A movement for the students of performing arts by the students of performing arts. That was how Svanubhava was envisioned in 2008. What began as a festival just taking Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam to school children in the art institutions such as Kalakshetra and Music Academy has now branched out to engulf art forms across the spectrum: from classical music to folksy notes and even, pop culture. In fact, some of the organisers want to even do away with labelling art forms, as they find each form is unique in its aesthetics. Now in its 10th year, the core organisers tell us where the movement stands and the introspection that has gone into its evolution: it is now an inclusive festival accessible to school children across seven cities, four states and two countries.
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When the movement kicked off, the focus was just on Bharatanatyam and Carnatic music. Two years later, other classical art forms were added, including Hindustani (music), Kathak and Odissi. And, by 2011, lesser-known art forms were added to the mix: think Paavakathakali, Shadow Puppetry, Yakshagaana, Silambattam and martial art forms from Northeastern India, Therukoothu, Khawali. Baul music and Bengali theatre soon crept in too. The latest addition in the repertoire is contemporary English theatre. The festival has taken around 90 forms of performing arts to at least 100 schools, colleges and private institutions in the city over the course of a year. They have even had students from cities such as Kancheepuram, Tiruvannamalai, Ranipet, Cuddalore, Chidambaram and Trichy as audience.
A transformative experience
Since its inception, the movement has been evolving in terms of venues, programme repertoire and audience. It has been marked by a strong presence of youth, without an overbearing presence of a mentor or “guru” in the traditional sense. TM Krishna and Bombay Jayashree who conceptualised the movement in 2008 with their Matrka initiative in collaboration with Youth Association for Classical Music (YACM), later handed over the baton to younger artistes. One of the venues of the first two years was initially the green, soulful campus of Kalakshetra — under the banyan tree or inside Rukmini Devi arangam, where violins would belt out alaapanas and the dancers, their eyes smudged with thick kohl, would dance to jathis and padams. Experiencing art forms in spaces like these, is different from being exposed to them on a school campus, says Vidhya Raghavan, organisor and a Carnatic vocalist. “They are inspired to pursue them seriously as a profession as well.”
Chennai, 10-10-2017,Tamil Nadu: For MetroPlus: Rithwik Raja, Vignesh Ramanujam, Varisha Narayanan and Vidhya Raghavan, the core team of Svanubhava ,an organisation for Arts and Culture in Chennai. photo: Shaju John
The festival has not just transformed the audience, but also organisers. Over waffles and tea at a cafe, Rithvik Raja, part of the core committee discloses how the festival changed him. When he started, he knew little outside the world of Carnatic music, he says.“Svanubhava opened me to different approaches in art, practise methodologies, and rituals followed by artistes. Even the way the tambura is tuned before a performance differs from one artiste to the other. Or, how 15 Therukoothu artists sit together and prepare for a performance — in silence, all calm but intense — is a learning experience.
The highlight of the festival format is the 15-minute interactive session after the performance where children can interact with the artist. “We never filter the questions. I still recall one asked by a five-year-old at the end of a session featuring Vikku Vinayakram. ‘Sir, you played so well. You were hitting that pot so hard. What will you do if the pot breaks?’ It became a bigger news than the festival itself that year. I am sure we as adults have many such questions. But, we are too embarrassed to ask.”
Bridges and more
In this year’s edition, the festival has extended to the college campuses of the Indian Institute of Technology - Madras and Asian College of Journalism. In ACJ, the media students found Therukoothu artistes strolling into their campuses for a performance. The session on bridging the gap between the academic and the artistic realms in IIT featured vocalist TM Krishna and historian and scholar, AR Venkatachalapathy, who steered the discussion to how class, caste and culture play a crucial role in the accessibility of these art forms. Some of the research scholars pointed out the lacunae in academics to address aesthetics. Krishna found the session invigorating and marking possibilities in the future.
“Maybe this is a new direction we can explore. It looks like a new kind of a dialogue. I also know that Svanubhava is happening in other cities. There is an individual group in Hyderabad, who we are supporting from here. And, maybe in Chennai, we could think of new bridges. And, academics is a new bridge.”
Svanubhava On The Go is one of their lesser publicised programmes that happens throughout the year in educational institutions as separate modules. Apart from the main event, they are planning a carnival like Svanubhava in the Vidya Vanam school in Anaikatti with tents where multiple events will be hosted.
Raja says the idea is to create a sense of community, across classes. “Just like bringing different art forms on one proscenium, it is also about bringing different kinds of audience on the other side of the proscenium.”
Svanubhava 2017 line-up
a. Carnatic concert by RK Shriramkumar and performance by Priyadarsini Govind — padams and javalis with Thiruvarur S Girish
@Folly, Amethyst
November 14, 5.30 pm (concert) and 7.30 pm (dance performance)
b. Music performance by students of Kalakshetra Foundation, a Bharatanatyam show by students of Sri Devi Nrithyalaya, Choreography by Sheela Unnikrishnan and Carnatic Instrumental Ensemble by Mylai Karthikeyan, Sujith Naik, B Vijay Natesan and KV Gopalakrishnan
@Olcott Memorial High School, Besant Nagar
November 16, from 9 am to 10.20 am
c. Paraiattam by Friends Kalai Kuzhu
@Olcott Memorial High School, Besant Nagar
November 17, 9 am
d. Dolls by Crea-Shakthi featuring Janaki Sabesh, Manasvini KR, Akshaya Ravishankar, Zarin Shihab and directed by Dushyanth Gunashekar
@Olcott Memorial High School, Besant Nagar
November 17, 10.15 am
f. Unstage presented by TM Karthik in association with Red Bindu Project
Silambattam by Aishwarya Manivannan
@SPACES, Besant Nagar
November 21, 7.15 pm
