CADALfest took place from December 16 to 20, 2022, at Adishakti. I had not planned to go there, but I was very surprised by the four days of round-table discussions, poetry readings and film screenings, concerts and theater performances by a fascinating group of artists, activists and academics. I picked out a few things and went on Saturday to the “Adivasi Round Table discussion with Vandna Tete, Ganga Sahay Meena, Seral Murmu & Ashwini Kumar Pankaj, moderated by Gopika Jadeja” followed by the “Thudumbu Percussions Performance by Unique Folk Son”.
Above all, what I would call a ‘Performance lecture’ by Ashwini Kumar Pankaj was energizing, stirring, charming and critical. He spoke in a mix of Hindi and English about the Adavasi cultures and their language and narratives. Ashwini Kumar Pankaj emphasized that the Adavasi had no expressions of violence or villains, and that it was therefore difficult to write the popular narrative formats revolving around crime stories and excesses of violence in this language. Adivasi culture was different not only historically and culturally, since it lives in harmony with nature and collectively, but also in its languages:
The Thudumbu Percussions Performance by Unique Folk Song follows, if I understood this correctly, the tradition of Thudumbu drummers from Kerala, who draw on temple rites.
On Monday I then saw Abhimanyu, or Chakra Vyugam, a street theater piece in the tradition of Therukootu. This kind of temple/street theater is typical of temple festivals in Tamil Nadu. The performers sing, dance, play music; it is a complex tradition of dramatic storytelling. For me it has the qualities of an opera. This group has collaborated with Cirque du Soleil, among others. It was an impressive performance.
And finally, a short extract from a performance by Tenam.
“Tenma is an Artist, Composer and Curator based out of Chennai, India. With an educational background in visual communication and music production, he is invested in the uplifting and development of artists from the lower cadres of society. He has co-founded two iconic bands that revolutionized the music scene – The Casteless Collective with film director Pa. Ranjith, and the Tamil rock band, Kurangan. Simultaneously, he built two important platforms for indie artists – the Madras Indie Collective and Madras Medai. His recently released film Natchathiram Nagargiradu was critically acclaimed for its unique sound design as well as the brilliant use of the theatrical idiom.” https://dalitadivasitext.wordpress.com/adishakti-participants/
RoundGogu Shyamala, Salma, and Meena Kandasamy, moderated by Nicole Thiara, Ritu Tyagi, and Chandra Sekhar.
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