The three-day CUSP arts festival served as a platform for vital and exploratory discussions, ending on a musical note each day. A maiden festival in Chennai by the Mumbai-based First Edition Arts (FEA), it featured over 50 performers, musicians and speakers from all over India. Set against the picturesque Luz House in Mylapore, the festival began with the ever expansive philosophy of music by Sundar Sarukkai. Artistic curation, including visual arts, has recently been a topic of discussion among the art fraternity. Day one of CUSP highlighted the same with curators from visual arts, Hindustani music and performing arts. Curation as a celebration of art forms, utilising spaces with digital resources and exploring scattered pieces of heritage sites with more inclusivity were discussed. Bhooma Padmanabhan, the co-curator of this year’s Chennai Photo Biennale said, “Festivals and events that revel in artistic spaces express a sense of solidarity, especially in recent times with socially fragmented spaces.”
This notion of solidarity driven to the forefront by arts was a social call to action echoed through a number of sessions conducted. For example, food blogger Vernika Awal’s personal stories about the changes in Punjabi cuisine after the Partition, explored food and its resounding effect in unifying people from different and possibly contrasting geo-political regions. The Bindu Art School, designed to use art as a new means to livelihood for people affected by Hansen’s disease, drove a moving and impactful message. Rekindled with a sense of purpose and monetary direction, these emerging artists also had their artwork on display as they narrated their stories.
Deliberating on the history of music as a unifier of protesters, and the literary grammar of deep rooted and divisive ground realities, were Ganesh Devy and the Tamil writer Imayam. “At every turning point in the evolution of society, there is music. It serves as a bridge to recalibrate and remember a sense of shared identity,” summarised Devy. Drawing perspectives from Hindustani music practitioners and researchers, the session titled, ‘Hindustani Music: Practice, Performance and Pedagogy,’ made some interesting observations. Interspersed with live music, Ranjani Ramachandran demonstrated the nuances in performance that cannot be learned without individual internalisation of the piece’s essence by the musician. Sumitra Ranganathan traced how the aesthetics that embellish a performer’s piece are largely derived from the person’s region of residence and cultural practices. Warren Sanders, live on Skype, elaborated on the scientific processes and personal pedagogy for students unfamiliar with Hindustani music and its culture. He wonderfully summarised it in a Venn diagram of individual creativity (personal style), standardised repertoire (raagdari) and traditional validity (taleem).
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The festival ended its second day to the notes of raag Hemant, a late night rendition, and opened its final day with the raag Miyan ki Todi, a morning concert of sunshine, warmth and another set of innovative sessions to look forward to. Often shied away from, CUSP also called attention to the social spectrums of identification and safety among artistes. Rumi Harish, a fantastic Hindustani musician and gender rights activist, shared his experience as a trans-man in the classical music world. “Why should I wear a sari and perform? Why should it matter what I wear and what I choose to identify as,” he challenged. Rumi questioned the double standards of women’s performance, appearance and personal choices towards their art form and why that was seen as a measuring tool of their presence in the industry.
A panel discussion on creating safer ecosystems for women in classical music explored the legal and psychological repercussions of the current ecosystem. Unofficial work spaces and rehearsals for musicians, lack of contracts for performances and the need to speak out in situations of abuse were highlighted.
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This was a crucial conversation to have in the aftermath of the #MeToo movement. It is also a reckoning for young artists to express their thoughts towards the predominant, “It’s okay, this always happens. Let it go,” they usually face. Swarna Rajagopal and Amba Salelkar’s conversations largely extended towards understanding abuse and how to legally deal with them for the arts community. Savita Rani’s theatre performance the next day was a performance, based on these ideas executed with admirable subtext and use of physicality.
It is a tough job to attempt and express the number of concerts that were exhibited over three days, from the Carnatic Quartet’s tunes, Amrita Lahari’s splendid interactive performance, Carnatic open mics, to Sruthi Sagar’s spell-binding renditions. However, ‘Nandanar Charithiram,’ presented through a blend of Villupaatu and Carnatic music ensemble, reflected the spirit of CUSP.
“It is not just the story rendered here today, nor its characters. It is the sheer capacity of the storytelling to unite different regions within a space of multiple art forms that makes it special,” said Bharathi Thirumagan during the final performance.
On the whole, not only did CUSP 2020 created a platform of intimate performances, interactive discussions and exhibit myriad artwork, it also sought out to digitally document the experience for a wider audience. Although the presence of youth was a bit ont he lower side, FEA’s curation of the festival has massive potential to create larger discussions and engagement in the coming years.