The Artiste and Research
RESEARCH is a systematic investigation of material and sources in order to establish facts and arrive at conclusions. If the definition holds good for any research, how does one extrapolate this definition in the field of arts? Considering the numerous factors that influence and are influenced by the arts, research in the arts would encompass all these: dance and music history, economic-political structures, ethnographic factors, socio-cultural norms, technique, body language, religion, gender and so on. In India, particularly in classical music and dance, the idea of research has two facets. One is the theoretical aspect and another the practical or performance-centric aspect. Cross-disciplinary areas between the two also exist. From the number of scholarship title holders in recent times, one may be led to believe that research in arts- theory or otherwise, is a recent phenomenon. It takes only a little deliberation to clarify to ourselves that research in fact has always existed- s...