Page 276 - Communication Processes Volume 3 Communication Culture and Confrontation

Folk Arts and Folk Artists 251

Folk Forms, NGOs and Researchers

In this section I touch upon what happens with so-called scholars
and researchers in the folk arts. Apart from the International Tamil
Research Institute at Chennai, folklore departments for research have
been started since the late 1980s in various universities, especially
in Kamaraj University, Pondicherry University, Madras University
and Tanjore Tamil University. However, the result today is that a few
individuals took folk forms in their hands and interpreted it with not
much of understanding. I strongly believe that the role of the researcher
should be looked into seriously and ascertained that their study is not
only to fulfil the expectations of their guides to get a doctoral degree. Of
course, when I say this I only refer to my state, the universities where I
am working. In the process of their study, some researchers have picked
up some tunes and movements, and by giving some public programmes
at higher rate (because they are educated) can proclaim themselves as
champions of the promotion and preservation of folk forms. Some-
times because of their capacity to improvise they claim that they are
the owners of particular folk forms. Actually their interpretation of folk
forms are like a blind man explaining the shape of an elephant. They
often fail to make an in-depth study of the cultural, economic, social
and political situation of the folk artists and their forms.
Because of their academic qualification and of their political
influence, they have also been able to influence the state and central
governments to get funds allotted to developing folk forms and
folk arts. But they have used them for their own development. The
consequence of this is that the state and central academies (the Sangeet
Natak Academy has got its own academy in each state and the Natakan
Mandran in Tamil Nadu, funded by central and state governments) that
are meant to develop folk art and folk artists focused on researchers
and influential people instead and forgot the real artists. This results
in folk artists experiencing various forms of exploitation from differ-
ent corners.
Basically, this is because we, folk artists, do not have sufficient
economic backing. But any individual can become an agent. Take
villupattu (leather puppetry), therukoothu (street theatre in Tamil
Nadu) or various well-established forms, for which there will be a
headman who is supposed to be an agent. He is not an artist, but by