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Waiting to be seen and heard

Be it painting or music, there's talent aplenty that needs support and exposure

PHOTO: T. SINGARAVELOU

SPACE FOR CREATIVITY An art Pondicherry.

Pondy is not short of talented people. This week, we'll talk about some of them and where to find their work. If you have any one or any place to add to what follows, email it to the address below for a future follow-up.

Pondy painters are good at portraiture and watercolours. The main reason is that they do a lot of them because of cost and demand. Watercolours cost less than oils, for instance. And there is always someone more or less willing to sit still for hours together for a small fee or (if a family member) for free. Besides, many recently bereaved people desire that a passport photo of a loved one be rendered into a portrait to be cherished.

Some of these artists are evolving rapidly from set pieces for the Ariyankuppam art school to truly personal expression. Several are increasingly well known, and asked to exhibit and teach art in other places usually abroad; that south Indian artists are not well known nationally is a thing of the past. This outside recognition is, for a small place like Pondy, the mark of having arrived.

Some places (like Cottonwood on Nidarajapayer) show a few paintings all the time, some (like the Alliance Francaise or the Sri Aurobindo Ashram's Exhibition House on Beach Road) have short-term exhibitions of one or two artists. Aurodhan, the town's only established gallery, features national artists.

A new venture Gallery 91 (at 91 Canteen between JN and Rangapillai) is worth a look-in. This well-lit gallery covers a whole floor and hosts a continuing series of shows by some of Pondy's best. Among them are Ejoumale, Abel, Murugesh, Vengatesh, Priya, Sakthivel and Ganesh Bala. Drop in from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week.

When it comes to music, local reputation does not particularly depend on concerts in Pondy. There aren't many live music concerts and they feature mainly out-of-towners. The Alliance Francaise is the most productive of such concerts and SecSat (which takes place the second Saturday of most months) at Maison Colombani (south Dumas Street) is becoming an institution. The Alliance brings in some remarkable French, other European and Indian artists; some of my best memories of live music in Pondy have taken place in the Alliance's acoustically imperfect hall on Suffren.

Many (but not all) of the best local musicians can visit you at home on CD. Since listening to a CD is not the same as a live concert, it is important to note that the production values of the CDs we are talking about here are high.

The best three

These musicians include — in alphabetical order (all three are good and so different in their performance that it would be futile to rank them) — Debiprasad Ghosh, Ragunath Manet and Nadaka. They all have a base in classical Indian music and have increasingly collaborated with other artistes in propagating and developing the tradition.

Debiprasad plays sarod and works closely with Manosh Bardhan, who is, inter alia, a percussionist specialising in the tabla. Their latest recorded work (as the group Jakshaghan) is "Dawn of a Dream" (2006), which sounds Indian, jazzy and bluesy by turns.

Ragunath Manet, a veena player and classical dancer, has about six CDs to his credit. These include veena recitals, temple melodies and fusion. Manet has also taken a lead singing and acting role in the best promotional video (it's a VCD/CD) we've seen or can imagine: "Pondy Dreams" in Tamil and French. Wonderful and, at Rs. 200, the best way to lure your friends from far away to this still charming, if challenged, old town.

Nadaka offers guitar (including one he has modified for the subtleties of Indian music) and vocals, with gifted accompaniment. He, too, has a whole range of CDs in the market. The most representative is the three CD set of Meditations which range from the playful to the engrossing. The second (with a Tibetan choir) is so deep that we play it only once a year when we can take it with due respect and without dread.

Lack of information

In our view, the only real music store in Pondy is La Musique on Bussy at Lourdonnais. "Real" in that the store does only music (not music as just another commodity) and the staff know music (of all kinds, as far as we can tell) and are able and willing to discuss and play a sample for you. Open 10-9 every day except Sundays.

Again, there's no shortage of local talents. What is lacking is information about them and their work. None of the current institutions — public or private, print or digital — do this well. A start-up exception is the website actupondy.com., but an ability to read French is needed to appreciate it fully.

The best way of finding out what is coming up remains consulting the bulletin boards in shops and restaurants frequented by visitors. But this is fairly hit-and-miss, and you'll still find out about many wonderful exhibitions of paintings and concerts only after they are over. Reviews of something forever over. Sad.

PETER RICHARDS

yourpondy@yahoo.com

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