[Reader-list] A question for Arka
Logos Theatre
logos.theword at gmail.com
Tue Aug 12 18:23:10 IST 2008
Dear Arnab,
Thanks for the question(s).
While it is a very legitimate question, I can't quite see how it's a
logical dilemma. Surely, it is a matter of choice? Because, contrary to
arundhati's fulminations, of course i am not obligated to return the money.
i am however, doing this as a matter of principle and a fitting reply.
therefore, the choice of how i disburse the money is surely mine. but more
to the point, i am spreading it over five years to encourage multiple people
to speak out against the tatas over a period of time. as i said in the
earlier post, five grand is a pittance, compared to IFa's .5 million grants
to the artistic equivalents of white elephants, but it is still something.
and for people with genuine ideas and fire in the belly, it can be more than
enough. besides, as i also mentioned earlier, this is the catalyst so that
others, those who still have a backbone left, pitch in and increase the
endowment, in the spirit of true art. i am not looking at institutionalizing
it, but rather creating a loose community for which this could be the spark
off point, in the footsteps of dada.
as for the second part of your question - no the maoists do not
qualify because i have never said i'll give it out for anything that is
illegal. that raises many thorny questions, about how oppressive laws
themselves are invalid in the first place. of course they are, and i'd
protest against them myself, and against the persecution of innocent people
- just about everybody who dares to raise a voice, branding them maoists.
however, i personally do not endorse armed, violent activism, and since this
is my money, well...
so to answer you - i have very clearly stated i am looking at two
things - artistic endeavours, and people/organizations working for/with
victims of the tatas. please wait for a formal announcement on this and
other lists about this. so if your friends pissing/ masturbating is done in
a way that qualifies as performance art (in my book - again because it's my
money we are talking about), then yes, they'd be eligible. but not merely
for saying they want to do it - for actually doing it.
lastly, it turns out that my mentioning of dow in the original post
wasn't far off the mark - ratan tata happens to be the leader of a
consortium that wants the government to drop cases against dow in return for
a one time dole. and we still continue to have our heads in the sand.
warm regards,
arka
On 10/08/2008, ARNAB CHATTERJEE <apnawritings at yahoo.co.in> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> --
> >The question and the dilemma is, Arka, why aren't
> > u awarding the full > > 25000/- for anti tata work ( affiliated t> The o
> your > declared Trust)instead of
> > > only 5000/-? Secondly, what would be the distinctively
> > anti TATA activity?
> > > For instance I might conjecture the maoists are surely
> > working not only
> > > against the TATA's but also the BATA's and so
> > on and at a threateningly
> > > higher level -this applies to Nandigram too.So who
> > would win your award and
> > > why? Any singular individual, visible and legal, would
> > surely be defeated by
> > > the maoists entering the competition; please keep
> > them out. Wouldn't you?
> > > The question is , how do you resolve these, plz let me
> > know since I know
> > > some who would like to apply. Though I am far from approving or
> endorsing them, One of them says s/he pisses on any TATA's photo, another
> says s/he masturbates. Who would win ? I'm really anxious. This is becoming
> really serious eh....
> > > thank you
> > > arnab
> > >
> > >
> > > --- On Fri, 8/8/08, Logos Theatre
> > <logos.theword at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > >> From: Logos Theatre
> > <logos.theword at gmail.com>
> > >> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] A suggestion for Arka
> > >> To: reader-list at sarai.net
> > >> Date: Friday, 8 August, 2008, 12:33 PM
> > >> >
> > >> > Dear Arundhati,
> > >>
> > >> Thank you for your retort, which proves
> > that
> > >> even the mighty IFA
> > >> (in the person of you, its deputy director), needs
> > to
> > >> bestir itself to quell
> > >> voices of dissent that challenge its monopoly as
> > the high
> > >> priest of high art
> > >> in this country. Interesting, how the high and
> > mighty tend
> > >> to be also
> > >> mightily thin - skinned. You also sent me the same
> > mail to
> > >> my private ID. I
> > >> have told you in my reply there that as far as TFA
> > is
> > >> concerned, you have
> > >> brought something intensely personal into a very
> > public
> > >> space, and I shall
> > >> not stoop to the bait of responding to that here.
> > If that
> > >> gives you a sense
> > >> of triumph, so be it. There are other parts of
> > your mail
> > >> which, however, I
> > >> will respond to. So here goes:
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> *Arka,
> > >> >
> > >> > I have been reading some of the stuff that
> > you have
> > >> been writing on the
> > >> > Sarai list - your opinions about the Tatas
> > and IFA -
> > >> which is supported in
> > >> > its various programmes by institutions like
> > the Tata
> > >> Trusts, the Ford
> > >> > Foundation and many other organisations and
> > >> individuals who find IFA's work
> > >> > worth supporting.*
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> You start off by being an apologist
> > for the
> > >> Tatas. Good! The
> > >> basic message of my tirade is not about the
> > quality of
> > >> IFA's work and
> > >> whether it's worth supporting - as I have said
> > here on
> > >> an earlier occasion,
> > >> that's worth another debate by itself. But
> > while on
> > >> that, yes, I do think
> > >> IFA on the whole funds ivory tower art that has no
> > locus of
> > >> significance
> > >> outside its incestuous little circle of mutual
> > >> back-patting. Further, it
> > >> renders a disservice to the cause of true artistic
> > enquiry
> > >> by imposing a
> > >> hierarchy of academic elitism, thereby snuffing
> > out the
> > >> voices of true
> > >> practitioners who are not interested in spewing
> > academic
> > >> gobbledygook. Which
> > >> is not to say that it has not funded genuninely
> > >> invigorating artistic
> > >> endeavours - it has. About Ram by Katkatha
> > immediately
> > >> comes to mind. But
> > >> for the most part, it perpetuates dinosaurs and
> > living
> > >> fossils and turns a
> > >> deaf ear to younger, emergent voices, unless such
> > voices
> > >> have the
> > >> appropriate 'brand tags'. So yes, on the
> > whole IFA
> > >> promotes art that is
> > >> spurious and dishonest. And this is not my
> > viewpoint alone,
> > >> but something
> > >> shared by many, many practitioners who are in
> > touch with
> > >> the grassroots. As
> > >> examples of people who by dint of their work
> > should, by any
> > >> system of logic,
> > >> have got artistic funding; Parnab Mukherjee,
> > Pritam
> > >> Koilpillai and Abhishek
> > >> Majumdar spring readily to mind.
> > >> However, my basic point was that
> > art
> > >> cannot exist in a
> > >> moral vaccum. Art that is created with dirty money
> > is,
> > >> I'm sorry to say, not
> > >> art. If today you turn a blind eye to the
> > Tatas'
> > >> misdeeds (Ford of course is
> > >> no shining exemplar of ethics either), will you
> > turn an
> > >> equally blind eye to
> > >> Dow Chemicals if they offer you a juicy little
> > dole
> > >> tomorrow? Going by your
> > >> stance, I suppose the answer is quite evident. My
> > respect
> > >> for IFA would have
> > >> been immense if, in the wake of Singur, you guys
> > had
> > >> renounced their money.
> > >> But of course, what matter where my money comes
> > from, as
> > >> long as it does
> > >> come, right?
> > >>
> > >> *You have suggested to artists not to accept funds
> > from
> > >> organisations that
> > >> > are supported with money 'tainted'
> > because of
> > >> its source ( which makes
> > >> > almost all money tainted if you really look
> > hard and
> > >> find the 'source' where
> > >> > it originally came from one way or the
> > other).*
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Once again, your capacity for deluding yourself is
> > >> astounding. There are
> > >> always degrees of association, and while one might
> > carp on
> > >> the 'money is the
> > >> root of all evil' line, the fact is that a
> > direct line
> > >> of credit from an
> > >> unethical corporate entity is an altogether
> > different
> > >> matter from money
> > >> which, at some level, has passed through tainted
> > hands.
> > >> Once again, my
> > >> appeal was to fellow artists to reject money that
> > directly
> > >> comes from the
> > >> Tatas. And I might as well say, I did not make
> > that appeal
> > >> with any real
> > >> hope that people would respond to it. It was more
> > to expose
> > >> the abysmal
> > >> levels of hypocrisy and apathy the contemporary
> > >> 'artiste' has sunk to,
> > >> content to sit in his/her guilded cage, as long as
> > the
> > >> grants, residencies
> > >> and funding keep coming. Of course, there are
> > other
> > >> artists, those without
> > >> the 'e' at the end, who are not written
> > about, do
> > >> not perform in glitzy
> > >> venues in European cities at sundry bienalles and
> > >> festivals, but whose art
> > >> has not lost the smell of the soil. These do not
> > depend on
> > >> handouts from
> > >> morally bankrupt entities to create their art -
> > their art
> > >> comes from their
> > >> blood.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> *I recall that you have received an award of Rs
> > 25,000
> > >> (Rupees Twenty five
> > >> > Thousand) from Toto Funds the Arts (TFA), for
> > creative
> > >> writing in Feb 2008.
> > >> > TFA is an organisation that is mainly funded
> > by
> > >> individuals like me, Mr
> > >> > Suresh Kumar, and many others who believe
> > that TFA is
> > >> doing great work
> > >> > supporting young artists. Both Suresh and me
> > work for
> > >> IFA, an organisation
> > >> > supported by the Tata Trusts thus our source
> > of money
> > >> that we donate to TFA
> > >> > is tainted as well according to your logic.
> > As a donor
> > >> to TFA, I would
> > >> > suggest to you to return the award to TFA if
> > you want
> > >> to really walk your
> > >> > talk.*
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> This paragraph, really, is the Kafkaesque pinnacle
> > of your
> > >> missive. At one
> > >> level, I'm sure you know fully well the
> > logical fallacy
> > >> of comparing what
> > >> you do with your money as an individual, and
> > institutional
> > >> support from the
> > >> Tatas. The same applies to Mr Suresh Kumar,
> > whoever that
> > >> worthy is. This
> > >> also is the paragraph where, as I said in the
> > beginning,
> > >> you have brought
> > >> into the public space a very personal relationship
> > that (I
> > >> thought) I share
> > >> with the organization you have mentioned. I have
> > responded
> > >> to you in private
> > >> and will not repeat that here. Let me just say
> > this - if
> > >> you read through
> > >> what you yourself have written, without your IFA
> > blinkers
> > >> on, you'll
> > >> probably realize that it is more Orwellian than
> > anything
> > >> Orwell himself
> > >> could have ever written or said. So, according to
> > you, (
> > >> and I will say
> > >> according to 'you' because I continue to
> > have the
> > >> deepest respect for the
> > >> person who runs TFA and the reason for its
> > establishment
> > >> and functioning),
> > >> the support of TFA amounts to this - that the
> > young artist
> > >> will be rewarded
> > >> for his work as long as he stays safely in line.
> > The moment
> > >> he criticizes
> > >> the mighty hand that feeds; and speaks
> > uncomfortable
> > >> truths, he is then one
> > >> of the damned and must return the award? So much
> > for
> > >> artistic freedom, so
> > >> much for the conviction of the artist, so much for
> > freedom
> > >> of speech. I
> > >> think the RSS would be queueing up to
> > 'support' the
> > >> IFA now, given the
> > >> apparent tenor of your ideologies. However, I
> > shall not do
> > >> what you have
> > >> commanded - I shall not renounce the award,
> > because that
> > >> would amount to
> > >> insulting the founder of the trust which, as
> > I've said
> > >> above, I'll never do;
> > >> and more importantly, because then I'll have
> > to return
> > >> the money. I shall
> > >> not return the money. Instead, I am hereby making
> > a very
> > >> public declaration.
> > >> For the next five years, I shall give out Rs.
> > 5,000/-
> > >> (Rupees Five Thousand)
> > >> annually, to any individual or organization that
> > is working
> > >> to discredit the
> > >> Tatas in any way whatsoever, or to rehabilitate
> > their
> > >> victims, through art
> > >> or community work. If indeed the money came from
> > the Tatas,
> > >> I see no better
> > >> way to atone for it than to turn it against them.
> > I know
> > >> that compared to
> > >> the half-a-million grants that the IFA gives out,
> > this
> > >> amount is laughably
> > >> small, but that is about as much as a starving
> > artist
> > >> (without the 'e') can
> > >> do. So I hereby announce the formation of the Rat
> > N. Tatta
> > >> (please read the
> > >> word in Hindi) Foundation for the Promotion of
> > Anarchic
> > >> Arts and Fighting
> > >> Tata Terrorism. I hope other artists who still
> > have a
> > >> conscience left will
> > >> add to the corpus and turn it into something
> > meaningful.
> > >> Please write to
> > >> contact at logostheatreindia.org for more details. So
> > well, I
> > >> have put my money
> > >> where my mouth is - I am not sophisticated enough
> > to walk
> > >> the talk, as you
> > >> call it.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> *While you may find it more convenient to sit in
> > Bangalore
> > >> and 'email'
> > >> > protest campaigns against the Tatas *
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Well, one can at least do what is within one's
> > >> abilities. One can take a
> > >> principled stand, and that is what I have done.
> > For the
> > >> record, my services
> > >> were recently used by one of the artists in
> > residence at a
> > >> residency
> > >> promoted by your organization in Bangalore
> > recently, and I
> > >> refused to take
> > >> any payment for it, asking her instead to give it
> > to
> > >> charity or to any cause
> > >> opposed to the Tatas. At least, I am not traipsing
> > about
> > >> Washington DC and
> > >> Krakow on Tata money while turning up fashionably
> > attired
> > >> in protest marches
> > >> for Nandigram, am I?
> > >>
> > >> *and not really go down to Singur and Nandigram
> > with
> > >> hundreds of young
> > >> > people in Kolkata *
> > >>
> > >> **
> > >> Nor am I appearing on page 3 of Bangalore Times,
> > as you so
> > >> regularly do. Oh,
> > >> and I forgot, you were a "Lead India"
> > contestant
> > >> - our great beacon of hope!
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> *are really trying to understand and engage with
> > the issues
> > >> there,*
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Such shining bureaucrat/ academic speak - the
> > chief
> > >> minister of West Bengal
> > >> couldn't have done it better. There is only
> > one issue
> > >> understand and engage
> > >> with there - the Tatas are displacing people for a
> > >> corporate project that is
> > >> entirely unethical, and the WB govt. is killing/
> > raping in
> > >> order to remove
> > >> obstacles on their way. Again, remember Tapashi
> > Malik and
> > >> look into the
> > >> mirror.
> > >>
> > >> * the least you can do is practice what you
> > preach.*
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> I try to. At least I don't delude myself.
> > >>
> > >> *Arundhati
> > >> > (works at IFA, supported by the Tata Trusts
> > among
> > >> many, donates to TFA)*
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Arka
> > >> (work in theatre, is not supported by anyone, and
> > does not
> > >> publicly declaim
> > >> where he donates to)
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >> > Logos Theatre
> > >> > In the beginning was the word
> > >> > No. 126,
> > >> > 3rd Main Road,
> > >> > Jayamahal Extension,
> > >> > Bangalore 560046
> > >> >
> > >>
> > --------------------------------------------------------
> > >> > If it be now, 'tis not to come;
> > >> > if it be not to come, it will be now;
> > >> > if it be not now, yet it will come: the
> > readiness is
> > >> all.
> > >> > Since no man has aught of what he leaves,
> > what
> > >> is't to leave betimes?
> > >> > Let be.
> > >> _________________________________________
> > >> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and
> > the city.
> > >> Critiques & Collaborations
> > >> To subscribe: send an email to
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> > >> header.
> > >> To unsubscribe:
> > >>
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> > >> List archive:
> > >>
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> > >
> > >
> > > Get an email ID as yourname at ymail.com or
> > yourname at rocketmail.com.
> > > Click here http://in.promos.yahoo.com/address
> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Logos Theatre
> > In the beginning was the word
> > No. 126,
> > 3rd Main Road,
> > Jayamahal Extension,
> > Bangalore 560046
> > --------------------------------------------------------
> > If it be now, 'tis not to come;
> > if it be not to come, it will be now;
> > if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all.
> > Since no man has aught of what he leaves, what is't to
> > leave betimes?
> > Let be.
>
>
> Get an email ID as yourname at ymail.com or yourname at rocketmail.com.
> Click here http://in.promos.yahoo.com/address
>
--
Logos Theatre
In the beginning was the word
No. 126,
3rd Main Road,
Jayamahal Extension,
Bangalore 560046
--------------------------------------------------------
If it be now, 'tis not to come;
if it be not to come, it will be now;
if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all.
Since no man has aught of what he leaves, what is't to leave betimes?
Let be.
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