Srinagar: In Kashmir, where spaces dedicated to art, culture and independent dialogue remain few and far between, “Kani Home” is trying to create something more than a venue for exhibitions, performances and gatherings. The place is seeking to form a community where artists, filmmakers, artisans, musicians and young people can come together, share ideas and engage in conversations about diverse topics.In Kashmir, the emergence of such spaces comes amid wider political and social boundaries, including a culture of self-censorship and growing caution around artistic expression. For many artists, the challenge is not necessarily finding the means to perform, but finding places where their work can be presented, discussed and questioned without any fear.Founded by Mir Ishfaq, Kani Home has opened its gates for artists with an aim to become one such space in the summer capital of the Union Territory. Its early gatherings have brought together people from the creative community, offering a glimpse of what a more connected cultural ecosystem in Kashmir might look like.For Ishfaq, the idea begins with a simple idea in his mind that “a home can become a place of possibility when public spaces shrink or are difficult to access”.“This place is my home, and I feel safe here. Public spaces are not always easy to open for gatherings like this, and I understand that. But no one needs permission to welcome people into their home. So we opened our doors. If the young people of Kashmir cannot find a room to dream in, we will give them ours,” Mir said in a conversation with The Wire.With his plans and ambitions, Mir shows the idea behind Kani Home and the circumstances in which it has emerged. Rather than waiting for established cultural infrastructure to expand, Mir has attempted to create an alternative space from the ground up. Artists in attendance at the fest also feel the space can be a place of togetherness.“Kanifest is a moment of coming together. It is a way to reimagine gatherings that are focused on collective care and foster sustaining friendships in moments of extensive individualisation. The exhibition, ‘here, is elsewhere’ is a way to envision and materialise such a potential, of coming together, of conversation and care. I have brought artists from different contexts, places and moments across geographies to make possible a conversation through their work. It is for the first time artists, as far as I remember, that such a diverse group of artists is showing their work in Kashmir,” Baba Salmaan, curator of the art exhibition ‘here, is elsewhere’ told The Wire.“The festival brought together diverse creative expressions, from local product exhibitions to contemporary art. The exhibition Here, Is Elsewhere brought international artists into dialogue with local practitioners whose works are rooted in the here, while engaging with ideas, experiences, and conversations that resonate beyond,” Khursheed, co-curator of the exhibition added.The exhibition featured the work of artists from many parts of the India.A communityFor Tanishka Kachru, professor of design, National Institute of Design Ahmedabad, the initiative is as much about building relationships as it is about creating a physical venue. The effort, she said, began well before the art festival, through sustained attempts to bring people together. Kachru is on a sabbatical to attend a one-year residency at Kani Home.“This is a community-led initiative. Building a space begins with building a community. For nearly two months, we have actively brought people together who are now contributing to and participating in this event. Through our Sunday community mixers, we invited people to share their work, passions and experiences of community-building. The idea is to create a network of artists and collectives across Srinagar and Kashmir who can collaborate, support one another and develop projects together.”The approach focuses on collective participation of the artists in the project. Instead of treating artists as occasional participants in a programme, Kani Home hopes to connect them through an ongoing network in which ideas, skills and resources can circulate.The exhibition at Kani Home. Photo: Junaid DarFor Ishfaq, this kind of community is essential in a place where opportunities for people to meet across creative disciplines remain limited. “For a long time, there have been very few safe spaces where people could simply sit together, talk honestly and be heard. Our idea is to bring the creative community together, let people express themselves, and start conversations about the things that matter. Conversation is where healing begins. Over time, it helps us see clearly what is not working, and find solutions that truly serve people.”Ishfaq says that he had not expected the kind of response to the initiative he is getting from the local artists. “Honestly, I did not expect this. I did not know so many people would come, open their hearts and say, ‘This is what we needed.’ I am deeply grateful. It tells me something important: the hunger to connect, to create and to be heard was always there. It was only waiting for a door,” he said.“This exhibition and Kanifest will mark a shift in what’s possible on a community and participatory level of engagement in Kashmir for a cultural and creative domain,” Salmaan said.A gap in the cultural landscapeKachru, who has been visiting Kashmir since 2011, said the relative absence of art galleries and independent cultural venues in Srinagar has been striking. “As someone who has been coming to Kashmir since 2011, I have rarely heard about art galleries in Srinagar. Even if such spaces exist, they are not very visible. But I feel something is beginning to happen now. Artists and communities themselves are creating spaces that have been missing for a long time.”Her observation points to a gap in Kashmir’s cultural landscape. She believes that creative work continues to be produced, but the infrastructure needed to bring it before audiences, encourage collaboration and sustain public discussion has not kept pace. “The problem is not a lack of creative production. People are making films and producing art. The problem is the lack of spaces where this creative work can connect with the communities in which it is produced. Existing spaces often have a certain kind of politics, and people do not feel comfortable entering them,” she said.For artists who participated in the event, Kani Home’s significance, therefore, may lie less in the building itself than in the possibilities it offers for bringing creative work into public conversation.Yet creating a space where people feel comfortable expressing themselves is not a straightforward task, particularly when artists and cultural practitioners are increasingly conscious of how their words and work might be received. “There is a culture of self-censorship because people do not want to get into trouble. Artists need autonomous spaces where they can engage in dialogue, raise issues and have nuanced, critical discussions without being pushed into binaries or becoming targets,” Kachru said.The pressures surrounding artistic expression are not confined to one region or political context, she added. “I think the space for artistic expression has shrunk considerably. This is not limited to Kashmir; I see it across the country as well. Even privately funded art spaces and cultural institutions have become cautious. There is an economic dimension to this, but there is also a growing tendency to avoid risks, which feeds into a culture of self-censorship.”For a new cultural venue in place where political binaries define the work, artists say that this creates a delicate balance, how to make room for difficult conversations while sustaining a community in which people feel safe enough to participate.“The contemporary art exhibition at Kanifest makes a pertinent suggestion of dislodging representational categories. It proposes a dynamic of multiple elsewhere which are in tension with perceptual territories of place. It urges one to attend to a poetics that exceeds the capture of identity and place. I was struck by the exhibitionary proposition as a form of thinking where an idea resonates and extends across conversations and multiple places,” Aasma Tulika, a Delhi-based artist who exhibited her work at the fest, told The Wire.At Kani Home, the ambition of the participants is “not to position art as separate from the social and political realities of Kashmir”. Instead, the organisers of the festival see creative spaces as places where those realities can be discussed with greater openness and nuance. Ishfaq believes that questioning policies and institutions should not automatically be understood as hostility towards them. “This is not about opposing anyone. We need our institutions; without them there would be chaos. But a healthy society also needs the freedom to question the policies those institutions follow. Questioning a policy is not opposing an institution. It is caring enough to want it to work better,” he said.Artists say that the distinction is particularly relevant to cultural spaces, where the ability to explore competing viewpoints can be as important as the artwork on display. They feel that in such settings, exhibitions, performances and informal conversations can become starting points for wider discussions about public life.Kachru said that creating the right environment needs thinking carefully about who feels welcome, whose voices are heard and what kinds of conversations a space makes possible. “We need to think about what kind of spaces we want to create so that people feel safe enough to express themselves. Young people want to look forward, participate in the creative economy and contribute to their communities. They want a culture of dialogue, critical debate and multiple voices, rather than a single narrative.”For Ishfaq, the freedom to question and reflect is central to the purpose of the initiative. “We need spaces where art is free, where artists can question, reflect and challenge without fear. When people feel safe to speak, a society grows wiser. When art is free, it holds up a mirror, and that mirror helps all of us see more clearly. That is the kind of space we hope Kani Home can be.”Who is it for?Beyond providing a platform for artistic work, Kani Home’s founders see the venue as an opportunity to rethink how cultural learning happens. The fest witnessed performances, workshops, and talks with participation from local artists.Last month, the J&K Department of Information and Public Relations (DIPR) in collaboration with the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) organised a first-ever international film festival in Srinagar. But the visuals from the event showed very low participation from locals, and an online debate questioned the purpose of the event. “It’s good to see that such events are taking place in Kashmir. We have seen that the artists are hesitant to share the stage with the politicians who use art to sell narratives. Art itself is political; nothing is apolitical, so if the people get independent spaces, they feel relaxed to express themselves without any fear,” said a local artist at the festival.Kachru believes that learning extends beyond classrooms and formal institutions. Informal spaces can bring together people who might otherwise work in isolation, allowing them to exchange ideas across disciplines and challenge one another’s perspectives. “As an educator, I strongly believe we need more learning spaces. Learning happens in institutions, but it also happens in these third spaces, where artists, filmmakers, musicians and people from different disciplines come together, exchange ideas and engage in lively cultural debate.”Ishfaq argues that Kashmiris carry creative potential without due recognition, adding that the focus should be given to the conditions in which young people can develop their abilities by seeking opportunities beyond conventional educational and professional pathways..“We Kashmiris carry tremendous potential. Again and again, we have built things that once seemed impossible. But potential that is not recognised fades quietly. If we believe in ourselves and create real opportunities for our young people, Kashmir can become one of the world’s leading centres of creative enterprise. I truly believe that,” he said.A discussion at Kani Home. Photo: Junaid DarThe question of opportunity also extends to Kashmir’s traditional artisans, whose work forms a significant part of the region’s cultural identity but whose economic security remains a concern. “Our artisans created the extraordinary beauty we see in Kashmir’s heritage, yet today their skill is neither valued nor paid as it deserves. When the hands that sustain a tradition are denied economic dignity, the tradition itself begins to fade. Restoring respect and fair reward to the work of the hand is at the heart of why we are doing this,” Ishfaq said.For Ishfaq, the need to create cultural spaces is connected to a larger question about the future of Kashmir’s young people and their place in shaping the society they will inherit. He believes that conversations about education, aspirations and public life need to become more open, involving young people not simply as recipients of decisions but as participants in making them.“We need to start an honest conversation, without fear, about the future of our children: what they learn, how they learn, and who we hold up as worthy of respect. Every generation should ask itself, ‘What are we inspiring in those who come after us, and what kind of future are we building for them?’ That question belongs to all of us.”He also points to the distance that can emerge between political promises and people’s everyday experiences, arguing that participation in public life should not end with elections. “We need to start imagining how young people can have a real voice in the decisions that shape their lives. Over the decades, political parties, including the one in power today, have fallen short of the promises made to our people. This is not about blaming any one party. It is about how ordinary people can be heard, not just at election time, but every day. In the age of artificial intelligence, gathering views and building consensus has become far easier than ever before. This will not happen tomorrow, but the conversation has to begin, and young people should lead it,” Ishfaq said.Focus on dialogueWhile Kani Home is not a political institution, Ishfaq says emphasis on dialogue and collective participation reflects a belief that cultural spaces can contribute to a more engaged public.For many artist the creation of Kani Home does not, by itself, resolve the broader challenges facing Kashmir’s cultural community. “A single venue cannot compensate for the absence of a wider network of accessible galleries, performance spaces, learning platforms and independent cultural institutions. Nor can a community-led initiative entirely remove the economic and social pressures that shape artistic expression. Sustaining such a space will require continued participation, resources and a willingness to make room for a diversity of voices, including those who question the mainstream narrative,” said Sarafraz, one of the trio behind the Gaekhir Republik, a Kashmiri folk-rock band whose name, once understood, resonates with a kind of poetic tension. “Gaekhir” means friction in Kashmiri, and “Republik” stands for a republic of sound.“The organiser was open to all our questions. There was no restriction for any artist to express their views through any art form. We have seen mega events happening in Kashmir to push a certain narrative, which I didn’t see here (Kani fest) and that made me comfortable to participate. Artists need freedom to express themselves. Art cannot be done under surveillance,” he said.Ishfaq believes that meaningful change can begin with the simple act of creating opportunities for people to meet. “Our role is simple: to bring the creative community together and give people the freedom to express themselves. Through dialogue, we can understand what affects us and, step by step, work to set it right. It is a long journey, not an overnight change, but every meaningful change begins with people talking to each other. So we begin,” Ishfaq said.For Kachru, the wider value of such initiatives lies in their potential to build connections between artists and communities, while making cultural participation a more visible part of everyday life.As the festival brings together practitioners from different fields, Kani Home is attempting to establish itself as more than a temporary gathering place for creative people. “The idea is to create a network of artists and collectives across Srinagar and Kashmir who can collaborate, support one another and develop projects together,” Kachru said.