Chennai has just been included in the creative cities network of UNESCO, formed by 180 members from 72 countries covering seven creative fields: crafts and folk art, design, film, gastronomy, literature, music and media arts. The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) was created in 2004 to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development. The 180 cities which currently make up this network work together to achieve a common objective: placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level and cooperating actively in the international level.
In 1936, a tiny strip of land was purchased by the British East India Company by the Coromandel Coast of South India to establish their cloth factories and create a fort that they called Madras. They pushed natives to the north and east into what became the black town which contained the temple to the Hindu God Chennai Kesava and the locals called the place Chennai patinam in Tamil, the language of the region. Madras grew under the British rule, enveloping different ancient settlements that existed around the fort. Thus, the city contains within it different artistic practices of different socioeconomic demographics of people who have lived in this area for several centuries. Madras the city grew to become one of the biggest cultural and educational centres in India. The name of the city was changed to Chennai in 1996. Chennai has a population of nearly eight million people. The city attracted artists from all over the state and became the cultural capital of south India.
Chennai has developed into a major centre of South Indian classical music called Carnatic music but in the back lanes and gullies are several other genres of music like the gaana paattu of the slum youth, which are free flowing in and reflect the trials and joys of their hardworking lives. There is also a very strong western classical and choir music tradition spearheaded by the Madras Musical Association. Chennai has the Madras String Quartet of international standards, who play both Western classical and Carnatic classical music in their concerts. Chennai is home to the biggest movie industry which constantly experiments on music, producing some eclectic music drawn from various genres and also based on South Indian folk music and pop culture. M.B. Srinivasan’s choir group is now fifty years old and it has volunteer members who go out into schools and train children. The group sings both pitch-based and harmonic music. It is indeed a major movement. Every life-cycle ritual is accompanied by music in the households with the classical wind instrument Nadaswaram ensemble playing during the religious ceremonies and a film music professional group providing music for a formal reception for a wedded couple or a classical vocal or instrumental concert, depending on the taste of the family. Music is thus an essential part of life. Around temples, musicians go around singing classical music in praise of Gods and people in the streets imbibe the music. Challenges are to build bridges between these very diverse kinds of musical practices where walls of indifference and awe can be broken and a way is paved for understanding each other.
Designation of Chennai in the creative network can enhance the musical experience of the city and widen the horizons for the understanding of its musical heritage and open eyes to the possibilities in the world of music elsewhere. Sustainability is a major concern of the city and musical experiences in different spaces in the city could be used for civic value education and thus bring about a change in people’s habits about use of water and other resources of the city. Link with the different layers of society who have been living in different ghettoes without much interaction with each other could be developed bringing about a love for the city.
The theme of the campaign could be making Chennai clean and environment friendly city. With music providing the channel to reach the multitudes, the project could also provide means to the musicians who live under the poverty line. Content of the campaign may rouse the young people in looking at segregation of waste and making Chennai green again.
The city of Chennai has grown over several ancient settlements that have had their own cultural practices over centuries. There are many streams of religious music sung in the temples and in homes around the city. The city played an important part in the freedom movement. The sands on the marina beach have been witness to the arrival of the merchant ship from far off lands and then the invasion of the Portuguese and the British and the early speech of Mahatma Gandhi in 1919 for the beginning of nonviolent Independence struggle. In 1927, the Indian National Congress meeting organized in Chennai had an all India music festival along with a conference discussing the salient features of different genres of music in India. A decision was then taken to conduct regular music festival in the month of December when the weather is slightly cooler in Chennai. The Madras Music Academy was thus born and has grown to be mecca of music for musicians from all over India. It conducts the December music season which attracts music lovers from around the world. There is also a conference and lecture demonstration time during the morning sessions and sessions during the day with young and upcoming musicians and recognized music maestros getting different time slots for performances. This was copied by different organizations around the city and there has been a mushrooming of organizations presenting music, dance and drama for their members and the general public. They call themselves Sabhas meaning congregations of art lovers.
The music industry in Chennai is huge. There is very little data available of its precise impact but a part of the project if designated could be the creation of such a data. Apart from providing a platform for musical ensemble of a vocalist, a percussionist, a string instrument like violin, or a wind instrument like the flute, a pitch holder or a Tambura player to perform, there are also usheres, light and sound technicians, the documentation people, the hall owner, the café and the transport people who stand to be gainfully employed by the music industry. The cinema music industry is enormous. There are hundreds of technicians, music studios, musicians who find work and struggle to find work with the competition being extremely severe. The number of cultural organizations are only growing every year.
In the winter music season there are some two thousand performances organized in a month in the city. Apart from this the householders engage musicians in private concerts for weddings and other rituals. The music industry and art and cultural practices are dynamic and extremely important to the city.
There are different genres of music practiced by different castes and communities. The South Indian Classical music called Carnatic music is mostly practiced by the upper caste, the Brahmins though they learnt it from the Isai Vellalar caste that has been preserving this music for generations though it is a notch below in the caste hierarchy. The string instrument Nadaswaram ensemble is played by the Isai Vellalar community who are also barbers, but are a must for every occasion in upper caste temples and family rituals. The Gaana Paattu songs are composed by the lowest class and the drumming done by the poorest of poor caste considered untouchable before Independent India made untouchability a crime.
Post-independent India does not consider caste as a factor in musical practice. The movie industry is a great leveler. There have been several attempts to build bridges between communities that are a part of the cultural life of the city and this designation and project will make that much more vivid and dynamic.
The beach front fishing villages are now venues for classical music promoted musician T.M.Krishna’s group. The Urur Kuppam Margazhi festival was conducted for the fishing village by T.M.Krishna and his team. Hundreds of villagers and fisher folk participated in this event. It is now an annual event. Svanubhava, an event show casing classical music and an opportunity for a face to face with eminent artists was organized for school children at Kalakshetra. Over a thousand students participated in this programme.
T.M. Krishna who is going beyond the classical milieu bringing his classical art to the wider population of Chennai singing in colloquial Tamil, about the need to save Ennore creek etc has been holding festivals where classical music and other genres of music come together. T.M. Krishna is a volunteer at the Urur Olcott Kuppam Vizha that has become a space for the fisher folk and the hardcore Carnatic music lovers to meet and listen to different kinds of music. He feels "This UNESCO creative cities recognition has been hijacked by the classical community as a vindication of Carnatic music and the December season, though there are so many diverse forms of music in the city. The disparities in respect, opportunities, facilities and recognition cannot be ignored. These are entrenched in social inequalities. This has to be corrected.
He continues “The life breath of art is the challenge it poses to the status quo. Art must make us question our strongest beliefs and redraft our coordinates. Serious discomfort is beautiful; it unshackles our minds from predisposed mindsets. Great pieces of art play with the way we are wired, and when that happens we receive with an openness that is rare. But this does not happen easily since every art, its artists, and the community that constitute its environment collapse on to each other, establishing an inseparable dependency, becoming a socio-cultural flagship. Those within its contours hold on to its reins tightly, making sure that it does not transgress comfort zones and artistic expression is limited to superficial movements. Therefore, if art is to play a role in social transformation, it needs to unstrap itself from this bind, rediscover its essence from within and in relation to the outside. This can only happen if in the curation of art there is a conscious intention to break pattern-determined norms. The Urur Olcott Kuppam Vizha is one such idea. It is challenging us to break free of the scaffoldings that limit our perception of art, ourselves and all those we encounter. Everyone becomes vulnerable and that is where change begins, be it cultural, social or political."
The December music festival that are conducted in the city have private public partnerships in that the city provides the police protection in case of law and order problem and facilitates the festival.
The main professional organizations called the Sabras including the Madras Music Academy play the role of space and platform providers for musicians to access the common public. Most of the public performances during the December music season are conducted by non-governmental organizations including the Madras Music Academy. These have had a huge impact on the music loving public of Chennai and the musicians who constantly strive to perform at such venues. Professional organizations like A.R.Rehman’s music conservatory mentor brilliant young musicians. Television music competitions are constantly throwing up extra ordinarily talented young musicians. All India Radio has had a huge impact on the listening public. Film music of course is ever present in daily life of almost everyone in Chennai.
Music composer Ilaya Raja produced an oratorio on the ancient Tamil work Thiruvaskam with the Budapest Symphony. The Cleveland cultural festival is organized with musicians from Chennai. The festival is specially covered by a Television channel Jaya TV. There are quiz programmes where audience win some music compact disks during these performances. Musicians Aruna Sairam has performed with Gregoric chants and Bombay Jayashree has performed with Helsinki symphony orchestra, Ravi Kiran has composed and performed with several orchestras abroad. There is constant experimentation going on with different facets of music like percussions and rhythms, string instruments and other musical journeys conducted by musicians themselves.
Using creativity as a driver for sustainable urban development at the local and international levels.
The city believes children are its future and its intangible cultural heritage needs to be passed on to the future heritage makers in intangible ways. Through its collaborative project with government schools, arts and music would be the vehicle used to develop a sense of self-importance and individuality, encourage self-expression and stimulate imagination among disadvantaged children through its programmes. The objective is to help kids achieve through arts because arts experiences offer children opportunities to imaginatively, explore, express and communicate ideas, feelings and experiences, critically reflect upon and find personal meaning by engaging the senses, feelings and imagination, engage in creative problem-solving, develop creative talents through spatial, rhythmic, visual and kinesthetic awareness, develop self-awareness and understanding of their own and others’ cultures, values and attitudes, expand life skills such as conflict resolution, negotiation and teamwork and acquire knowledge, skills and learning essential for success in further study of arts. This initiative is to use participatory art forms as its core content to facilitate communication, aid creativity, help in self-discovery and develop social responsibility among children. The main theme of this initiative and intervention will be on cleanliness and need for segregation of waste as to reduce the organic waste received in the city’s dumps to make living a little more livable.
Perhaps a roadshow can be organsied as part of the creative city network. Musicians can compose music on the city and the needs of the city in sustainable growth. These compositions can be made available to the public through a road show, compact disks and social media. Students can write poems about the city and its problems and possible solutions. These poems can be tuned by the musicians who can have singing workshops. singing them. These workshops with citizens must happen in spaces in the North, East, West and South sections of the city. This, presented in the local public spaces. Perhaps a grand finale with a mega performance on the Marina beach.
Membership in the creative network will afford, through social media, inter active sessions for children of selected member countries to discuss initiatives for sustainable development of a city. With exchanges of musical notations, examples and a creative collaborative project of creating a composition long distance.
