As Centre for New Perspectives holds a two-day conference-workshop on Augmenting Skill India- Conserving Cultural Skills Building Livelihood Models for Traditional, Street, Folk & Circus Artist Communities, Navina Jafa, Vice President of the think tank and a noted Kathak exponent, talks about an idea whose time has come.
Excerpts:
What was the catalyst?
As a performing artiste, scholar on cultural studies and practitioner in the field of cultural management, I realised that while there were several efforts to present the folk and street arts as one time events through various festivals, there has never been ways to institutionalise or address capacity building that will ensure sustainability of the artistes and conserve skills. Largely in the unorganised sector, there is no quantitative data therefore no policies no economic value and therefore often dismissed but are brought into limelight to exhibit to the world the exotic incredible India’s got talent stuff. This negligence has resulted in this skills being delinked with emerging markets and devalued in the format of the entertainment silo. Secondly, the removal of animals from performative arenas and lack of capacity building opportunities has dislocated all entertainment acts that have anything to do with animals such as traditional animal trainers and circuses. This programme on performative skills under the Centre for New Perspectives a think tank that works on repositioning traditional skills by structuring and launching pilot programmes for the first time addresses realistic propositions.It is the work of two women, me along with my colleague Shailaja Kathuria.
Navina Jafa
You have talked about monestising intangible heritage...does it evolve from that thought?
The stereotype idea that the goddess of wealth cannot exist with goddess of learning is unrealistic and unfair to the basic idea of survival of the creative communities and their skills. There are certain creative expressions that are in the silo of community identities such as harvest dancing, but a large number of performative expressions have always been a part of economic frameworks. The intangible heritage, which includes skills, needs the demand ‘market’ to make sure that there is supply. In any case, the Indian view is parampara that is the continuous flow of tradition to mould itself to the new emerging audiences and markets in order to survive.
Talk about the richness of street, folk art and circus in India. You are linking it to Skill India project of the Government of India. Is it a natural fit?
The skill canvas is huge, defined by cultural geographies of languages, natural environments, ethnic identities and lifestyles that were largely part of the agrarian and provincial lifestyle. The circus as an institution is part of the colonial discourse where gymnastic acts with various tools animals, trapeze, and motorcycles were enacted in a circular space, where the audience enjoyed a high tension performance and clowns and jugglers provided comic relief.
Skill India means economically and socially empowered India, this sector is about millions of skilled people who are marginalised and need to be mainstreamed through inventive ways to prevent deskilling. Other countries have much less of these skills but have created billion dollar industry. Cirque Du Soleil of Canada and Phare of Cambodia which has created combined models of social enterprise and corporation and has linked the entire business of street, folk and circus arts to the large global market, and indigenous market with heritage-landscape of Angkor Vat.
What could be done to bring them into the mainstream?
For the first time in recent history the Centre for New Perspectives has been able to bring five major stakeholder groups together for a two day round table brainstorming in consultation with experts from Cambodia and France to structure practical business models. The multiple stake holders include seven corporate groups more than six government and event management agencies, creative professionals, rural management experts, and representatives of street, folk and circus groups.
Do we need certain gatekeepers like children and animals should not be exploited in the name of street art?
All skill territories have complexities, and this one is not unique, inventive solutions are always possible. For example, circus schools as part of artist cooperatives, and circus corporation can incorporate like they have in Cambodia in the Phare circus — idiom of social enterprise which can result in the idea of work and learn just I as a young dancer student in the guru shishya parampara performed on stage, earned and learned.
Is there an Indian reality here which should be kept in mind?
The Indian reality lies in negotiating the basic aesthetic character of performative traditions and re-presenting them in a modernised manner pleasing to contemporary audiences. Secondly, our model of education is also about learning and performing, where western labour laws can be negotiated, after all we too need to have the power to assert our idea of ‘education’.
