An ode to Videshi Kalakar Utsav
the intention was to offer the opportunity to enter the mainstream and swim, not to create a separate pond. While performing artists bang on a lot of doors early in their careers, for videshis there was essentially a sold brick wall to get through, no door. These festivals were a genuine doorway to acceptance and recognition as seen in the career graphs in India and abroad of many of the artists who persevered.
It was also interesting to see the impact of these festivals on gurus of foreign students. One could clearly see results of generous gurus in the caliber of teaching by generous gurus like Muthuswamy Pillai, Sadanam Balakrishnan and Aloka Panikar among pretty much all of the gurus who had students taught to a level to be presented to Indian Rasikas. Some teachers took the training of foreign students more seriously when they understood that they might perform in India, which would reflect on the quality of their guidance. When I was a student of Manipuri at Triveni Kala Sangam and Mayurbhanj Chhau at Bhartiya Kala Kendra, I was never considered for inclusion in annual institutional end- of- year student presentations. It is a great joy and very satisfying when I attend BKK student performances to see that foreigners have now been mainstreamed as a matter of course. I could not have managed these festivals without the help of a oneman team, the multifaceted artist Naresh Kapuria who not only superbly designed the stages and arranged publicity gratis, but also organised logistics behind the scenes. We took turns meeting trains and looking after artists. SKP covered the costs of printed materials and nominal payments to artists. We took nothing beyond reimbursement for postage. A couple of individuals pressured Mathursahib to let them take charge, as they saw the untapped potential gold mine of getting foreign invites from each artist. Fortunately, he resisted the pressure and this remained a festival where merit was the only criteria and it was a win- win for artists and audiences.
When the Sahitya Kala Parishad sponsorship ended after Surendra Mathur’s retirement, I felt that the goals of the festivals and seminars had been achieved. The artists returned to their countries with the experience of performing for knowledgeable audiences and armed with critical reviews to further their careers at home. Teachers and gurus were conscious that their foreign students might be seen performing in India, which pleased, threatened or motivated them, depending on their prevailing attitudes to teaching non- Indians. And above all, the public had now seen that artists merited acceptance based on performance at their level of promise or maturity, not upon nationality.
In a future article, I will write about the Art Without Frontiers: Indian Arts on the Move seminar issues held in connection with the six Videshi Kalakar Utsavs ( Festivals of Dance and Music by artists on nonIndian origin).
Sharon Lowen is a respected exponent of Odissi, Manipuri and Mayurbhanj and Seraikella
Chau whose four- decade career in India was preceded by 17 years of modern dance and ballet in the US and an MA in dance from
the University of Michigan. She can be contacted at sharonlowen. workshop
@ gmail. com