I had
the pleasure of attending Artwallah 2004, the fifth annual
arts festival of the South Asian diaspora. “South
Asian” refers to an ethnic group that has been previously
regarded as “Indians,” or worse, “East-Indians.” It
includes Pakistanis and Sri Lankans as well, and embraces
the wide diversity of religion and culture present in that
part of the world. It seems, however, that awareness
and use of the term “South Asian” is not yet widespread,
for even at Artwallah, a gathering of the most socially
aware of the South Asian activist and artist community,
I heard “South Asian” used interchangeably with “Indian,”
“Desi,” and “Brown.”
Founded
in 2000, Artwallah arose from the growing South Asian
movement among college students. These student-
and former student-activists fused with the burgeoning
South Asian artist community in Los Angeles, from whose
womb was born this four-day festival that explores and
celebrates the South Asian identity and experience through
different artistic media.
I
arrived at Artwallah as I have arrived at the several
other South Asian events I’ve attended during the past
six months: not sure exactly what to expect, looking
forward to good music, food and drink, and subtly aware
that I was a White Boy in Brown Town. Fortunately,
awareness of my ethnic identity reached my conscious
thought only twice that day. The first instance
occurred upon meeting a rare South Asian who, through
body language, made me feel like I might not belong
at such an event. The second instance was following
a minor altercation between two attendees, after which
the Stupid White Man in the altercation declared that
he was going to “press charges” since he had been shoved.
At that moment, I was embarrassed that I was white--I
was kind of hoping that everyone would think I was an
albino brown guy.
Upon
first arriving, I perused the gallery, taking in the
wide range of artistic interpretations of the South
Asian experience. I was immediately drawn to an
acrylic painting titled Lullu, by Chiraag Bhakta.
The subject of the painting was the left half of the
head and torso of a fatigued farmer. Influenced
as much by classical impressionism as by animation,
the painting had a surreal feel to it. As I read
the caption that accompanied the piece, I realized that
“his exhausted eyes” were what captured my attention
the most. I tried to take in as much detail as
I could, but I repeatedly found myself captured by his
gaze. Looking into his eyes made me feel tired,
as if the fatigue felt by that farmer was transferred
to me through our eye contact.
Thankfully
for any other weary souls at Artwallah, there were plenty
of food and drink options to provide rejuvenation.
Plus, as if perfectly timed to arouse those feeling
ready for a mid-afternoon nap, the beats were dropped
as the hip-hop group Karmacy took the stage. Comprised
of four young South Asian Americans, Karmacy takes a
multicultural approach to their music, blending hip-hop
beats with bhangra--not to mention that they also rap
in five different languages.
Being
that this wasn't their first appearance at an Artwallah
festival, Karmacy was well-known and well received by
the crowd. It seemed like half the people in the
audience were singing right along with Sammy Chand,
Swap, Nimo and KB. They pumped out an energetic
set, earning one of the top spots among my favorite
parts of Artwallah. Learn more about the band
at www.karmacy.com.
A review of their new album, The Movement,
will be featured in the next few weeks.
After
the Karmacy performance, there was some down time before
the main event began. As my friend and I climbed down
the stairs of the Barnsdall Gallery Theater and waited
for admission to The Evening Show, Karmacy artist and
producer Sammy Chand passed us. I took the opportunity
to tell him that I enjoyed their set that day. He thanked
me and headed into the theater early, while my friend
and I continued to wait for the doors to open to the
public.
As
I learned later, Sammy wasn't admitted early because
he is a celebrity of sorts in this crowd, which is what
I had suspected. Instead, throughout the show, he could
be seen between acts clearing the stage and setting
up for the next act! At first, I thought it was great
that someone of his talent would be willing to do some
of the grunt work involved with the show. But then a
thought was triggered in the back of my head that made
me very angry.
I
was not angry because this man, who in all likelihood
will be famous outside the South Asian community someday,
was running around as a volunteer, making sure that
the show went off without a hitch. No, what made me
angry was a conversation that I remembered overhearing that afternoon.
Two friends (one male and one female) were talking to
talking to a third person. The female friend said to
the third person, “No, I didn’t buy the Karmacy CD,
but he did, and he’s going to burn me a copy.”
Now,
I know that people pirate music all the time.
When a CD costs $18.99 and you know that the artist
will only get pennies from the sale, it's hard to justify
spending that kind of cash. But this was not the
case here. The CD only cost $10, and it's produced
by one of the singers in the band. I’m guessing
that about 90% of the revenue goes directly to the band.
And yet here was this South Asian woman--she wouldn’t
even fork over the $10 for the CD. Plus, I think
she only attended the free events during the afternoon
and didn’t cough up the $24 for The Evening Show.
It made me angry to see Sammy Chand putting his heart
and soul into this event, only to have his art stolen
from him.
THE
EVENING SHOW
Overall,
I really enjoyed The Evening Show. I could go
into detail about each of the acts, because even the
ones that were not among my favorites presented something
unique and enjoyable. Instead, I’ll give you my
Top Five favorite acts from Artwallah 2004.
5.
“Uncleji” by Riksha. Riksha, a South Asian band
from Ontario (Canada), describes their music as “hip
popping rock.” Although they did not seem to be
well received by the audience, I enjoyed their set,
especially the comedic song “Uncleji.” This track
served as an inside joke for South Asians, depicting
the not uncommon behavior of men in their 40’s and 50’s
at South Asian weddings. Coming from a family
who celebrates its Irish heritage only through drink,
I could relate to some of the embarrassing antics of
the inebriated “Uncleji.” Ironically, the suffix
“-ji” is a used as a sign of respect when addressing
an elder.
4.
“Today I Dismantled My Gods” by Shaija Patel.
This theatrical monologue transports the audience to
2001, to the time of the Gujarat massacre. Patel’s
performance was quite moving, as she reflected on this
example of modern-day genocide. It reminded me
of the fact that the West is largely unconcerned with
what happens in India, and it made me wonder why the
country with the world's second-largest population flies
under the radar in the States. Are we only concerned
with countries whose leaders can be labeled as "Evil
Dictators?”
3.
Mrs. Gupta Visits the Gynecologist by Reena
Sharma. I hate to include this as the only literature
reading I mention in my review, because all four pieces
were remarkable. Each piece focused on a theme
common to all humanity--sexuality--and used it as a
vehicle to illustrate differences between South Asian
and Western cultures. In this piece, Mrs. Gupta,
a fifty-year-old widow, makes her first trip to a “doctor
who specializes in a woman’s private parts.” Surely
much of her experience is common to all women and some
of it would be the same for any woman who was making
her first trip at age 50, but Sharma subtly addresses
the issue of sexual taboo and how it differs among these
cultures.
2.
“Bovinatrix,” performed by Mita Ghosal. This dance
piece is narrated by a young South Asian woman living
in New York. One day, she finds Bovinatrix, a
young sacred cow from Kolkata who has come to the States
to start a revolution. She discovers that her
mission is to liberate the cows of America, which she
presents through narration, music, and dance.
By the end of the piece, the narrator realizes that
she has done little more than assimilate into Western
culture since immigrating to the States. It was
a funny and entertaining, yet poignant work that made
the argument that, at the very least, one should balance
her efforts to succeed in the Western world with an
appreciation and respect for her own culture.
1.
Holly-Bolly, directed by Dishan Husain.
This winner of Best Short at the Los Angeles Indian
Film Festival depicts two young British filmmakers (one
South Asian and one Black) trying to make it to the
top without sacrificing artistic integrity. After
failing to get funding for the film they want to make,
our protagonists resign to make the only film for which
they can get funding, a cross between British gangster
flick and Indian Bollywood. The rest of the short
takes the audience through a series of hilarious edits
of one scene in this fictitious film. After experimenting
with different ethnicities in the various roles, and
finishing it off with a big bhangra song and dance,
the young filmmakers achieve enough success and notoriety
to write their own ticket for their next film.
It reminds me of two seemingly inseparable American
actors who, for a while, alternated between making money
in big Hollywood productions and acting in Kevin Smith
films.
Planning
for Artwallah 2005 will begin soon. For more information
about this organization or how to get involved, check
them out at www.artwallah.org.
Oliver
Butterick can be reached at oliver@babblog.com.
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