Conviction in time of crises- Enablers- Part 3

PC: Dr. Raghavendra

While the previous articles looked at sustaining an artiste's livelihood in financially and emotionally telling times such as these, the focus of this article is on the importance we must give now- more than ever before- to cultivating support structures for ourselves. The attitude of the practitioner, the attitude towards peers, the attitude that we cultivate in the public and the attitude that society builds towards art and artistes- all feed into making the arts a sustainable profession. THAT is a large bucket of 'attitude'! But it is NOW or NEVER for the fraternity to think of what we can do to make this a better place to work, engage and sustain. It is indeed time for an Overhaul.

A recent statistic indicated that an artiste was considered non-essential in times of crises. Artistes contested these claims with articles, stories, talks, creatives and more. But what this indicates is a gap between the public at large and artistes; that our craft continues to be understood very superficially, that in a society that consumes commodities, the intangible value of art is least understood. Who is responsible then to change this attitude towards art and artistes? Change begins with connect. Many more bridges of understanding need to be built. And then we can be assured that society will be hand-in-hand in our endeavours, ventures and professional pursuit. 

To make these bridges strong we need for artistes to be in sync with each other- to understand the other and become enablers for each other. While crowd funding and donation drives cannot be put to rest for the moment, it is also time to start thinking in parallel - about creating work. It is extremely unfortunate that many artistes have had to depend on donation drives to get by these difficult times, but as a fraternity we must come together and become creative about how we can create work during this period. The dignity and contentment of earning from our craft can not be exchanged with anything else. And therefore it is time to invent, maybe re-invent or even discover methods of creating opportunities.

Today, when virtual platforms seem to be a viable arrangement for performers and teachers until normalcy returns, a few enablers in the virtual world are here to help carry your work to audiences. Shaale, a popular digital platform, has been in the field of live-streaming, webcast and production for a few years now. Skanda, of Shaale offers "This is definitely a time to help each other. Our motto has always been to help the artiste and further the arts. What we have seen over the past years is that if there is a certain level of quality to what you present, there is always an audience. Monetising such work can go a long way in helping those in need at the moment. There are also several other pay-per-view platforms that artistes can use to engage audiences." Apart from one's own performances, documentaries, learning modules with senior practitioners, appreciation courses are but a few solutions that are possible at the moment. One must understand that these are not just philanthropic acts but exercises that will enrich our own understanding of the arts. 

Several performers and accompanying musicians have also turned to teaching online classes. With a reduction in travel and rehearsal time, is it also possible to invest a part of our time and energy towards academic pursuits? Several artistes, by sheer experience, hold enormous amounts of knowledge that must be recorded and archived for generations to come. While in times of normalcy, paucity of time does not allow for these artistes to publish, record or archive, can we not use part of our time now towards these goals? While inherent biases and hierarchies of performance versus academic study must be addressed, the question however returns to one of funding and investment. Will grants be issued towards these endeavours now? Can we financially sustain these activities? Unfortunately, government agencies and large philanthropic organisations will be directing all their funds and projects towards the immediate health need of the Covid crises. Art for Arts Sake is not an immediate priority of most organisations. 'One must play the waiting game for just a bit more', is what echoes when asked. Sri Anoor Ananthakrishna Sharma, senior musician says, "The number of applications for fund relief and scholarships is growing by the day with government agencies. Against the funds that are available for distribution, the list is already huge. In spite of the empathetic outreach that is ongoing, the task at hand is quite overwhelming. And so in addition to all the relief activities that are going on- through government agencies or private organisations and individuals, an immediate solution for art and artistes will have to be one of 'Each One- Reach One' if we are to tide over this period." He emphasises that now, more than ever before, is a test of our patience as a community. With a crises that is new to everyone, there is no procedural map to follow, everyone has been shaken by it and therefore responding to the situation also must be measured. A time to wait for the dark clouds to pass and use the time to read, learn and introspect if possible, is his advice to youngsters.

The need to find patrons for art is probably our biggest challenge for the near future. With corporate sponsorship and grants looking unlikely, we probably have to head to the mercenaries that live amongst us. Sri. Bhavani Shankar, senior percussionist and President of the Association of Classical Dance Musicians of Karnataka shares the association's actions that have played a pivotal role in enabling the dance musicians of the state.  Apart from a crowd funding initiative that helped reach out to more than 40 artiste families who needed financial aid, they felt the need to support each other artistically. "While daily practice on one hand keeps the art alive for each one, the craft of performing on stage requires a completely different set of skills and to lose touch of those skills would be detrimental." The Association set about creating 'live' performances that would be streamed on social media- in some ways mimicking a stage performance while working within the limitations of the lockdown. While ticketing for these shows at a nominal rate has not been very successful, the need, he feels is to reach out to people who would sponsor or support these endeavours. Can endowment performances slated for this year be converted into online performances such as these? The clauses of the endowment policy will have to be looked at. Can we look at creating endowment performances specific to this time period? We will have to reach out to those who may have the means to do it or influence those with the means to do it.

The challenges that we face now and will continue to face even in the aftermath of the crisis are many and are quite complex in nature. The solutions therefore will need much thought. In the immediate future, it is for each one of us to become enablers for each other and create work that can see us through this period- work that is sensitive to the world around us, work that is moralistic to each person and work that is conscious of the future as well.