Manoj Kesavan's guest appearances

Manoj Kesavan

On Life and Meaning

The Carolina Desi

Piedmont Arts Podcast

Amy Herman

Akaash Singh

Laura Neff

Todd Wilson

Peter Reinhart

Michael Smith

Emily Giffin

Eric Davis

DAVID WAGNER

Robert Levin

Renee Stout

Jeff Jackson

Tom Gabbard

Kathy Izard

Federico Rios

OwlTail

Charlotte BOOM returns to the Plaza Midwood neighborhood of the Queen City for three days of art, performance and the unexpected. The event offers a variety of performances, including dance, spoken word, performance art, comedy, theater and music of all kinds. Manoj Kesavan, the festival’s founder and director, talks about how the event is designed to bring together creators and citizens from different communities.    Learn more about the BOOM festival     Pictured: Manoj Kesavan; photo by Jeff-Cravotta.

Manoj Kesavan on the Charlotte BOOM Festival

We had the pleasure of having a conversation with Manoj Kesavan. Manoj is an architect, urban designer, educator, creator, and everything else under the sun within the Charlotte Arts community. He is the Founder and Executive Director of Que-OS, a non-profit organization whose mission is to "transform the way art/culture is created and shared, and how people connect to causes and community." They create open and inclusive platforms for artists and other creative professionals to engage and create social impact at a large scale. Que-OS organizes BOOM, an annual artist/community-led festival of contemporary art and creativity, which launched in April 2016. Their other initiatives range from the design of an off-the-grid free rural clinic in Haiti to running the Pecha Kucha Night series in Charlotte. Kesavan has been a visiting lecturer/panelist/juror at several universities and writes/lectures internationally. Aside from Manoj’s incredible contributions, we learned about his social capital serving him, working hyper-locally, emerging cultural institutions, and much more. Tune in to hear more about Manoj and his daily work in Human Architecture. Visit http://boomcharlotte.org to find out more! Follow @thecarolinadesi on social media to join the conversation.

We had the pleasure of having a conversation with Manoj Kesavan. Manoj is an architect, urban designer, educator, creator, and everything else under the sun within the Charlotte Arts community. He is the Founder and Executive Director of Que-OS, a non-profit organization whose mission is to "transform the way art/culture is created and shared, and how people connect to causes and community." They create open and inclusive platforms for artists and other creative professionals to engage and create social impact at a large scale. Que-OS organizes BOOM, an annual artist/community-led festival of contemporary art and creativity, which launched in April 2016. Their other initiatives range from the design of an off-the-grid free rural clinic in Haiti to running the Pecha Kucha Night series in Charlotte. Kesavan has been a visiting lecturer/panelist/juror at several universities and writes/lectures internationally. Aside from Manoj’s incredible contributions, we learned about his social capital serving him, working hyper-locally, emerging cultural institutions, and much more. Tune in to hear more about Manoj and his daily work in Human Architecture. Visit <a href="http://boomcharlotte.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://boomcharlotte.org</a> to find out more! Follow @thecarolinadesi on social media to join the conversation.

CD27 Human Architecture, a Conversation with Manoj Kesavan

Manoj Kesavan is a cultural catalyst and creative instigator. He is co-founder of Que-OS, a non-profit collective of creative professionals who plan and activate spaces for community and cultural engagement. Que-OS is the organizational enterprise behind BOOM Charlotte, an artist-led, annual, three-day fringe festival showcasing contemporary and experimental performance and visual art. Manoj is also the founder of Point 8 Forum, a gathering of artists, architects and designers who explore multidisciplinary topics and encourage free thought, inquiry and creativity. He is the organizer of PechaKucha Charlotte, an event presentation series, and served as a founding team member of TEDx Charlotte. Manoj holds a Masters of Architecture degree from Kansas State University and Bachelors of Architecture degree from the University of Kerala, India. This episode is perfect for anyone interested in instigating creative and cultural change and social practice as art.  IN THIS EPISODE  Manoj talks about BOOM Charlotte and what motivated its launch. He explains the experimental operating model that sustains BOOM Charlotte and the importance of the model in the evolution of art in Charlotte. He references Wikipedia, early century Paris, mid-century Latin America, and the Harlem Renaissance. He addresses how BOOM Charlotte seeks to be open and inclusive, yet curated, and what he thinks of curatorial judgment. Manoj discusses the art of social practice, the limitations of definitions, and the evolution from making things to making things happen. He references Theaster Gates, Natalie Jeremijenko and Mel Chin. He connects the Greek transcendental concerns of beauty, truth and justice with worker housing in Stuttgart and fixing the deep social and environmental issues of the world. He assesses the art scene in Charlotte and identifies barriers and obstacles to art flourishing in the city.  Manoj shares where he grew up, being born in a Brahman family, and how upheavals and moving from one place to another shaped him. He references the poem Homesickness by Marina Tsvetaeva, being an outsider, and Albert Camus' The Stranger. He talks about speaking Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi, what drew him to architecture, and when and why he came to America and to Charlotte. He discusses the origins of the Point8 Forum, PechaKucha Charlotte, Que-OS, and the leap of faith of creative initiatives. He references Fyodor Dostoevsky, Emily Dickenson, Rainer Maria Rilke and struggling with depression. Manoj considers who is an artist and taking a stance in the world.  After the conversation, host Mark Peres adds a personal word that begins this way, "Manoj Kesavan poses the question, 'What must I do?'  For him the answer is, he must make things happen..."  To learn more, visit On Life and Meaning

Manoj Kesavan is a cultural catalyst and creative instigator. He is co-founder of Que-OS, a non-profit collective of creative professionals who plan and activate spaces for community and cultural engagement. Que-OS is the organizational enterprise behind BOOM Charlotte, an artist-led, annual, three-day fringe festival showcasing contemporary and experimental performance and visual art. Manoj is also the founder of Point 8 Forum, a gathering of artists, architects and designers who explore multidisciplinary topics and encourage free thought, inquiry and creativity. He is the organizer of PechaKucha Charlotte, an event presentation series, and served as a founding team member of TEDx Charlotte. Manoj holds a Masters of Architecture degree from Kansas State University and Bachelors of Architecture degree from the University of Kerala, India. This episode is perfect for anyone interested in instigating creative and cultural change and social practice as art.  IN THIS EPISODE <ul> <li>Manoj talks about BOOM Charlotte and what motivated its launch.</li> <li>He explains the experimental operating model that sustains BOOM Charlotte and the importance of the model in the evolution of art in Charlotte.</li> <li>He references Wikipedia, early century Paris, mid-century Latin America, and the Harlem Renaissance.</li> <li>He addresses how BOOM Charlotte seeks to be open and inclusive, yet curated, and what he thinks of curatorial judgment.</li> <li>Manoj discusses the art of social practice, the limitations of definitions, and the evolution from making things to making things happen.</li> <li>He references Theaster Gates, Natalie Jeremijenko and Mel Chin.</li> <li>He connects the Greek transcendental concerns of beauty, truth and justice with worker housing in Stuttgart and fixing the deep social and environmental issues of the world.</li> <li>He assesses the art scene in Charlotte and identifies barriers and obstacles to art flourishing in the city. </li> <li>Manoj shares where he grew up, being born in a Brahman family, and how upheavals and moving from one place to another shaped him.</li> <li>He references the poem Homesickness by Marina Tsvetaeva, being an outsider, and Albert Camus' The Stranger.</li> <li>He talks about speaking Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi, what drew him to architecture, and when and why he came to America and to Charlotte.</li> <li>He discusses the origins of the Point8 Forum, PechaKucha Charlotte, Que-OS, and the leap of faith of creative initiatives.</li> <li>He references Fyodor Dostoevsky, Emily Dickenson, Rainer Maria Rilke and struggling with depression.</li> <li>Manoj considers who is an artist and taking a stance in the world.</li> </ul> After the conversation, host Mark Peres adds a personal word that begins this way, "Manoj Kesavan poses the question, 'What must I do?'  For him the answer is, he must make things happen..."  To learn more, visit <a href="https://www.onlifeandmeaning.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">On Life and Meaning</a>

Manoj Kesavan | Making Things Happen - Ep. 25