Nautanki Founder & Creative Director has been honoured with Citizen of the Year award

MEDIA RELEASE – NAUTANKI THEATRE 29TH January 2024

Nautanki Theatre proudly announces that Neel Banerjee, our Founder & Creative Director has been honoured with Citizen of the Year award by the City of Parramatta on the 25th of January 2024. The City of Parramatta Citizen of the Year Awards recognise and honour the outstanding achievement and excellence in the local community and highlight the importance of service to the Australian nation. These awards are part of Council’s Australia Day program and provide a great opportunity to celebrate local heroes for the contribution they deliver to our community. The Citizen of the Year-highly commended, award recognises Neel Banerjee in the general category in the age group of 31-64. Neel’s contribution has been primarily through arts and cultural practices in Parramatta and the Western Sydney for the last 12 years. Neel’s continuous effort, imagination and volunteering has united South Asian creatives in NSW. City of Parramatta is the 6th largest business district in Australia and Neel’s recognition has been through 20 nominees for the year 2024.
A visionary theatre company dedicated to creative development of culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) theatre with an aim to contribute to the National Theatre of Australia, Nautanki Theatre Company has a rich journey starting in Parramatta in 2012. In the last 12 years, Nautanki company has played a critical role in the cultural landscape of Western Sydney providing a new audience experience by creating poignant, culturally and socially relatable artwork of the highest quality. Partnering with Riverside Theatre in Parramatta Nautanki has created a platform and vanguard the voice of South Asian creatives, stories that validate their migrant experiences and creating an appetite for an emerging local audience from Western Sydney. In the creative pursuit Nautanki creates employment for artists, creating bold stories on the Australian stage by carrying out Independent Theatre Movement in Australia involving the community.
Neel’s work involves:
            (a) spreading theatre among the South Asian immigrant community
            (b) bringing untold stories to the Australian stage using South Asian Theatre aesthetics, and
            (c) using theatre as a device to propagate awareness on various issues affecting communities.
“Recognising a person of colour for his contribution to arts is quite motivational, especially I’m a first-generation settler and this recognition comes on the 20th year of calling Australia home. This honour will set precedence and a trend that art and an artist can be a social changemaker that civil society often forgets. I’m sure this will be an encouragement for the South Asian and CaLD young people who are considering arts as their career” says Neel Banerjee.
Neel couldn’t be present to receive the award as he was overseas. However, on the 9th February during the Nautanki Theatre’s season launch we’ll celebrate Neel’s recognition so please join this free event by RSVP: https://nautanki.org.au/season-launch-2024/

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