BLF2020 | Art at Stages, Salons, Streets and Stories – Bruce Guthrie, Lynne Fernandez, Tim Brinkman and Varun Gupta with Sadhana Rao

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In the times of Covid-19, the new “normal” has found an evolving meaning. Earlier, one could very easily find themselves at any theatre, enjoying live performances and consuming art. Today, these performances have found a platform away from the usual theatres. They are digitalized, and anybody can attend them from their phones, or an electronic device. The panel for this discussion deliberated on just that- the nuances of art finding a path on a digital platform.

The session had three segments and began with the speakers introducing themselves. Tim Brinkman joined the panel from Mumbai, where he is working on a project to establish an art centre. This project is under the banner of the Ambani industries.

Lynne Fernandez has been leading Nrityagram, situated in Bangalore, for the past 20 to 30 years. Nrityagram offers dance programs, to both professional and for non-professional dancers.

Bruce introduced himself by reflecting on all the odd jobs he did at the start of his career. He has been living in Mumbai for 15 months, and has been engaged with the art sector for several years.

Varun Gupta showed his work to the audience through slides of different exhibitions he had conducted. The styles of his art exhibitions were especially interesting. His exhibitions were physical art installations, set up at public places. The placement of these exhibitions is what caught the eye of the audience- they were put up at places which a common person would usually walk past. They were set up in unique positions, and were filled with meaning.

The second segment of the discussion went into a more detailed conversation about each of the panelist’s work and how they manage their respective artistic inclinations.

Lynne spoke about her involvement with Nrityagram. She was brought into Nrityagram by Protima, who was the main head behind the project. Nostalgically, she spoke about Vasanta Hubba, a free festival, that was used to invite a big audience from all kinds of backgrounds. Nrityagram developed in three ways- through community building, by teaching courses in dance, and by having an ensemble that performs around the town to help earn money.

Bruce worked with the National Institute of the Performing Arts and talked about the corner stones of his involvement. Art, Bruce said, should be inclusive for all. Currently, he is working to help enable people to be a part of artistic platforms in the best way possible.

Varun explained how he got into his artistic endeavours and distinctive exhibitions. He started playing with his ideas in 2010, when he took over train stations and exhibited art there. Inclusivity in art, Varun said, was through the eyes of children and their perception.

Tim spoke about digital relationships. Artists cannot be kept in a box, and the pandemic has proved just that. Artists have started to perform digitally. Art will definitely see more growth in this platform.

In the final segment, Sadhana asked the panelists about the future mapping of art. It was surprising how every speaker agreed with Tim when he made an argument about theatres and the live experience of performances. Art may have shifted online, but it does not become a performance without a live audience getting moved by it. When people finally come back to the theatres, it is going to be great. Lynne was grateful that the pandemic happened at a time when we can afford to be digitalized.

It might be safe to say, that after attending a virtual session, everyone is extremely nostalgic about live theatre!

About the Author: Anusha is a final year undergraduate student pursuing English Hons at Christ University. She can usually be found expressing her thoughts in the genres of social concerns and satires, often accompanied with a cup of chai. She currently writes for TheSeer.

Art and Soul of the City

TheSeer Team

With the premise of how festivals and culture keeps a society alive, the panel was mediated by Sadhana Rao. Sadhana is a research-led writer and curator in the Arts & Culture area. She has written on Travel, Socio-Economics, Literature, Film festivals & Music for leading newspapers and Journals such as The Hindu, The Economic Times, Deccan Chronicle, Tehelka, Housecalls, Shruti etc. The panelists included Jagadish Raja, Kamini Sawhney, Lucy Nelson, and Namita Devidayal. Jagdish Raja and his wife, Arundhati Raja are the founders of JAGRITI. Jagdish started his working life as an apprentice printer in London. He is a Graduate Member of the Communication Advertising and Marketing (CAM) Education Foundation, United Kingdom and an Associate of the Trinity College London (ATCL). Kamini Sawhney has recently joined the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP) in Bangalore as its Director. MAP is an upcoming museum that is set to open its door to the public in the latter half of 2020. Designed as a 44,000 square foot facility in the heart of the city, it will be spread across five floors and will house multiple galleries, an auditorium, a research library, a conservation lab, classrooms, a museum store and cafe. Lucy Nelson, is the Artistic Director of the Queensland Poetry Festival in Australia, previously, co-founder and Artistic Director of Noted Writers Festival. Lucy has written non-fiction for the Sydney Morning Herald and the Big Issue and her fiction has been awarded residencies and shortlisted for prizes in Australia and the UK. Namita Devidayal is the author of The Music Room, Aftertaste and The Sixth String of Vilayat Khan. She is a journalist with The Time of India and co-director of the Times Litfest in Mumbai. She is a trained classical singer. She graduated from Princeton University.

 

The discussion revolved around the aspects of art in a society and how culture impact brings the variations in the festivals and art forms celebrated. Jagdish touched based on his journey of creation of JAGRITI. He also relates to the fact that the perception of theatre has changed over time. And, every day brings more fractions of audience is getting attracted to theatre. Engaging audience was the next segment of discussion. Kamini mentioned that with taking art to the society, we should also try to bring the society to the heart of the art. Namita added that inculcating spaces for artists other than the work projected also plays a core role in bringing art and community together. Lucy spoke how artists from varied backgrounds should be approached and their perspective on developing more inclusive spaces for people of color and differently abled must be inculcated in our present art space. 

 

Discussion on how patronage can be an issue to build such inclusive spaces was also carried forth. Kamini gave statistics on how much government funding and corporate CSR actually goes to museums. The discussion wrapped up with the questions taken from audience and final insights on the efforts of creative industry making its next best moves.  

 

 

 

About the Author: A modest graphic designer and an amateur blogger – Liyana believes in weaving stories that come as a ‘solace on a late winter night’. She loves climbing mountains and can be seen spending hours looking at the night sky. She blogs at liyanashirin. She currently writes for TheSeer.