Give them what’s due
 Interviewing
Lakshman Joseph de Saram for ‘Encounter of the Week’ of this supplement,
he shared some interesting points off the record. Today’s Injured Petal
is focused on one such point.
Almost every artiste in Vatican works with the church. They are
receiving much reverence mainly because of it. They travel in limousine.
People long to see them. In essence these artistes resemble the royalty.
Quite in contrast, Sri Lankan artistes who work with the temple
struggle. They are poor. Not that the artistes who work with the local
church are rich. But the temple symbolizes the country’s majority
religion, and the Vatican picture is not mirrored in Lanka. Our artistes
do not travel in limousine. They bank on kindness of their patrons.
 Who are these artistes? They represent the indigenous or traditional
art of our country. Why are they poor? Because of attitude in the first
place, I guess.
It all starts with ‘kidding’ - I see another meaning in the word -
which is bringing up kids. They are encouraged to become doctors and
engineers. Now it's superb to become a doctor, a profession which is
noble as well as posh. And people become artistes when everything else
fails. First they try to be a doctor or an engineer.
Next they try to be an accountant, and then a lawyer as a last
resort. When you think along this rhythm, I cannot blame you. This is
because artistes cannot afford to be well off. Well, some artistes in
our country are well off. They know how to earn their living while the
sun shines.
Luck comes to some indigenous artistes – but very little – who earn a
handsome living by art, thanks to booming tourist interest in the
subject. These indigenous artistes, especially the drummers and dancers,
cannot survive if not for foreigners.
The foreign currency has given them a good living standard. We have a
diplomatic – decent, rather - phrase to identify this paradox:
‘international recognition’.
So those who are fond of questioning can have an entertaining one: do
we really have to bank on tourists? Our country is a tourist hotspot,
someone may argue. But those in Vatican don’t have to go for
international recognition. They have earned reputation from their own
people.
How do we recognize our indigenous artiste? Someone who chews betel
and spits out everywhere? Someone whose robes have turned off white
because of sweat? The robes, you can see, badly need laundry. We just
pay some amount and get their services, and that’s it.
But the indigenous artiste I have read in the books is someone who is
quite rich in discipline, hence virtues. They do not live by the
profession. Then, there were times I wondered, how would they make their
living? But they had been financially strong too.
The world is modern, and they are indigenous. So there is a contrast.
A contrast means there is a competition they have to face. Their needs
must be simple, but their offspring have to, willingly or unwillingly,
survive. Sometimes it’s just keeping up with the Joneses, but they have
to do it. The indigenous artiste may not like a mobile phone, but his
grown up child may fancy an android.
The children of these indigenous artistes are usually brainy. Of
course the skills have to run in the family. They are smart enough not
to take after parents. They become highly qualified in posh professions
such as doctor and engineer, and make indigenous arts their pastime.
De Saram admitted himself not to be rooted in indigenous arts. A
student of Master Khemadasa who fused western music with indigenous
music, Saram said he is still fond of indigenous arts though he cannot
go for that. It will be running a risk for someone like Saram. Because,
then he will be back in square one: poverty.
The government has not set up any institute for artistes to make sure
they get paid. If any other country has done something similar, I do not
know. May be it is not an institution, but at least something to
recognize these indigenous artistes, we got to have a collective effort.
Sri Lanka is not short of artistes who live a luxurious life. The
mainstream artistes have a prominent place, sometimes more than enough.
Some artistes are metaphorically business magnates – only difference is
that they can easily dodge income tax. These artistes – despite their
skill and reputation - are not completely indigenous.
Vatican is a developed country with a rich culture. Sri Lanka is also
a culturally rich culture. So de Saram’s question is clear. If Vatican
can hold their indigenous artistes in high esteem, why cannot we?
|
