INTRODUCTION

Alwar, a small town in the northeastern region of Rajasthan has a very rich history of cultural practices. Many artists and craftsmen from Alwar have served erstwhile royal families for years. Though in last few decades, patronage has almost died and not many initiatives have been taken to build a local cultural platform for exchange of folk music in the town.. There are very few folk groups that still practice their art in this region. However, some of these artists have traveled to various parts of the country to perform through government schemes, they hardly get an opportunity to perform for people from their own district.

As someone who comes from this town and having learned classical music myself, I feel it is important to start building spaces where the people can engage with the local forms of art. At one level, where the town is “developing” with a mall and branded showrooms coming up, there is a need to get back to the roots and revive the dying cultural practices at least in the town where they originated.

Community: Mewati artists from Rajasthan

One such artist group belongs to the community of Muslim jogis, spread across the historical region of Mewat, specifically in and around the district called Alwar in Rajasthan. These artists from the Meo community spread across various villages in Haryana and Rajasthan. As a practice they play an instrument called Bhapang, a string instrument and sing along with it in Mewati (the language of the region). Historically, the art form was fully dependent in patronage and the artists led a life of minstrels, going from one house to the other singing in praise of their patrons and asking for food (ata). In last 20 years, with the changing practice of Islam, the patronage has completely stopped and the practicing artists are looked down upon. Many of them have stopped singing and have engaged themselves in other means of livelihood like puling rickshaws, playing in wedding bands, etc.

A few who got some recognition from the Rajasthan government travel to do shows in different parts of the world now and then. This group is highly dependent on the government for any kind of opportunities or reform for music in the community. Some of these practicing artists strongly feel that something needs to be done to preserve Mewati music immediately, because most of the people who are still practicing have already reached the age of 60 and plus and the young ones don’t see any future in this art. Having said that, there are still a few youngsters who have learned the art form and continue to practice it in their free time. Some of them have tried to use this art form in other contexts like, working with NGOs on awareness programs or auditioning in reality shows on individual level.

The need

Two important things that came up repeatedly in my research were, one, that the music needs more recognition and audience in the town where it originated around. And second, that the younger generation of this community needs to be given a chance to view their ancestral art from in a contemporary context. There is a need to re-imagine or re – interpret the notion of performance for the artists as well as the communities around them. In no way, the attempt is to get the youngsters from this community to start practicing the art form or make it a means of their livelihood. The idea is to get them to see the possibilities and potential in the art form and create a space for them to reflect and decide in what way they would want to take this art form further. My aim is to begin the process of reflection and acceptance of the art form by the community and the city.

WHAT I PRPOSE

I propose to design a workshop model that becomes a space for interface between these artists and different kinds of audiences in town, specifically students from different schools in Alwar. A series of interactions and performances cum workshops held by these artists and a group of local practitioners in schools that involves engaging with the art form as well as responding to it in various mediums through a creative process.

There is a need, in this case for the younger generation which is just taking over and will carry the tradition forward, to bring in their understanding of the art form as well as of audience, stage etc. A lot of these people have found their own ways of using their practice in other contexts, like street theatre, propaganda, education etc on an individual level. I propose that these artists come together and reflect on the tools they have besides the knowledge and skill on the art form and collectively create/identify opportunities. Working with schools would be one such opportunity that I would like to explore with them.

The aim is to plug in a module like this in a mainstream school curriculum and see facilitate a creative process for them to engage with the art form and respond to it.

A process like this needs an integrated network of different kinds of practitioners who come together and use their specific skills to run a self-sustainable model. I would like to involve various local resources/practitioners like school teachers, performance artist, literary practitioners, videographers, media personnel, historians, government servants, people from the community, students, etc.

Why schools as a space for interface?

In a place like Alwar where there aren’t many alternative spaces for cultural exchanges, I see schools as cultural centers where there is space for dynamic experience, which can be a great learning tool. Even though most schools are formalized learning spaces, they have the scope to explore and experiment with existing notions of an art form and how one engages with it. A school, though meant for the students, is a common place for people from all age groups and walks of life. Whether it be families of the students, teachers, the working staff or the people outside of the immediate school family.

How is it helping the students?

Reflecting back on my schooling in Alwar for 15 years, I realized that there is hardly any space for the students to engage with any form of local folk music. Schools are the only formalized institution for most students where they get exposed to music other than popular music to which they have access through television and Internet. There is hardly any exposure or interest in knowing about local culture, music being a very big part of it.

I want to create a scenario where the students not only listen to folk music of their region but also try to engage with music beyond listening. I want to create a space for them to receive and respond to music through an interdisciplinary creative process and experience music outside of this hierarchical stage and audience relationship.Engaging with this music in this way not only will get the students to understand production of local music and hence local culture, but also get familiarized with forms of expression in local language and the politics of it.

At every level I would attempt to get the artists to directly engage with the students, hence the students build a personal relationship with the musicians and through a facilitated process learn and imbibe what is relevant to them directly. I would also like the students to have some time with the artists where they can share their experience with each other and it becomes a two way process of learning.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. What are other existing models that work with folk artists?

2. How does one bring an ancient folk art form into a contemporary scenario without losing or disrupting the traditional practice of it?

3. Can bringing an art form into a space of sharing and reflecting, help the artist community broaden their view of the art form and reflect on their practice?

4. How is an artist different from a facilitator? What are the skills that the artist needs to work on to be able to connect with young students using his art form?

5. How can a interdisciplinary module like this be plugged into the mainstream school curriculum?

6. What is the value in knowing/learning about your local culture for a student?

7. Can local folk music be used as a medium in schools to trigger off a creative thinking process?

8. Can formalized institutions like schools be used as a space to create interfaces between folk artists and the people outside of the artist community?

9. Can a process like this help create newer opportunities of livelihood for the artists?

10.How can a self-sustainable network/system be formed of different kinds of practitioners in a town who collectively work with the artists to work on a model like this?

11.How to document a process like this in an efficient way so as to capture the experience of the participants?

12.What form should the final document take so that it is accessible to a wider audience and can be used as a model?

METHODS AND APPROACH

1. A participatory design process

a) Identifying the stakeholders

b) Using audio/visual aids to communicate ideas (local visuals/references/language)

c) Participatory iteration process

d) Using tools like movement, videos, visuals, singing for exchange of ideas

e) Creating space for reflection

2. I would attempt to build a network of local practitioners from various disciplines who can be involved in this process.

3. I am going to follow a three-fold workshop model:

a) Workshop with the artists

This is basically to get them to engage with their art form from a critical point of view and getting them to plan and work towards being in the school space, interacting with the students and responding to them. This will include identifying particular aspects from their art form, which they can use to work with the kids.

b) Workshop with students

These will be workshops with the students before and with the artists. I plan to do these workshops along with some facilitators in Alwar (may or may not be from the school). The aim is to get the students to start engaging with the art form as well as being able to respond/reflect on it through a creative process. They would be involved in doing some hands on work in response to the interaction with these artists and sharing it with other students from the school.

c) There would also be a third level of invisible works hoping and planning with the facilitators that I aim to involve in this process. Might include some teachers from these schools, some performance artist etc.

4. Each workshop would be a combination of planning as well as experimenting.

5. Constant audio/video documentation of the process.

6. Organizing an event for collective viewing of the process by all the stakeholders with space for feedback.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. To understand how to communicate/ share ideas effectively in a collaborative space where people come from all walks of life.

2. To be a sensitive listener and an observer.

3. To be a catalyst/facilitator in someone’s personal process of reflection and creation.

4. To understand the politics of acceptance and engagement with folk music in a town.

5. To be able to disengage from your process and be able to look at a something from points of view of all stakeholders

6. To experiment and work with tools and methodology of different kinds of practitioners in a collaborative setup

7. To learn my local language and use it effectively to express what I think.

8. To identify stakeholders/practitioners who are required to build a self-sustainable system like this

9. To find ways to keep myself motivated for a long stretch of six months of working on one project.

10.To be able to work with limited and alternative resources available in the town I am working in.

11.To be able to be sensitive towards various ecosystems that will be involved and get affected by a project like this.

12. be able to define the targets of the project keeping in mind the time and the resources available.

RESOURCES

Books

Against History, Against State: Counterperspectives from the Margins by Shail Mayaram

Landscapes Of Urban Memory by Smriti Srinivas

Rajasthan: conversations with Komal Kothari by Rustam Barucha

Projects

Rupayan Sansthan (Rajasthan)

Kabir Project (Bangalore)

The Laya Project

SPICMACAY (Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth)

People

Umar Fahrukh (Mewati artist, Alwar)

Dr. Kiran Seth (Founder, SPICMACAY)

Kuldeep Kothari (secretary Rupayan Sansthan)

Shabnam Virmani (Kabir project)

Sudhir Mathur (Founder Kala Bharati, Alwar)

Alok Khandelwal (Dainik Bhaskar, Rajasthan)

Safia Khan (Jila Parishad , Meo community , Alwar district)

B.S. Dhir (Principal Royal Academy School, Alwar)

Anupama Prakash (IFA, Bangalore)