P R O J E C T S P R O C E S S E S V O L U M E F O U R KINGS OF SHORELINE Projects / Processes Projects / Processes Volume IV Research and Writing From SAF 2018 commissioned by About Projects/Processes Projects / Processes is an initiative launched by Serendipity Arts Foundation in 2017 to publish commissioned research essays, longform writing, and in-depth criticism that explore the ideas and processes behind select curatorial projects at Serendipity Arts Festival. Over three years, the Festival has accumulated a rich database of creative energies and partnerships. As an eight-day long event, the Festival is a platform for multidisciplinary collaboration and cultural innovation, and has commissioned over 90 new works across the visual and performing arts since its inception in 2016. The Projects / Processes series offers an opportunity to give some of these works and the stories that they tell continued life, through a deeply engaged look at how they came together and their significance to the discourse of contemporary art in India moving forward. Each volume comprises essays covering distinct projects that stand in some dialogue with each other, through the questions they raise and the thematic landscape they cover. For the online PDF version of previous essays, please visit www. serendipityartsfestival.com. For any enquires about obtaining a complete set of volumes, kindly write in to [email protected]. About Serendipity Arts Festival About Serendipity Arts Foundation Serendipity Arts Festival (SAF) is one of the largest multi- Serendipity Arts Foundation is an organisation that facilitates disciplinary arts initiatives in the South Asian region. It spans the pluralistic cultural expressions, sparking conversations around visual, performing and culinary arts, whilst exploring genres with the arts across the South Asian region. Committed to innovation film, live arts, literature and fashion. Besides the core content, which and creativity, the aim of the Foundation is to support practice is conceptualised by an eminent curatorial panel, the Festival has and research in the arts, as well as to promote sustainability and various layers of programming, in the form of educational initiatives, education in the field through a range of cultural and collaborative workshops, special projects, and institutional engagements. Through initiatives. The Foundation hosts projects through the year, which active conversations between the artistic community and the urban, include institutional partnerships with artists and art organisations, social landscape, the festival continues to evolve around the mandate educational initiatives, grants and outreach programmes across India. of making art visible and accessible. The festival seeks collaborations at its core, inspiring new perspectives of seeing and experiencing. The Festival is a cultural experiment that also addresses issues such as arts education, patronage culture, interdisciplinary discourse, inclusivity and accessibility of the arts. Contents Kings of Shoreline: Performance of 13 Karalsman Chavittu Nadakam Akhila Vimal C. Clouds Across a Triptych 37 Amitava Sanyal Kings of Shoreline: Performance of Karalsman Chavittu Nadakam Curated by Leela Samson Venue Large Open Air Theatre, Kala Academy Karalsman Collaborator Yuvajana Chavittu Nataka Kala Samithy Director Thampi Payyapilly (Ashan) Written by Chinna Thampi Annavi Avatharanam Yuvajana Chavittunadaka Kala Samithy Curator Leela Samson Chavittu Natakam originated in the coastal belt of western Kerala during the 16th and 17th century, together with the advent of the Christian Missionaries. Closely connected to Koothu and Koodiyattam of Kerala, the dance form also bears striking resemblance to the Greek Opera. While in the olden days, the performance of a single story of Chavittu Natakam extended between ten to fifteen days, it has now been confined to a short span of two hours. The story of this play is based on the heroic deeds of the French emperor Karalsman (Charlemagne), who defeated Albrath, the emperor of Jerusalem, regaining the land he had once lost. 10 11 Kings of Shoreline: Performance of Karalsman Chavittu Nadakam AKHILA VIMAL C. As the stage lights up, we see the court of Karalsman (Charlemagne), former king of the Franks, positioned on a throne at the centre, flanked on each side by three performers in vibrant, glittering costumes reminiscent of medieval Roman soldiers. While the king sits cross-legged, his soldiers move vigorously, stamping their feet and jumping in rhythm with an adulatory song about their ruler. The dance sequence begins with pounding steps, one foot after the other, while slightly winding the upper body. Standing in a slanted position, the six performers turn around, bringing their hands to their mouth and showing the gesture they state, “hereby, I say.” They repeat the gestures as they approach the audience, swaying and stamping with force, pointing fingers at the audience as the tempo of the song transforms. The performers fold and fling their arms as the song is followed by a two-fold onset of Vaythari, or oral commands, and Kalasam, which marks the end of the sequential movement. The Kalasam consists of various steps—the movements are rhythmic and symmetrical—and in the end, performers return to their original position and stand with their hands on their waists looking first at the king and then the audience with valour. Karalsman then gets up from the throne and walks downstage while the other performers dance behind him. He is wearing a glittering outfit: a red circlet crown embellished with golden metal, surmounted by ornaments and a cross on the top, while holding a sceptre. The above describes a performance of Karalsman Chavittu Nadakam 13 Projects / Processes KINGS OF SHORELINE by the Kerala theatre group Yuvajana Chavittunadaka Kalasamithy they were converted from upper-caste namboothiris. The converted at Panjim’s Kala Academy, as part of Serendipity Art Festival 2018. namboothiris were not ready to leave their cultural traditions and Written by Chinnathambi Annavi, Karalsman Charitam (translated advocated organising Kuthu and Kutiyattam performances in the as the “story of Karalsman”) is considered the first and most popular churches. Udayamperoor Sunnahadose2 (The Synod of Diamper), play among performers of Chavittu Nadakam, a Latin Christian art however, restricted Kutiyattam and Kuthu along with other rituals form originating in Kerala’s Ernakulam district. Annavi, believed to from the church space. This led to a cultural vacuum among native be a Tamilian, came to Kerala in the sixteenth century and became communities which forced them to create an art form to fill the void deeply influenced by Christianity, writing numerous plays before left by the demolition of traditional forms.3 returning to Tamil Nadu. However, Sabeena Rafi, one of the revivalists of Chavittu Nadakam, argues that he might have been a foreign The evolution of Chavittu Nadakam, and the European influence missionary who came to India, learned the language and picked an on its performance and costumes can thus be seen as the result Indian name to spread Christianity. Often addressed as the father of of Udayamperoor Sunnahadose’s establishment of rules and Chavittu Nadakam, Annavi has written the majority of the genre’s regulations. Sabeena Rafi’s argument about the cultural void left plays, and is its most celebrated author. behind by Kuthu and Kutiyattam seems problematic, as these forms were already in the hands of Brahmin priests from thirteenth century As a Christian art form, Chavittu Nadakam originated from onwards, and were only performed in Kuthambalams, or theatres Kerala’s links to the Portuguese. “Chavittu” means foot pounding located on temple premises.4 Through the readings of Sunnahadose, and “nadakam” refers to theatre, so it is not surprising that this one could come to the assumption that the coastal Christians (Latin musical drama centres around its emphasis on foot movement. Catholic in the context of Kerala) adapted the revival of churches Chavittu Nadakam is believed to have been harnessed by Christian from native belief system and Roman superiority prior to other groups missionaries during the sixteenth century to spread religion. Though who believe that they converted from Hindu upper castes (Thaliath, the local origin is manifest in the use of coastal Tamil in both musical 1958).5 Chavittu Nadakam was born out of the cultural flexibility of style and the lyrics , the performance form draws significantly from the marginalised. When the laws of Sunnahadose catechised beliefs European costumes and operatic presentation. European opera and cultural practices, these communities riposted by creating a typically comprises of musical narratives, shimmering costumes form that interwove existing cultural cognizance and newly invented and a stage without curtains, all of which seem to make their way ecumenical setting. Fr. Joseph Valiyaveettil, in his book on Chavittu into Chavittu Nadakam, which can be seen as a cultural tool that the Nadakam points out its similarities to Terukuthu, an ancient Tamil Portuguese used in Kerala to entertain and educate people about performance form that draws on epic mythology. He asserts that the Christianity, as the narratives celebrate those who advocated the songs, dialogues and presentation of these two forms correspond religion. The natives of Gothuruth, a small island in central Kerala, to each other frequently,6 an idea that seems more convincing than