commissioned artists
Priyanka Jha
(she/her)
Commissioned artist
Meet Priyanka….
Who are you?
I’m Priyanka. Playwright, Director, Indoor Plant Keeper.
…and what are you doing with Sanctuary Queer Arts?
I’m writing a monologue exploring how the idea of sanctuary intersects with the many hats one might wear as part of their identity. My character will be a disabled, bisexual South Asian woman in her early twenties.
The concept of sanctuary will be framed through the lens of female pleasure and the often elusive ability to orgasm: what features does a sanctuary need in order for one to feel comfortable enough to cum? How can identity act as an inhibiting factor to this? A woman's confidence in her sense of self can be inhibited by a late diagnosis of a disability. The confusion created by being bisexual and being attracted to all genders, while having a cisgender long term partner. The taboo around masturbation and sex in South Asian communities, especially those in the diaspora desperately clinging to a motherland sense of propriety and purity. Being a young woman in a world where young women are often hyper-sexualised but still shamed for anything perceived as promiscuity.
What does it take for a sanctuary to be able to overcome these hurdles and act as a place of release and self-orientated pleasure?
How did you get here?
I graduated from the University of Oxford two years ago with a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, where my interest in subjects such as societal dysfunction and the aesthetics of conflict blossomed. While there, by reading authors such as Jhumpa Lahiri and Carmen Maria Machado, I also developed a love for writing and storytelling.
However, I struggled to build confidence that my stories were worth telling. I did a corporate job for a year, which I hated, and then while furloughed in May last year decided to bite the bullet and have a go at the writing thing. I applied to the University of St Andrews where I'm currently doing a Masters in Playwriting and Screenwriting. Since last May, short works of mine have been picked up by the Green Carnation Company, Hive North, Screen South and most recently Sanctuary (!!!) for production.
What does the concept of sanctuary mean to you?
For me, a sanctuary is somewhere that creates a sense of belonging. I often say as a second generation immigrant I don’t really feel like I belong anywhere, a foreigner in India and a citizen-not-quite-in-the-fullest-sense-of-the-word here. But home, and the sanctuary that comes with it, is for me more than a sense of place. It’s a feeling that can enfold me anytime: by tasting my partner’s cooking after a hard day, by hearing my cat Furlo purr when I stroke his chin, by allowing myself to be just myself while with a group of friends. Sanctuary is wherever, whenever I feel safe.
What does your sanctuary look like?
Most of all, it’s my bedroom at home in my cosy (but occasionally mouldy) student flat in St Andrews, with a cup of mulled cider and candles burning bright beside me.