About

Askari Naqvi

ASKARI NAQVI is a performing artist, human rights lawyer and activist. He is a Dastango and a celebrated exponent of Sozkhwani: a lyric recounting the tragedy of the Karbala recited during the month of Muharram. He has performed Sozkhwani and Dastangoi to wide acclaim in different cities of India and abroad. His Dastangoi performances have been in cities like Delhi, Bombay, Jaipur, Bhuvneshwar, Bhopal, Calcutta, Indore in varied spaces, venues and festivals, some of which are, the India Habitat Centre, India International Center and Bikaner House in Delhi, Cuckoo club in Bombay, Some of the festivals he has performed at are Festival of Places at IGNCA Delhi, Times Lit fest in Bombay and Tata Steel Literary meet in Kolkata apart from a show in Dubai for Poetic Strokes at the Junction and at the Indian Consulate at Abu Dhabi.

As part of his family tradition, Askari has been performing Soz-khwani, Marsia Khwani and Nauha-khwani right from his childhood. His hour-long solo performance of “SOZKHWANI (Songs of Lament)”, has been very well received in India and abroad. Some of the places he has performed it are: the Sanatkada Festival in Lucknow, Conflictorium at Ahmedabad, the School of Art & Aesthetics in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Bharat Rang Mohatsav 2017 at National School of Drama, New Delhi, Godrej India Culture Lab in Bombay and at School of Languages in Jawaharlal Nehru University New Delhi, apart from other literary gatherings. He has performed for the well-known artist Bani Abdi, at the University of Gottingen in Germany and at the Kinnernet Conference Avallon and Annemasse in France.