Photo by Anna Hay
Sri Vamsi Matta
Popula Dabba: A Storytelling Workshop
WED 12 NOV 2:00PM—5:30PM
Tickets: $25/$20 +BF
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Where Food, Memory, Art, and Theatre Converge.
Popula Dabba, the Telugu word for “spice box” evokes a vessel that holds not only spices but also memories, stories and inherited traditions. In this three-hour storytelling workshop, participants are invited to open their own “spice boxes” exploring how food can evoke memory, identity and creative expression.
Facilitated by interdisciplinary theatre artist Sri Vamsi Matta, the session combines reflection, conversation, and creative exercises drawn from theatre and visual storytelling. It offers a supportive space to share personal experiences, uncover sensory memories, and experiment with transforming them into narrative, performance, or visual form. Through the simple act of remembering through food, Popula Dabba becomes a collective exploration of how our everyday histories can shape powerful stories.
This workshop is open to artists, creatives, community members and anyone curious. Sri Vamsi is visiting Australia from his home country of India for a 6-week residency, and Platform Arts is proud to host this event as part of our Salon public program series.
The Australian tour and residency of Come Eat With Me is supported by Arts House (VIC) and Campbelltown Arts Centre (NSW), and made possible by the Nagarajan-Lew Fund for independent artists.
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Sri Vamsi Matta, or simply Vamsi, is a Bangalore-based interdisciplinary theatre artist whose work is deeply informed by his Dalit identity, experiences, and the socio-political context of his location. As a member of a community historically marginalised and labeled "untouchable" within the Hindu caste system, Vamsi critically engages with oppressive structures and narratives affecting his community.
His recent work includes Star in the Sky, a play that poignantly captures the struggles and resilience of Dalit students in Indian universities, exploring themes of pain, identity, and systemic discrimination. Developed under Indian Ensemble's Idea Development Lab-First Draft program, the play was a runner-up for the Tata Lit Fest’s Sultan Padamsee Playwriting Award. The play opened on 26th April 2025.
Another notable project, Come Eat with Me, is a critically acclaimed performance piece that examines the intricate and often fraught relationship between caste and food. Through the shared act of cooking Dalit cuisine, Vamsi interweaves personal storytelling to challenge caste-based stigma and prejudice. Following a successful U.S. tour, the piece returned to India after Vamsi completed his 2023-24 residency as the Interdisciplinary Artist in Residence at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Vamsi co-founded OffStream, a Bangalore based arts collective supporting artists with an anti-caste lens, and building community around anti-caste histories and imaginations. He also co-founded Perishable Goods Collective, a transdisciplinary artist collective using food and art to challenge caste oppression and reclaim marginalized cultural narratives.
