ENARADA, Bengaluru, May 28, 2016
Karnataka is considered as a treasure trove of folk art. However, many of the folk art forms are on the verge of extinction as the younger generation isn’t inclined to learn. As a result, the art which had been transformed from one generation to another; hereditarily or otherwise, may soon become extinct. In a bid to save these dying art forms, the Karnataka Janapada Academy will soon launch the digital autobiography project.
This will include the process of unearthing the rich folk art knowledge by collecting data, documenting the knowledge system and understanding the contextual importance of such knowledge sources. The Academy will identify the reputed folk artistes and videograph their biopic. By doing so, the videos can be preserved in archives for generations to come.
Explaining the project, Academy president Pichalli Srinivas, “We plan to digitise the biopic of 135 folk artistes across the state. It will be a 15-hour shoot and finally edited into an one hour documentary. While each of these documentaries will be uploaded on our websites, the 15-hour original content would be safeguarded in archive. The video clips will be supplemented with the literature. We hope to preserve our rich folklore for generations to come with our digital content.”
The project would encourage artisans in the rural areas and will bring to perspective the vibrant folk culture of Karnataka to topmost level of visibility among all other cultural forms of Karnataka. There is an urgent need of exploring the traditional art and cultural glory through research and it is needed to disseminate the abundant skill of specific arts, embedded in the life of the people of our land.
“Our traditional life style and rural economy has become destabilised due to the abnormal influences of industrialization, liberalization and globalization. The tribal and rural folk life is losing its cultural roots. This has created an urgency of creating awareness about the traditional knowledge systems to the younger generations and these knowledge systems have to be appropriately applied in the modern perspective so as to uplift their values once again,” Srinivas said adding that the digital content programme will redefine the folk culture studies in a proper frame of practical thought.
