Thiyagarajah, Nayani

Nayani Thiyagarajah is a speaker and community activist and a director  and a producer, a daughter of the Yalpanam-Tamil diaspora, as well as a writer, performance artist, and filmmaker. She has worked extensively with multiple arts-based organizations and performance groups across Toronto, including Manifesto Community Projects, ArtReach Toronto, b.current Performing Arts, and Schools Without Borders. She produced the well-received original short, Shadeism  in 2010, which she is presently following up. Having completed her BA at Ryerson, Nayani is now in her second year as a graduate student, working towards her M.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies at York Univeristy (diaspora/performance/women’s studies). She is also currently training as a provisional full circle doula with the International Centre for Traditional Childbearing.

Nayani first came to Crestwood in November 2015, when she spoke at our 2nd Human Rights and Tolerance Symposium.  In March of 2015 she did this interview with the World Issues and Sociology 12 classes.

Photos