Dipika Bora and Hiranya Bora and daughter-in-law of Dr Rajen Pathak and Bharotee Pathak. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband Saurav Pathak and their son Arush Ahan Pathak. Bora, a former journalist, also works as an adjunct professor at Lincoln University, the release added.
