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 submission to private public partnership scheme 'Adopt a World Monument Fund of an application for Monument', inviting inputs and responses from Jaipur walled city to be included on the 2006 national conservationists, experts and listing of the 100 Most Endangered Heritage stakeholders experts to the draft published by Sites, to draw public attention and support to the local government. the conservation of the walled city of Jaipur.
BUILDINGS - actions pg.11 Facilitating appropriate reuse of a UNESCO award winning heritage structure for use as a contemporary museum by creating linkages promoting the project.
Sanganer hand block printed fabric
March 05 - First study and action plan report for a pilot restoration project in a controlled and contained street area of the walled city to share with local residents and engage their commitment.
BUILDINGS - actions pg.12 CRAFTS
JVF sees the region's craft skills as a vital resource to create sustainable livelihood for many people. JVF sees the need for inputs and interventions at all levels - design, technologies, management and marketing. The year 2004 - 2005 marks the beginning of JVF's planned craft intervention projects.
pg.13 CRAFTS - actions January 05 - Context, Creativity & Community: a JVF project to engage local community in applying skills and creativity to May 04 - Liaising with Development decorate venues during the Jaipur Heritage Commissioner Handicrafts and organising a International festival. Two talented designers craft workshop introducing skilled bamboo and work in local crafts (taazia and recycled cane workers to a local business house and local materials) to enhance city spaces, hotels, and designers with the objective of creating new festival venues. uses and markets for this cluster of craftspeople.
October 04 - Commissioning a local expert January 05 - miniature painter to create a subject specific Commissioning an painting for contemporary marketing using installation from traditional skills and style. traditional taazia making skills to decorate a public exhibition space thus expanding the conventional application of the skill to new uses.
October 04 - Engaging with students and faculty of the new institute in Jaipur for crafts the Indian Institute for Craft and Design, to City of Artistry Exhibition include them in long term JVF craft programmes and build heritage sensitization February 05 - Facilitating the making of a into the curriculum. French television documentary, the 'Crafts Sphere of Jaipur', made by Emma Tassy covering the socio-economical and cultural aspects of craftspeople engaged in the making of silver foil and lac bangles.
January 05: Jaipur - City of Artistry: bringing together four of Jaipur's successful craft based retailers to promote skills and art forms traditional to Jaipur in site specific mini exhibitions of their personal museum collections.
CRAFTS - actions pg.14 January 05 - Identifying five local crafts in Jaipur Thathera (metal crafts), Gadia-Lohar (wrought-iron artefacts), Gota-Patti (embroidery and cut-work), Lac (resin based products) and use of Recycled Materials, and working with designers from NID, students of the Indian Institute of Craft and Design, creating innovative and exciting new products and showcasing the works as an exhibition at the festival.
Craft Bazaar For the third consecutive year JVF liaised with the Govt. of India to bring a National Craft Expo to Jaipur under the aegis of the Jaipur Heritage International Festival.
CRAFTS - actions pg.15 DEVELOPMENT
The end objective of JVF's overall remit is to help create new cultural industries in Jaipur and the region, to create livelihood opportunities, alleviate poverty, promote cultural diversity and conserve cultural heritage. This is 'development' in the JVF context.
pg.16 DEVELOPMENT - actions
January 05 - Activity Holidays: An initiative linking tourism agencies in UK and local tourism providers to initiate a new tourism product that provides access for the visitor to a wide range of Jaipur's heritage assets arts, crafts, buildings, musical traditions, and living culture.
Cover of JVF activity holiday flyer
January 05 - Holiday Workshops: A new tourism product to build on Jaipur's unique arts and crafts assets, to create new activity and skill based tourism, and to bring value and dignity to the craftspeople the teachers for the workshops. Miniature Painting Techniques, and Fun with Phad, were conceived, launched and promoted in Festival 2005, and hosted in a heritage hotel.
March 05 - Providing direct access to craft shopping in Jaipur: making a Shopping Map for the crafts of Jaipur so the visiting shopper is independent and Best Practices are promoted.
March 05 - Launching a new body Jaipur Confederation of Cultural Industries (JCCI) to knit the cultural business community together as a body towards making Jaipur Asia's premier destinations for creative and cultural industries.
DEVELOPMENT - actions pg. 17 EDUCATION
Children are our future. An important element in JVF's remit is to communicate the beauty, richness, relevance and value of our inheritance- natural, tangible and intangible - to its future custodians. JVF's educational work and interventions are conducted under the guidance of its education committee - a group of leading educationalists of the city.
pg.18 EDUCATION - actions
JVF Education Project 2003-6 has been conceived as a threephase project. Phase 1 is the creation of Jaipur-centric teachers' resource manual, researched, prepared and designed by Feisal Alkazi of Creative Learning for Change, its preparation funded by HSBC.
August - December 04: Phase Two (2004 2005), funded jointly by JVF and HSBC, engaged teachers and pupils from six schools in the walled city through a series of workshops and regular activities over a period of five months.
March 04: The JVF Education Programme has been quoted as a case study in a recent UNESCO symposium held in Delhi in March 2005 to promote heritage awareness through education to ensure conservation of intangible heritage and promote cultural diversity.
January 05: The programme culminated with the six schools showcasing their work in exhibitions and public performances during the JHIF, under the banner of the Chokri Modikhana Festival.
EDUCATION - actions pg.19 January 05 - The Education Committee further spread the work and vision of the foundation to a wider constituency by including numerous Jaipur schools in the street festival as invited audience for the six schools performances. Schools were invited to start with the heritage walk through the city, visit the open air exhibition, and enjoy traditional music along with the schools performance.
January 05 - The festival education programme included an Environmental Watch to provide practical learning opportunities for children through nature walks, quizzes, slide presentations, nature games, and a study of their natural surroundings.
EDUCATION - actions pg.20 FESTIVAL
Jaipur Heritage International Festival 2005 was held over 10 days encompassing 115 events at 44 venues. The festival registered participation from 200 craftspeople, 350 Rajasthani folk artists and 138 performance artists. The annual festival gives the people of Jaipur and their guests from around India and across the world a whole new experience of the city. For festival 2005, audiences turned out in large numbers in spite of inclement weather.
pg.21 FESTIVAL - actions Exhibitions
Performing arts
Walks
Visual arts
Talks
A crafts bazaar
Workshops Airshow
FESTIVAL - actions pg.22 A traditional bazaar organised by a ladies' club Finale Concert 'Soul of India'
Amber Street Festival
Embroidery by master craftsman Creating Magic
FESTIVAL pg.23 FESTIVAL pg.24 THANKS
Funding for the first three years of JVF has been secured largely through the commitment and generosity of private donors, corporate sponsors, development agencies, and governments. We end this report with the acknowledgement that we would be nowhere without our supporters and we thank them and cheer them all!
DONORS, SPONSORS, SUPPORTERS 2003 - 05
Abhikram, Ahmedabad Indian Airlines Air India Indian Institute of Craft & Design Ambuja Cement Indigenous Horse Society of India American Embassy in India Jawahar Kala Kendra Amrapali Jaipur Development Authority Anokhi Jaipur Nagar Nigam Apeejay Surendra Group Ministry of Textiles, Government of India; Bhoruka Charitable Trust Ministry of Tourism, Government of India Bhuramal Rajmal Surana Ministry of Tourism, Government of Rajasthan British Council in India Mount Shivalik British High Commission in India Oa sis BSNL Oberoi Hotels & Resorts Confluence Plast India CPFI Rajasthan Tourism Development Development Commissioner Handicraft Corporation (DCH) Rambagh Palace Hotel East UK Ravi Kumar Gupta, Architect Eicher Goodearth Limited Reliance French Embassy in India Rural Non Farm Development Agency Friends of Jaipur UK (RUDA) Friends of Jaipur France Simrane (France) Gempulse Sir Gulam Noon General Electrics Taj Hotel Resorts and Palace Golcha Group Tanishq HDFC Teamworks Hindustan Lever The Hindustan Times Hotels & Restaurants Association of Tourism & Wildlife Society of India Rajasthan www.traveindia.com HRH The Prince of Wales Charitable Foundation West Zone Cultural Centre HSBC Wires & Fabrics Hutch
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