Annual Report
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JAIPUR VIRASAT FOUNDATION HERITAGE BASED SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ANNUAL REPORT 2004-2005 Painting of the historic walled city of Jaipur commissioned by JVF -A CITY FESTIVAL TO DRIVE DEVELOPMENT- -A CONSERVATION BASED DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE- -A VISION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN THE INDIAN CONTEXT- For its first three formative years (2002 - 2005), JVF has developed its objectives, strategies and structure under the umbrella of the Jaipur Heritage International Festival. For this report we present our activities under seven headings: Virasat Andolan (advocacy, awareness, community participation) Arts (conserving and documenting regional traditional arts) Buildings (conserving the historic built environment) Crafts (conserving traditional skills) Development (Best Practices to generate cultural industries) Education (engaging young people in the vision) Festival (to showcase the vision and demonstrate its economic potential) The seven headings represent the holistic nature of ongoing JVF activities. From 2005, JVF will engage increasingly with the built heritage and then with crafts. The seven headings provide the structure under which projects will be conceived and managed. As a citizens' initiative in response to the visible impact of modernisation on traditional communities and the consequent loss of cultural heritage, it is hoped that the pioneering work of JVF may grow as a model for other cities of India to help build a more equitable and sustainable future. pg.3 VIRASAT ANDOLAN JVF is committed to creating a heritage (virasat) movement (andolan ) among the people of Jaipur through advocacy, awareness programmes and engaging the community at all levels and opportunities. Regular meetings are held with experts and stakeholders, and every opportunity is taken to spread the virasat message and engage local people in the value and relevance of the region's extraordinary heritage. pg.4 VIRASAT ANDOLAN - Actions Ongoing - Creating Citizen Committees to build, support, and promote the movement in the fields of Festival & Heritage, Education, Hospitality, Performing Arts, Visual Arts, Crafts, Built Heritage, Local Communities, and Government Liaison and holding regular meetings. Jaipur Heritage Citizens' Committee Meeting September 04 - A public concert at a historic temple to link tourism stakeholders and local November 04 - A presentation made at CII government on World Tourism Day. conference on Tourism and Heritage and lobbying with captains of Indian industry on issues of conservation and appropriate heritage management. Informing members of the board and officials of the Guggenheim Museum, members of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Washington DC, alumni of the Colorado January 05 - A three day visit by members of the College USA led by former US ambassador to International Field School on Asian Heritage to India Richard Celeste and communicating the share the Jaipur Heritage citizens' initiative Jaipur citizens' heritage initiative. with regional heritage experts. Ongoing - Weekly Heritage Awareness Walks in Jaipur's historic walled city and regular outreach interactions with the local community in this pilot area. Special walks held for distinguished visitors including a delegation of South African government representatives, captains of industry brought together by the Confederation of Indian Industries conference in Jaipur on Tourism & Heritage and others. Maharaj Gaj Singh with the delegation from South Africa February 05 - Initiating and coordinating a two-day workshop by a Delhi based NGO to mobilize local Jaipur walled city residents towards implementation of the 2002 2004 European Union funded waste management and conservation project for the walled city. ANDOL AN - actions pg.5 Outreach - November 04 - a public workshop with representatives of local government and local stakeholders with Chris Watkins of Historic Scotland to share methodologies of heritage management January 05 - an interactive discussion with UNESCO Asia Pacific representative Richard Engelhardt, to assess the development of the Jaipur Heritage movement. March 05 - a seminar by urban planning experts from Australia: on Sustainable And Habitable Cities to share with Jaipur stakeholders and experts current thinking on conservation and sustainable development. Ongoing - Initiating an international high-profile public art project with a French sculptor to draw attention to Jaipur as a creative community and historic centre of arts and crafts. Concept photograph International outreach - May 04 - A presentation made by JVF July 04 - A presentation made by Founding Trustee at the Sainsbury Centre, conservation architect Nimish Patel at the University of East Anglia, UK as part of a Royal Geographic Society in London on symposium Culture Futures. Jaipur and the JVF heritage initiative. July 04 - Attendance at the Sri Lanka conference in July 2004 on Heritage February 05 - A presentation by JVF Founding Conservation: New Alliances for Past Present Trustee on JVF's vision and three years case and Future, organised by World Monument history to the UNESCO conference for senior Fund in respect of South and South East Asia experts: Creative Communities a Strategy for region. the 21st Century, culminating in a call to world governments to put creative and cultural industries in the forefront of the development agenda to alleviate poverty in the Asia Pacific region. ANDOLAN - actions pg.6 ARTS Rajasthan's rich and diverse repository of traditional arts is gravely threatened by rapid change and loss of traditional patronage. In this context, JVF conducts a year round revitalization programme in rural Rajasthan, initiated in 2003. The programme comprises research, documentation and development activities. pg.7 ARTS - actions Ongoing - identifying regional coordinators as resource persons across districts of Rajasthan where JVF outreach initiative is underway. Linking with individuals and groups and attending regional folk festivals to research and September 04 - Commissioning the Phad artist identify talent and lesser known traditional art to produce a narrative scroll of the Phad, and & craft forms. promoting it publicly to support ongoing work for this dying art. Ongoing - working with the local community to organise regional folk festivals and promote their value by providing nominal grants as seed funds, supporting local concerts with improved quality sound technology and enabling local arts and artists. Alwar Lok Rang Dec.'04 Loonch Utsav June'04 Brij Lok Rang workshop, Deeg Sept.'04 Loonch Utsav June'04 Loonch Utsav June'04 September 04 - Interactive Workshops to Recording lesser known Fairs and Festivals for develop new forms through linking traditional a future publication to promote rural tourism artists with sympathetic artists and experts from and creative regional arts. other genres thus encouraging better understanding, experiment and creativity. Split over two sessions, the Pabuji Ki Phad workshops linked scholars, renowned Phad painters, well known author William Dalrymple, acclaimed singer Shubha Mudgal and noted author and painter Bulbul Sharma. Dilip Bhatt Ta ma sh a Artist ARTS - actions pg.8 January 05 - Bringing regional and rural artists to the public platform of the Jaipur Heritage International Festival for exposure and to encourage sustained means of livelihood. Programming their performances, marketing their presence in the city, and taking their music to audiences in suburbs, slums, schools, heritage hotels and defined cultural spaces. The folk variety shows at the festival saw maximum participation from local communities, with the audiences braving low temperatures and even rain in their eagerness to enjoy the best of Rajasthan's performers. Developing detailed information to create a future Directory of Regional Arts and Artists across different genres and forms with extensive photo documentation, video and sound recordings. This material is to provide a base for future publications. ARTS - actions pg.9 BUILDINGS Rajasthan is abundantly rich in built heritage. The walled city of Jaipur, planned for 100,000 people and now populated by aprox 800,000 people, is unique in its historic built character. It is overstretched and in a severe state of decay. The challenge for the conservationist in India is to know where to begin and what to try to conserve. JVF is committed to support the development of appropriate management strategies and policies for heritage conservation in principle, and to create demonstrative projects so that conservation and restoration can be an option for the citizenry as a whole, not just applicable to a few select monuments. JVF is committed to conserving the skills, knowledge and traditional building technologies that lie with traditional builders and craftspeople through various initiatives and strategies. pg.10 BUILDINGS - actions June 04 - Preparation and launch of a preliminary concept paper for a Jaipur centre, or institute, for traditional skills and built heritage in the region to conserve the skills and built forms. No such institutions exist in India. The American Ambassador David C. Mulford on his visit to Jaipur gave JVF an opportunity to bring citizens together to promote and publicise this future project. July 04 - Status documentation on 43 traditional step wells (Bavadis & Kunds) of Jaipur & Amber, their decay and their misappropriation by encroachers. October 04 onwards - Preparation of a policy note for the Government of Rajasthan on its December 04 - Preparation and