The month-long seventh edition of the Pondicherry Heritage Festival 2021, which was marked by a diverse set of online and offline events showcasing the city’s Franco-Tamil cultural confluence, concluded on Saturday.
A high point of the valedictory programme at the French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP) was the conferment of the Guardian of Pondicherry’s Heritage award on David Annoussamy, former Madras High Court judge.
The award is presented annually to a citizen or institution to honour outstanding contributions in preserving the city’s heritage.
According to the citation, presented by Kakoli Banerjee from People for Pondicherry’s Heritage, the 93-year-old Mr. Annoussamy has been a champion for all civic movements and has supported preservation of the city’s heritage in all its aspects. In addition to his significant contribution in the legal arena, especially the smooth transition to the Indian system of law from the French-modelled judicial system in erstwhile Pondicherry, he continues to guide and inspire the heritage conservation cause.
Music concert
The award ceremony was preceded by a music concert by Auroville-based pianist-composer Pushkar Carlotto, who presented excerpts from compositions by Bach, Schumann and Schubert.
In the process, the almost 100-year-old piano at the IFP got a new lease of life as the musician tuned it to play classical symphonies.
Mr. Carolotto, who has had the privilege of studying at Arnold Schoenberg’s home in Vienna under the tutelage of Richard Hoffmann, was also instrumental in setting up music maestro A. R. Rahman’s K.M. Music Conservatory in Chennai.
The PHF, a brainchild of the People for Pondicherry’s Heritage, was the result of a host of collaborators, such as the Tourism Department, IFP, Alliance Francaise, INTACH, PondyCan and local businesses.
‘Talking streets’
The PHF theme for the year was “Talking Streets of Pondicherry”, with several events designed to tap into the rich vernacular architecture of the Tamil Quarter and bring the focus to the need for preservation of this built heritage.
The month-long fete hosted online conversations featuring urban planning experts on the path for Puducherry to attain the UNESCO World Heritage City status, a workshop on local food systems, an exhibition of the work of historian Jean Deloche, a Wetlands Photography contest and a Made in Pondy segment to celebrate the creativity of local craftsmen.
Overwhelming response
Sunaina Mandeen, one of the co-organisers, said in spite of the festival edition held under the shadow of COVID-19, with almost all events online, the response was quite overwhelming.
The festival, she said, was getting noticed nationally as well as internationally and this online platform allowed those outside to become a part of it. Satish Nallam, president of the Alliance Francaise, felicitated Mr. Annoussamy.
