As part of their 2020 hybrid festival, DanseFestival Barents invited Vikram Iyengar, Director of Pickle Factory, to join an online panel discussion and speak about our changed approaches and projects during the pandemic. Vikram joined speakers from Wales, Israel and Norway on this panel that was streamed live on Facebook.

It was a rich and varied discussion presenting diverse modes through which artists and arts organisations had tried to capture the spirit and human connection of the live performing arts through the months of lockdown. With the international panel, what also came through was the very different ways in which artists and the arts function in different contexts, including how they are perceived and supported by society and infrastructure. Our very self-reliant ways of working in India came as a big surprise to others who are used to public and private support for the arts, arts education and arts infrastructure – even during the pandemic. This has led to several other ongoing conversations between Pickle Factory and artists and organisations in Wales and Norway.