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A
unique workshop was held recently in Kolkata that showcased
how artistes from multidisciplinary fields have responded
to the AIDS crisis. TWF correspondent Ranjita Biswas reports.
Art for art’s sake, or arts as a communication
tool- the debate perhaps would go on for many long years to
come. But when Monimala and Rani Chitrakar from Medinipur
district of West Bengal, photographer Stacy Wayne from the
US working in Tanzania and shadow puppeteer A. Selvaraja of
Tamil Nadu come together on a common platform with a common
message that permeates their work, the debate seems less important,
esoteric even. Because, these artistes are working in a field
that does not leave scope for drawing-room debates, but action.
They are artistes first, yes, but they are also communicators
acting as awareness campaigners responding to a major crisis
of the modern world. The AIDS crisis.
Artistes using their skill as tools for change
came together in a unique workshop titled “Make Art/
Talk AIDS” in Kolkata recently. Held perhaps for the
first time in such a cohesive way, the four-day workshop had
participants from a whole range of fields from India, Nepal,
USA, UK, South Africa and even from as far as Surinam. “The
idea was to bring together artistes specifically doing work
in the AIDS area to a common platform so that they could interact
and network,” said David Gere, an arts department teacher
at the University of California, Los Angeles, writer and AIDS
activist, who conceived the project during his work in south
India. The project got a ready response from UNAIDS, Gere
Foundation (David’s brother actor Richard Gere’s
involvement in India’s AIDS activism is well-known) and
various other agencies including the American Center.
At present, the AIDS scenario looks grim
indeed. UNAIDS warns that the number of people living with
HIV continues to grow – from 35 million in 2001 to 38
million in 2003. At the 15th International AIDS Conference
in Bangkok this July, India hogged the limelight for all the
wrong reasons. Experts fear that at this pace, India could
overtake South Africa by having the most number of HIV infected
people in the world, considering that even a smaller percentage
of the affected works out to a huge number in this billion-plus
country. According to National AIDS Control Organization,
India now has over five million HIV infected people with a
prevalence rate of 0.9 percent. More worryingly, half of the
increase is among women, even when they are into monogamous
relationships, and mother-to-child infection is on the rise.
Add to it the illiteracy and ignorance among the vast 70 per
cent rural population, the scenario is explosive indeed.
Experts point out that 90 per cent of the
people do not even know that they have the virus until they
are at an advanced stage. Traditional art is a good way to
reach people at the grassroots. Folk artistes had a definite
presence in the Kolkata workshop. It makes sense too. In this
multicultural country, folk art and performances have always
been a source of entertainment and education.. Thus, one finds
Monimala and Rani Chitrakar, both from the traditional ‘patua’
or scroll-painter community of Medinipur, adapting the message
of prevention of HIV into their ‘pat’ (painting).
Instead of the usual mythical figures they unroll figures
of doctors and nurses and sing along, explaining everything,
in the same way as they sing the legend of gods and goddesses.
"At first, we faced criticisms from villagers. They didn’t
approve of our new kind of painting. But now they have accepted
us and listen to our songs," Monimala said.
From far off Surinam in South America came
Fidelia Graand-Galon, a policy analyst for the Ministry of
Regional Development, Surinam, and also the founder of the
Maroon Women’s Network. The Maroon (the word literally
means escapees as their ancestors escaped from the White plantations)
women are experts at embroidery and their work adorns the
pangys they wear wrapped over their dresses. The bird motifs
in the ubiquitous pangys are now being adapted to show the
danger of the disease with messages like ”AIDS Broko
Lobi” (AIDS breaks love). “Out of around half a
million people in our country, 40,000 are Maroons. Almost
a quarter of them are HIV positive,” Fidelia revealed
emphasising the urgency of spreading awareness among her people.
It is quite revealing how creative tools
are being used to talk about AIDS. A. Selvaraja of Tamil Nadu
is progeny of a family practicing a centuries-old art of shadow
puppetry, “Tholpavai Koothu”, which reminds one
of Indonesia’s shadow puppetry telling the story of the
Ramayana. Selvaraja’s is literally a one-man show as
he acts out the dialogues, plays the drum and controls the
puppet simultaneously. But now, commissioned to adapt his
art to spread awareness about AIDS in villages- Tamil Nadu
has one of the highest incidences of HIV infection in India
– he has changed the script with great sense of humour
to show a lascivious king and a dancer, or a man going for
an extra-marital affair to talk about the sagacity of condom-use.
One can well imagine how the villagers sit in the open field
enjoying his show but come to know of HIV prevention.
One of the most innovative ways of marrying
science and religious beliefs is displayed by Girish H.N.
of Karnataka. Anxious to educate the villagers, this science
teacher from Mysore invented the AIDS-Amma deity! “Religion
and rituals play a major role in this country, whether you
like it or not. In our village, we have the temple of Mariyamma
goddess of chicken pox, small pox etc. like Sitala in Bengal.
So I had this deity made, a stone slab with a man and a woman
facing each other, next to Mariyamma temple, calling her AIDS-Amman
(mother). And now people do puja here too.” But what
about awareness? The walls near the AIDS Amma deity displays
information about HIV/AIDS, how to prevent it, etc. “My
students work as volunteers to explain these to the people,”
Girish said. Talk about being a practical scientist!
Other mediums are also contributing in their
own way. Stacy Wayne, a psychology student of Chicago has
used photography by documenting the impact of the disease
through photographs taken by 100 Tanzanian children themselves.
Kolkata’s Sapphire Creations talks about stigma attached
to AIDS through their ballets. Chennai’s NGO Nalamdana
use the popular street theatre mode while Nagaland’s
Akhotsolu Thelu-O uses her AID poetry to imbibe folk tunes
and Manipur’s graphic artist Gotimayun Chetan Shama uses
his striking black and white sketches to warn about drug abuse
and HIV .
Arvind Singhal, who teaches communication
strategy at the Ohio University, USA, and has authored Combating
AIDS, Communication Strategies in Action with Everett M Rogers,
pointed out that the artist community has always come forward
whenever there has been a crisis whether during the Ethiopian
famine singing “We are the World” or to AIDS with
celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor, Elton John etc using their
considerable clout to raise funds. “Art has a role and
entertainment is important. Today we have the right atmosphere
to carry forward the message about AIDS. From earlier denial
people have now accepted it as a health hazard. In this all
avenues, and resources have a role, especially entertainment.”
Gere hopes that the Kolkata workshop will
establish and sustain a network and when evaluation takes
place, say two years or so later, the impact of the artistes’
initiatives will be more in focus. If UNAIDS finds the result
as effective, perhaps this model would be replicated in other
countries too.
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