Marketing the Visual Arts in the Media - Assignment Example

Promotion of Textile Artworks of 'Santhal' women of Jharkhand and 'Sujuni' artists of Bihar An essay written using MLA style of the essay: This essay portrays the importance art forms gains in India, their time relevance, relationship between these art forms and life style of tribal people of Bihar and Jharkhand states of India. The essay is primarily based on a news story "Voices from the margins" written by Ms.Pushpa Chari (Pushpa Chari: "Voices from the margins", Magazine section, the Hindu, Sunday, March15th, 2009, Chennai edition) for one of the famous daily news papers in India, Pushpa Chari is a well known writer in these parts of the world on artworks and their promotion in India. In this essay I have highlighted the marketing concepts involved in starting the conclave, the presenter of the conclave, the reason for the conclave, audience, the main players involved in the presentation of the theme, product promotion involved in textile artworks of "Santhal"(see Appendix # 1) women of Jharkhand and "Sujuni"(See Appendix # 2) artists of Bihar. The essay is like a wakeup call for promoters of artworks and artists in India. It calls for the need to organize many such conclaves and establish art museums across the country to bring the meaning of art into the public. The importance of establishment of art museums is highlighted by an article written by Mr.Ranvir Shaw (Ranvir Shaw: "For the sake of arts", Magazine Section, The Hindu, Sunday, March 08th, 2009) in a recent news edition of The Hindu (see Appendix # 3). Finally the article concludes by stating the relevance and appropriateness of the conclave. Introduction: On 20Th of March, 2009 a huge conclave named as "Selvedged Voices: Women's narrative art work textiles from India and Chile" will be launched in Chennai. The main reason behind the conclave is to bring into focus Chilean arpilerras (see Appendix # 4), "Kathwas" (see Appendix # 5), "Sujunis" of Bihari women artists and "Santhal" women artists of India. The exhibition is aimed at attracting connoisseurs of creative and visual art and creating demand for art forms of this sort. Also it is the fond hope of the organizers of the exhibition and the artists of both Chile and India that the exhibition will indeed help in promotion of their art works helping them in earning a decent amount of revenue and provide reasonable exposure for those beautiful art forms. Selvedged Voices" (see Appendix # 6) are beautiful, narrative tapestries and art works which basically portray the life style of people of Kathwas, Sujinis and the Santhals. The reason why these art forms gain such prominence is because they speak about the traditional life styles of tribal people in the aforesaid regions. Soon these traditions and art forms may cease to exist unless preserved and encouraged to survive. One of the participants in the exhibition is an organization called as Kalaraksha. Kalaraksha's lovely paintings present topics which are a true connoisseur's delight. They bring to life concepts such as preservation of water by the tribal people, devastation caused by a violent earth quake. Done in soft and vibrant pinks and lilacs these panels speak of the touch of tribal art sense, ability and creative skills. Similarly another organization from West Bengal is exhibiting beautiful and elegant Kantha embroidery narrative sketch panels, known for their use of lace work, color sense dexterous use of beads and velvet. These panels are known for pictures of tales from epics such as Ramayana or Mahabharata. Finally the essay concludes by looking at the possibility of the exhibition to achieve its objectives. The Need for the exhibition: "Selvedged Voices", the exhibition is being sponsored by the ministry of culture by the Government of India and curated by Dr.Skye Morrison, an internationally acclaimed authority on Santhal and Sujuni art forms. Santhal art forms of Bihar and Sujuni art works of Jharkhand are desperately in need of encouragement. These art works belong to the lower and weaker sections of the society and the art works are a statement of their pathos in their life style. These art forms are calling for recognition and a position of their own in the museums and exhibitions. Ministry of Culture's indifference towards arts and culture is causing a lot of damage to the existing places of heritage and arts (Mike Marqusee: "Level Playing Field", magazine section, the Hindu, Sunday, Jan.25th, 2009). The modern India is trying to promote tourism in a large scale which is understandable. Tourism in many countries is an upcoming and growing industry. Looking at tourism as a business enhancing tool is very much understandable but what is incomprehensible is Indian government's indifference towards preservation of its great number of historical locations which portray the rich heritage India has or unearth its vast treasures of arts which are fast becoming extinct. Governments of the past and the present have not looked at seriously to improve the conditions of its museums or establish new ones. What is more puzzling is the poor understanding in identifying the relation between promotion of tourism industry and its dependence on offering access to the rich treasures of heritage and culture that India boasts about. Museums are places which affectively becomes schools which communicate the message to the audience. Indian arts and culture does have a huge role to play if India has to establish itself as an economy to reckon with and so far the truth is not understood properly by the government. Creating Marketing focus - designing the objectives for the exhibition: The exhibition is supposed to open up a plethora of opportunities for the artisans of both the countries, both Chile and India. Through the workshop the organizers wants to achieve their objective of opening of marketing opportunities across the world. In the exhibition artisans will be showcasing their talents through display of their art forms and skills. The organizers are intending to conduct workshops where in the artisans can share their skills, experiences and helps in creating more business opportunities for these otherwise forlorn tribal artists. Many of these artists of both these countries are presently lacking exposure which is preventing them from improving their living standards or improve their skills. Through these exhibitions the Indian government can create a platform on which business men can interact with these artisans and think of new business opportunities. What is important is developing a supply chain mechanism and opening sufficient number of marketing channels which can boost the artists cause. The Presenter: In this exhibition the presenters are actually a conglomerate such as artists, the Department of Culture and Heritage and enthusiasts such as Dr. Morrison. This exhibition is a classic example of collective participation which can turn ideas and dreams into reality. For many artists participating in this exhibition from the both the countries it can actually be a dream come true situation. "Selvedged Voices" is in fact a word coined from two words "self" and "edge" (Pushpa Chari: "Voices from the margins", Magazine section, The Hindu, Sunday, March15th, 2009), thus helping the artists and the art gain an edge over other things. The presenter's interest is to bring into limelight the unknown and unheard concepts of Santhal and Sujuni art forms. Once the art forms gain the required popularity; selling is not a tough proposition. Reason for the conclave: The very reason for the starting an exhibition of this kind is to empower the tribal women in Bihar and Jharkhand states. Rural development and sustenance programs are falling short of addressing the financial and educational needs of these people. In both these states the per capita income levels in the rural areas are trivial. Generations of poverty and lack of opportunities have thrown tribal lives into total disarray. Art and culture and art promotion in one way can help these people in many ways and can actually become a change agent. Audience: The exhibition is trying to attract connoisseurs of art from all over the region, business men who are interested in promotion of arts and artisans who can come are share their opinions, skills. This exhibition which is spanned over a period of three days can help the artists in preserving and strengthening concerns which are environmentally friendly. Their canvas can get bigger upon interactions with artists of other regions. Promotion of Santhal and Sujuni arts Many people object to the opinion that art and culture cannot be promoted or sold for a price. Gone are the days of "Raj" (see Appendix # 7) era in which true art and culture were encouraged to flourish. Times have changed and along with the changing times the royal treatment offered in olden days has come down. People started treating art and culture with more of business like interest rather than stopping by to appreciate the message given in the art or the nature of the work. Art needs to gain reputation. Once an artwork gains popularity and age then, over a period of time its value increases multifold. Initially, however, even artworks needs to be promoted just like any other product. More so, in promotion of Art and culture, the clientele are going to be exclusive and establishing a platform from which their thirst for art can be satiated is a very difficult proposition. Fortunately, India has the reputation of having rich treasures of heritage and culture and this draws connoisseurs to India. Also the place and the setting for launching the exhibition have been strategically chosen. Chennai, the capital city of Tamilnadu, is rich in its traditional and cultural heritage. The city has a huge number of ancient temples and churches, museums, schools where traditional dance and art such as "Kuchipudi" (see Appendix #8) and "Bharata natyam" (see Appendix # 9) were even today in the old, Gurukul (see Appendix # 10) fashion. The setting is more than appropriate for launching an exhibition of tribal arts. It can definitely lure audience from all over India as the exhibition gains location advantage. Exhibitions as a communication tool: Like I said before in the essay the best way of communicating the message of arts and culture should happen through museums or art exhibitions. In an art exhibition each art has a lesson for the audience and each artist has a message or story to convey. Exhibitions of this sort will help is collectively presenting art forms at one place and gathering all the artists together to convey the message to the audience. The "Selvedged Voices" is an effort to communicate the inner voices of Santhal women of Bihar and Sujuni artists of Jharkhand to the outside world. It is effort to bring out the innovative and artistic talents of tribal folk lore and present it in art form to the public. Conclusion: Through the essay I have tried to bring out the importance the news item carries, the reason for choosing exhibition as a tool to present the art works of tribal people of Bihar and Jharkhand. The location advantage the exhibition carries by conducting the exhibition in Chennai, Marketing thought involved in this exhibition, artists, the Government and academia as the presenters of this concept. Also I have identified the audience to this exhibition is addressed to, the message the exhibition wants to convey. These art works are unique in their own nature and are definitely in danger of losing their existence. Lest preserved they may cease to exist. Selvedged Voices is an attempt to promote these rare and beautiful art forms and create an identity for the pathos and feelings of the tribal people which are captivatingly pictured in their art works. References 1. Pushpa Chari: "Voices from the margins", Magazine section, Sunday, March15th, 2009. 2. Ranvir Shaw: "For the sake of arts", Magazine Section, Sunday, March 08th 2009. 3. Mike Marqusee: "Level Playing Field", magazine section, the Hindu, Sunday, Jan.25th, 2009. 4. Pushpa Chari: "Voices from the margins", Magazine section, Sunday, March 15th, 2009. Appendix 1. Santhal: People belonging to Santhal tribe in Bihar. 2. Sujuni: People belonging to the Sujuni tribe of Jharkhand 3. The Hindu: A famous Daily English News Paper in India. 4. Chilean Arpillerras: Colorful tapestries. 5. Kathwas: A tribe in Bihar 6. Selvedged Voices: An organization aiming to bring into focus tribal art and Chilean art. 7. Raj: The ancient raj system which used to prevail in this part of world nearly two hundred years ago. 8. Kuchipudi: An ancient traditional dance form in South India, a very popular one. 9. Bharata natyam: An ancient traditional dance form in South India, a very popular one. 10. Gurukul: In the past teachers used to choose a few students who were taught in their ashrams of small huts. More like a residential schooling. Read More