Project Overview
Adbhut is an immersive AI-powered performance installation that captures the profound moment of wonder when technology enables impossible communication. The project explores breakthrough moments - when someone who has lost their voice speaks again through AI synthesis, when a grandmother in rural Punjab suddenly understands her grandson's English poetry through real-time translation, when a child with autism finds words they never had through assistive technology.
Expected Impact
This work positions classical Indian aesthetic theory — specifically the rasa of Adbhuta — as essential vocabulary for contemporary technological discourse. Where Western frameworks approach AI through binaries of replacement versus augmentation, ADBHUT proposes wonder as methodology. The installation becomes a site where ancient emotional wisdom encounters cutting-edge technology, creating new possibilities for both. India's multilingual reality becomes the work's laboratory. Rather than viewing our 22 official languages as logistical complexity, ADBHUT reveals linguistic diversity as creative catalyst. The piece demonstrates how AI can serve as cultural preservation tool — not homogenizing communication but amplifying the poetry inherent in miscommunication, mistranslation, and cross-linguistic encounter.
Applicant Background
Varoon P. Anand is a theatre director, facilitator, and climate storyteller based in New Delhi. As Artistic Director of Kaivalya Plays, he creates multilingual, interactive performances that address social issues through applied improvisation and technology integration. His work spans climate communication, mental health advocacy, and cultural preservation, with productions like "Mining Hate" (addressing misinformation), "Unravel" (exploring mental wellness), and "I, Josef" (an immersive Kafka adaptation). Recognized internationally as a Creativity Pioneer (Moleskine Foundation, 2023) and recipient of grants from the EU MediaFutures, Goethe Institut, and India Foundation for the Arts, Varoon develops innovative methodologies that bridge artistic practice with community research. He facilitates climate workshops across four countries, serves as India correspondent for Radio France Internationale, and speaks six languages.