THE RAJASTHAN International Folk Festival (RIFF) has pioneered a unique approach to recognition and livelihood generation. Without the trappings of commerce or marketing gimmicks, the festival, which entered into its seventh edition this year, has been generating new opportunities for the large number of Indian musicians who have been bestowed with inherited skills and traditional knowledge, but who have had no exposure outside their native places so far.
?The event is already taking artistes, previously unheard of, across the country and other parts of the world. That is something we want to build up on. We?ve recently signed an MoU with the authorities in Glasgow, Scotland, for more cultural exchanges and interactions. We want to create awareness across the country and among performing artistes as well. We are very happy with the feedback so far,? says Gaj Singh II, the erstwhile maharaja of Jodhpur who, along with Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones, is the chief patron of Jodhpur RIFF.
For RIFF, this was the seventh show in eight years?the 2008 edition was called off at the last minute owing to a stampede at the Chamunda Devi temple within the fort premises that killed over 200 people. The tragedy happened just 10 days prior to the commencement of the festival. To date, over 1,400 Rajasthani artistes have been presented at RIFF. This year?s number stood at 300.
The annual pilgrimage for folk lovers, which took place between October 8 and 12 this year at the majestic over-500-year-old Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, rolled out the red carpet to a stellar line-up of artistes that ranged from a flamenco interlude by Damian Wright to African soul by Malick Pathe Sow and Bao Sissoko.
As for the local artistes, the festival has helped them and their collaborations to be invited to perform at prestigious events such as the Edinburgh International Festival (Edinburgh, 2011), Paramasala (Sydney, 2012), Celtic Connections Showcase Scotland (Glasgow, 2014), Ford Festival (Norway, 2014) and Commonwealth Games (Glasgow, 2014), among others. A tour to Australia is on the agenda early next year.
But its biggest impact has been on the economy. ?Earlier, I used to roam around aimlessly for a livelihood, but now I am busy throughout the year with some performance or the other,? says an artist from the Manganiyar community at an interactive session with the audience at Chokelao Bagh inside the Mehrangarh Fort complex. ?Their passports have become thick. They have been travelling to the strangest parts of the world. But when they come back, they don?t lose their humility,? adds Divya Bhatia, director of RIFF and the brain behind the whole concept.
These events have led to a rise in their incomes too. ?Ten years ago, we would hardly get a few hundred rupees for a performance. Today, we are paid as much as R21,000 for an evening,? says Bhanwari Devi, a folk singer of the Bhopa-Bhopi community of Bundelkhand who sings traditional folk songs of Rajasthan. This was her fourth performance at the RIFF this year.
Bhatia, however, would like to talk about the ethos, rather than the economy, of the festival. ?What is ethos? If you?re organising a show, you need money because you have to pay for so many things; there is nothing wrong with that. But when it comes to ethos, you have to keep a few things in mind. The people who would want their offerings on hoardings?if that?s what they believe in?should come and understand the ethos of the festival. If they are going to equate sponsorships with hoardings and branding, then there is no dialogue here,? explains the Mumbai-based Bhatia, who has shaped notable city-based and venue-based festivals like those organised at Prithvi Theatre, the National Centre for the Performing Arts and Kala Ghoda in Mumbai.
RIFF is a not-for-profit partnership project involving two of India?s leading heritage trusts, the Mehrangarh Museum Trust (MMT) and the Jaipur Virasat Foundation (JVF). ?The two trusts absorb most of the costs. While MMT absorbs more, JVF absorbs all of the research that we do in Rajasthan. MMT gives a sum of money, which varies from year to year. Its base commitment is about 15%. But it also supports the cash shortfall, apart from the space, that is, the fort, for which the festival is not charged anything,? says Bhatia.
On the other hand, RIFF has partners in the form of hotels that host all the national, international and regional artistes. ?That?s the place where we don?t exchange cash. It?s a collateral support. Then we have support from various cultural houses and embassies, and I?m not talking specifically about this particular festival, but in general, which cover some costs. We also get support from some governments for their artistes which cover flight tickets and visas,? explains Bhatia.
So we have a collateral component, which we don?t have problems getting, says Bhatia. ?As for the cash, we try to get cash partners. But our approach is, we don?t want ?big? money to come in because big money would require big things to happen, which won?t really fit in with the aesthetic of the festival. We would rather have smaller partners, so that no one person is expecting anything extra, but we are able to meet our costs. About 50-60% of our expenses are covered through this channel,? he says, adding, ?So, it?s like a lot of relationships working together to make this happen.?