The first ‘Kacha Kacha’ was hosted by Imaad Majeed as part of Colomboscope in August 2015, conceived with co-curator Radhika Hettiarachchi, bringing together original rappers, poets and singer-songwriters, performing in Sinhala, Tamil and English for “a night of uncensored expression.”
At its inception the evening was hosted at Castle Hotel, a colonial era building, regarded by many as a heritage building, that housed a bar that catered to the working class clientele of Slave Island, as well as its multicultural community.
The event was held at the venue thrice, over the course of six months, bringing attention and in protest to the fact that the building was soon to be taken over by TATA.
Since then, Kacha Kacha has been held at other such bars in different parts of the city that are frequented by working class clientele and the local community.
Through crowdsourcing and partnerships, this event has been free of charge to the public.
The focus of the content of the events has always been about featuring artists who are socially conscious. Typically, an event will feature six artists, with two performing in each of the three main languages spoken in Sri Lanka: Sinhala, Tamil and English.
This allows for a confluence of expressions, as each performer brings with them a different perspective to socio-political realities.
After a hiatus of two and a half years, Kacha Kacha returns, this time with the support of Colomboscope, today (24), from 6pm to 9pm at the Government Service Sports Club in Colombo 5.
The lineup includes activist poet Kumari Kumaragamage, Tamil rapper CV Laksh and Mumbai-based spoken word poet Priya Malik. There will also be a performance by a group called Aaraniyam, from Jaffna, that will see the Tamil poetry of P. Ahilan being dramatically interpreted.
The audience can look forward to an interactive performance as the Samasthalanka Vaada Baila Shilpeenge Sangamaya will be a highlight of the night. Vaada baila is a form of lyrical debate where performers improvise lyrics responding to topics suggested by the audience.
Colomboscope is a contemporary arts festival and platform for interdisciplinary dialogue that has grown familiar within the cultural landscape of Colombo since 2013.
The festival has worked with a range of inter-generational artists, writers, musicians and urban thinkers from across Sri Lanka and at a global level delivering a unique conceptualization with each festival edition spread over key socio-historic sites in Colombo.
The upcoming festival edition is being organised with the support of founding partners EUNIC (Goethe-Institut, British Council and Alliance Française de Kotte).