The Artiste and the Wishing Tree

One of the oft repeated laments among young artistes is the brutality with which judgement is sometimes placed on a single performance. This, they would say, is unfair because artistic growth cannot be assessed from a single performance. Rather, it is something that can be gauged after a period of time has passed. It is only then that one can see marked changes or progression, if any. However, if a cumulative effect of growth must be seen over time, it is essential that every performance is objectively and critically assessed and lessons are carefully assimilated by the artiste. While we acknowledge the importance of the role of the critic in this regard, I take the liberty of proposing another possibility. In the previous articles of the series, I examined the relationship between artiste and critic- through the eyes of both. "In contemporary times it is difficult to find constructive criticism and at the same time artists are not able to take criticism in the true sense.V...

In the previous issue, we drew up some introductory aspects on the world of music, dance and critique. In this issue, I present to you a mixed bag of opinions. - Dr. Surya Prasad "How much space in mainstream media is reserved for art criticism; especially of the classical arts? Other than a handful of English and Indian Language papers, and a few online portals and magazines, we must acknowledge the fact that there is very limited space in mainstream media for dance criticism. Within the publications that do publish reviews on classical dance, most reviews are written by freelance critics and not journalists that are employed by the publication. This is a situation that allows both the publication and the writer to shirk accountability. The only way to avoid this would be to have Publication houses employ journalists who specialise in the arts to write about the arts- and arts that is not limited to fine arts and cinema. Whether all journalists employed by publications toda...