The culture-capsule

Fire and Life, the Indo-Australian encounter was another important event.

Five Indian artists — Pushpamala, Jayashree Chakravarty, Surendran Nair, N S Harsha and Rimzon collaborated with five visiting artists to create a dialogue. I hope this will be the first of many such interactions. There were several group shows in 1997 including RPG’s show on 50 years of Indian Independence. The year was also marked by a show curated by Saryu Doshi at the NGMA in Mumbai, which was a much-needed space. The last quarter has been particularly exciting with exhibitions by Laxman Shreshtha, Anjolie Ela Menon and an intriguing installation by two young artists — Tushar Jog and Kaushik Mukhopadhyay. Another very good show was Jittish Kallats’ and Chittravanu Mazumdar’s. It stands out in my mind for the innovative quality.

In November, we witnessed an art auction organised by Neville Tuli’s HEART Foundation. Another effort which stood out was the exhibition organised by SAHMAT, New Delhi, of gift boxes from all over the world. All in all, it has been an exciting and eventful year.

Anita Ratnam

This year has served as an excellent touchstone for artists in general and dancers in particular. Manipulating and interweaving our trained bodies, dancers have always confirmed or challenged, the social and cultural constructs of the times. While the twin towers of commerce and clout cast their long shadow over the world of art, dance has continued to attract a growing number of devotees.

In 1997, the consolidation of the corporate and bureaucratic powers over dance and culture intensified. India played host to several international conferences and at almost every occasion, classical dance was performed as an emblem of our young nation’s ancient heritage. Not only are there many dancers today but hundreds of young men are taking up dance as a career unlike 23 years ago, when I was a student at Rukmini Devi’s Kalakshetra.

Opportunities for dancers multiplied in 1997. As the Indian diaspora grows in size, economic strength and self confidence, classical dance has become the single most important conduit of the third generation back to their roots. Since classical dance embraces mythology, music, sculpture, painting, rhythm, stamina and concentration, it is the most popular culture course, best described by the American academic term "India 101". While many urban Indians are still self-conscious about the classical arts, the western world busied itself during 1997 by raiding our cultural caches for dancers to feature in their international productions. Bharat Natyam is still the most favoured dance form for adaptation and intercultural dance works. The new generation of dancers bring with them a sense of savvy and self-confidence. There is greater interaction between dance, theatre and painting.

Evaporating fast is the image of the dancer as a dumb doll. While it is disappointing that there was no dancer in the recent list of appointments to the Rajya Sabha, many more dancers were engaging themselves in social and development issues. At the beginning of each year, I ask myself why I continue to dance. Why I, like thousands of the dance fraternity and sorority, continue to wage a battle against time and the destruction of our instrument — the human body.

Dance is at the bottom of the totem pole of the arts — but it is the most satisfying, the most potent and fertile area for personal expression. The challenge is to rise above the clutter of images and information that assaults us. To maintain the Indian aesthetic for a growing society of impatient, jaded and cynical is the real test — for the dancer and the dance.

Rahul Da Cunha The year 1997. A turning point for English theatre? A qualified yes. 1. Enter Indian English Theatre: Meaning, we can’t strictly call it English theatre any more. It takes several forms. "Indians writing in English" theatre or "Expatriate Indians writings in English" or "Foreign plays adapted to Indian" theatre.

Or "Essentially English plays with Hindi words" or "Plays with the odd English word thrown in". (Notice: I’ve stayed clear of that cliche – Hinglish theatre. Because what happens when the language other than English isn’t Hindi? Will liberal doses of Gujarati make it a Gujlish play?)

2. Years of criticism: For years, English theatre has been panned. Accused of being too elitist. And derided for its passion for sex farces and bedroom comedies. The producers did have ready excuses: "People want to laugh!" "They enjoy watching semi-nudity on stage!" Every theatre season had some serious fare. But, minimal. No one has held the English theatre flag higher than me. But two problems did exist. Our theatre didn’t have relevance. And it lacked a language (The way we speak). And, therefore, a loyal audience.

3. 1997. The year of relevance: For Indians. By Indians. About India. Dance Like A Man explored the link between art and society, using Bharat Natyam as a vehicle.Get Off My Back looked at the hardships of a Girgaum widow who deals with adolescent children and greedy landlords. A Suitable Bride reminded worried fathers about their unwed daughters. If Wishes Were Horses examined the differences in class and caste in `classless’ Bombay. I’m Not Bajirao focussed on the problems of growing old in urban India. Begum Samroo delved into history to uncover the romancebetween an Indian nautch girl and a German general. And Mahatma Vs Gandhi engaged us in the tensions the Father of the nation had as a father.

4. A new language, a new audience: For years, two communities patronised English theatre: the Parsis and the Catholics. But the `masses’ stayed away. The actors spoke in `Shudh‘ English, remember? Suddenly English has been simplified. It’s the English of the street. Theatre has finally crept into its own.

5.The future. One point remains. It’s the only thing I envy about Marathi theatre. Their playwrights. Scores of them. Writing fabulous plots. No soap box preaching, no cardboard characters. C’mon, make our 1998, Indian English playwrights. We need more.

Pheroza Godrej

I think the most important event in Mumbai’s art world in 1997 was that our NGMA was finally functional — though factually, it was inaugurated in December 1996. Wonderful exhibitions have been held and the progressive art movement exhibition, with which the gallery kicked off, set the tone for a focus on Indian Contemporary Art which continued throughout the year.

Another significant event was the exhibition organised by HEART, Intuitive Logic I. It was spread over five galleries in the city and was very comprehensive. Also, a lot of Indian artists, who are based abroad, showed in India in 1997.

The art market remained buoyant as far as buyers were concerned though I cannot say we sold a lot more than the previous year. And though traditional buyers may not have bought anything, they did come to the exhibitions and appreciated the work. This year, in Cymroza and all over the city, there have been a lot of talks, slide shows and lectures, so there is more discussion going on. It’s been a great year but I wish we had more coverage from the media. All painters cannot cut themselves out to be glamour personalities, paintings have to speak for themselves. As far as potters and sculptors go, they need more exposure and better facilities for their studios. In 1998, let’s go for the best, we must aim for quality — the best that we can achieve.

Chandrakant Kulkarni

Compared to last year, parallel activity in Marathi theatre was less. Though you did see quite a few experimental plays being staged as commercial theatre like Prem Patra, which was a Marathi version of the English experimental play Love Letters. Also, the one-act play movement was quite prolific this year. Some very interesting plays like Aaj, Kal, Ya Kabhi Bhi were put up. But the biggest drawback was that original writing remained stagnant in Marathi and Gujarati theatre. In a seminar held in Satara, the writers defended themselves and said that though they were seeing changes taking place, they were not able to transfer these experiences into writing. So what is happening in front of us is not on stage at all.

Another realisation that came about was that Gujarati, Marathi and Hindi audiences were not so different. Quite a few plays, like Gandhi Viruddh Gandhi have done well in all the languages. But there are still not enough Marathi to Hindi translations. Gujarati theatre needs people like Paresh Rawal and Shafi Inamdar’s work is really being missed. I think the most important events this year were the Prithvi and Nehru festivals where one saw the work of directors like Ratan Thiyam. Also the MAMI film festival was a great fostering ground for ideas. Writers, directors, actors all met and spoke. In 1998 what we really need are more writer-director workshops, where we can talk and bounce off ideas — only then can we cut loose from the stagnancy.

Dr Sunil Kothari

Looking at the year 1997 and the events that took place during the course of the year in the field of classical Indian dances, one is not enthused. Today, the performing arena is overcrowded and despite the unprecedented global popularity of the dance forms, the scenario is quite dismal. There is a consistent trend to adapt the dance form to contemporary sensibilities. But not with any great success. It has become fashionable to innovate, explore and experiment for the simple reason that there has been a desperate attempt on the part of the dancers to prevent their audiences from dwindling, as they are bored within the same thematic content of a nayika waiting for her lord. Today, a nayika does not want to wait for her beloved. A contemporary woman does not pine for her man in the way it is depicted. What one notices is a hiatus between their own lives and what they perform on the stage. Dancers who perform without questioning what the content is, end up feeling frustrated, as the audience is also bored. In its solo avatar, dance forms like Bharat Natyam, Kathak, Odissi, Mohini Attam and Kuchipudi have certainly thrown up exceptionally gifted dancers. But now the danger signals are evident. In the mistaken notion of promoting and supporting art, havoc has been created. It has, for example, led to the factory syndrome of a conveyor-belt production of dancers, followed by pre-fabricated arangetrams and mechanical presentation. In urban centres, performances do not attract crowds and yet, one encounters false hype and euphoria during, say the December festive season all over India.

Dancers have singularly failed in using the electronic media to their advantage. No one wants to watch a programme of classical dance on television. Not only is it badly produced, it also it fails to hold the attention for more than five seconds.

And an opportunity for serious critique has been missed by the mainstream media which has neither guided nor given direction. The space in the print media has shrunk and dance criticism as an institution has virtually been killed in at least one major metropolitan centre, Mumbai. With such a state of affairs, one is not hopeful about how the classical forms will fare at the turn of the century.

Satish Vyas

Till a few years ago, there used to be something called a music season. Concerts started taking place in October and by March end, all activity would come to a close. But in the past few years, specially 1997, there have been big events right through the year, which is really good. Besides the ones held in celebration of 50 years of Independence, this rise, I think, has a lot to do with event management companies who plan an event and market it like a product. For instance, the way Cause Celebre organised Alaap. And despite the financial recession, corporate sponsorship has also increased because Classical music now has an aura of prestige around it. Though the increase in number of events is really good, one cannot help noticing how few new and upcoming artists perform there. I blame the media for this because unless big artistes are performing, the print and visual media do not cover the event.

The down side to the year was that it is getting increasingly difficult to reach the venue. The traffic is so bad it invariably takes around two hours. But because of this you realise how much the audience has grown. Suburban music circleslike the Dadar Matunga and Vile Parle ones have come up and are very active. Whatever the negative aspects — though they were few and far between — Mumbai in 1997 became more alive in Classical music.

Pandit Chaurasia

This year has been a golden year and going by the trends set, 1998 will be even better. Sometime back, appreciation of Classical music had become restricted to small coteries. But now, like the hands of a clock, it has come a full circle. More and more people today are giving up their fast-paced, tense lifestyles and are turning to yoga for peace. And in such cases, it is Classical music which acts as the medium and helps the mind to relax. And automatically, the audience increases. In the Music Without Boundaries concert which was held recently, I was delighted to see a completely new audience. Usually you see the same kind of people at these programmes but there the crowd was so young and they were cheering like a football game crowd! It felt so good. 1997 also saw an increase in the number of Indian Classical music concerts held abroad. The halls are brimming with people there and now our music is all over the world map — it is probably the most appreciated music around the globe. So many foreigners come here to learn our music. On the downside, there aren’t too many Indians learning. Who has time these days? But I find that the younger generation has so much mental power, much more than we did. So they make up in intelligence where they lack in application. But overall, the way it is going, things can only get better.