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  • “Gauri Dancers” – First Gavari art book published

    “Gauri Dancers” – First Gavari art book published

    Portraits of performers shot by Waswo at his studio in Varda, on the outskirts of Udaipur. (Photographs courtesy: Waswo X Waswo (with Rajesh Soni)/Mapin Publishing)
    Portraits of performers shot by Waswo at his studio in Varda, on the outskirts of Udaipur.  
    (Photographs courtesy: Waswo X Waswo (with Rajesh Soni)

    Gauri: The enigmatic opera

    Sourced from Livemint.com

    • A new book by Waswo X. Waswo, published by Mapin, documents the little-known world of Gauri performers
    • The only English-language book on the style, it features portraits of performers, mostly farmers by profession, who transform into actors for 40 days

    There is an element of the fantastical in the book Gauri Dancers by artist Waswo X. Waswo. One can see photographs of young men, often cross-dressed and with make-up, posing against elaborately painted sets, some featuring the local flora, others the majestic forts of Mewar. It???s not every day that one comes across material on Gauri performers. This unique performance style, practised in the interiors of southern Rajasthan, has been largely undocumented. The little written on it is academic, in Hindi or another Indian language.

    In fact, Gauri Dancers, launched on 8 September in Udaipur by Mapin Publishing, is the only English-language book on the style, also known as Gavri or Gavari. It features portraits of performers, mostly farmers by profession, who transform into actors for 40 days just after Raksha Bandhan. There is a certain theatrical touch to the photographs, with the performers having been whisked away from the traditional setting of village squares and town roundabouts, and plonked in the middle of Waswo???s studio in the village of Varda, on the outskirts of Udaipur. There, dressed in their elaborate attire, against vibrant backdrops, they seem to act out a performance of another kind.

    ???Does Waswo???s bringing of the chaos of Gavri into a studio setting, with its shift from the kinetic to the formally posed, give nod to his own devious intervention? And what of the backdrop paintings and Rajesh Soni???s hand-colouring, that further highlight the idiosyncrasies of the scenes unfolding?” writes Pramod Kumar K.G., co-founder, Eka Archiving Services, in the preface to the book. He says the sense of unreal posturing and impermanence captured by the photographs of Waswo and the colouring by Rajesh are a befitting filter.

    Waswo X. Waswo
    Waswo X. Waswo

    Till three years ago, Waswo, a US-born and Udaipur-based artist, had only seen Gauri performed in villages. Not many from outside southern Rajasthan were even aware of the style. ???It was in 2010 that I made my first photo of a Gauri dancer as part of my regular Studio In Rajasthan series, for which we had been photographing different kind of people from the Udaipur area,” says Waswo on the phone. He is showing some of the photographs from the book at the City Palace, Udaipur, till 22 September. A year after the first photograph was taken, the artist came across a man on the streets of Udaipur selling papier-m??ch?? masks worn by Gauri dancers. An illustrated short story on this interaction has found its way into the book too.

    ???So, I looked at the photos taken earlier and realized this could be a book,” he says.

    It was about the same time, around three years ago, that the state government and some non-governmental organizations started promoting Gauri as a tourist event. In doing so, they shrunk a days-long performance into an hour-long event. ???I became worried that Gauri might get corrupted, much like Kathakali got condensed into a small packaged thing. The original tradition might fade away soon,” says Waswo. So he started photographing Gauri dancers. But he did so in his trademark studio portraiture style, shot like a miniature painting and hand-coloured by Rajesh. ???Instead of shooting a live performance, I wanted to focus on the characters and the people,” he says.

    There are many conflicting stories about the origin of the style, even its name is up for dispute. ???In the village, the performers call it Gauri, some say Gavri, academics tend to call it Gavari. The intention of the book is to open up the conversation???this is what we know, this is the information we have access to, and more. So we hope the book will act as a springboard for further investigations on the style,” says Waswo.

    According to Sonika Soni, a Pune-based art historian who grew up watching Gauri performances and has written an essay in the book, the style is practised by the men of three nomadic tribes???Bhils, Gametis and Meenas. ???For 40 days, these performers fast, eating only once a day, enacting stories about Shiva, Bhasmasur, Mohini and Parvati, and believing that through some divine intervention they are connected with God for that period,” says Sonika. The two leading female characters, called rais, are always Parvati and Mohini; the husband is called rai budhiya. ???He is the only character who gets to wear a mask, the design of which is specific to each community from the region,” she says.

    These masks are kept in the temples of the kul devi (family goddess) and taken out only for the performance. The rai budhiya is a free-flowing character, defying the few rules that bind the performance. ???If the rest are dancing in a circular motion, he will go anti-clockwise. Also, since his basic identity is hidden behind a mask, he gets to play the evil character as well as Shiva,” says Sonika.

    The oral tradition has been passed down generations. The children in the community are entrusted with filler roles, and learn from watching the elders perform. The dialogue is often impromptu, peppered with jokes about politics or current issues.

    Though there are other performing styles, such as Bihar???s natua naach, which are performed only by the men of a community, Gauri is perhaps the only dance about which so little is known. ???It is tribe-based, practised in the interiors. Moreover, it is performed only out of devotion and not commercially. They don???t charge a single rupee,” says Sonika.

    Waswo was initially hesitant about the book, concerned that calling attention to Gauri could lead to intervention in a style that is so natural.

    ???These boys work in villages. But then (the time for) Gauri comes and they are putting on saris and make-up and taking on the roles of women???they really get into the spirit of things. They are not professional actors by any means. I was afraid of changing all that. So part of what we wanted to do in the book is to keep it a little mysterious,” says Waswo, who is looking forward to the Delhi and Ahmedabad launch events.

    Children usually get filler roles in Gauri performances.
    Children usually get filler roles in Gauri performances. (Photographs courtesy: Waswo X Waswo (with Rajesh Soni) 

    Traditional colourist Rajesh Soni
    Traditional colourist Rajesh Soni

    Get you own copy from Mapin Publishing here

     

  • Powerful new Gavari intro film launched internationally

    Powerful new Gavari intro film launched internationally

    Stephen Kries is a gifted German photographer and documentarian on a mission to unveil, celebrate and preserve extraordinary indigenous cultures. The RGP team invited him to Udaipur during the 2018 Gavari season and the festival instantly enchanted him. During his brief visit he captured Gavari’s essential magic and now plans to return and create a full length documentary.

    Stephan formally released his remarkable initial effort on March 13th and we urge you to experience it via the links below and share it widely.

    “This short film serves as an introduction to the Gavari festival in India. Gavari has been celebrated for at least the last five centuries by the Mewari Bhil tribe ??? who are among India???s oldest inhabitants and settled in Rajasthan well before the Aryans arrival. It is a unique spectacle of art, trance and ecstasy unlike any other in the modern world…”

  • New English-Hindi edition of Gavari introduction launched

    New English-Hindi edition of Gavari introduction launched

     

                                                                                     New Gavari book launch at MLSU

    The Rediscovering Gavari Project’s (RGP) team’s new bilingual Gavari introduction was launched by Rajasthan Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Singh  Bamniya, local MLAs and other dignitaries at Mohanlal Sukhadia University on February 17, 2019. The launch took place during the Mewar-Vagad-Malva Janjatiya Vikas Sansthan’s tribal award event, which is annually staged to celebrate outstanding achievements by and for the region’s indigenous population and was attended by more than 2000 adivasi citizens.

    The RGP team published the initial English edition of “Gavari – Mewar???s electrifying tribal dance-drama: An Illustrated Introduction” in 2014. It was the first foreign language introduction to this spectacular tradition and sparked local demand for a vernacular version for interested Hindi speakers.  

    Bilingual Gavari intro

    The bilingual edition will soon also be available on Amazon and at local ethnic book dealers. Impatient readers may order directly from the author here.

  • Press coverage of MLSU Gavari Symposium

    Press coverage of MLSU Gavari Symposium

    Udaipur Shines for Culture | World???s first interdisciplinary Gavari seminar held at MLSU

    MLSU???s College of Social Sciences & Humanities hosted an unprecedented Gavari symposium featuring a broad array of Gavari authorities & enthusiasts and MLSU VC J.P. Sharma to inaugurate their new academic assembly hall on October 6th.

    Aditi Mehta and MLSU VC JP Sharma Inaugurate the Symposium

    Gavari is the Mewari Bhil peoples??? annual 40-day sacred festival that celebrates their supreme goddess of Nature and presents the Bhils??? myths, history and tribal lore in day-long theatrical performances.

    All rise as keynote speaker IAS Aditi Mehta & MLSU VC Sharma enter the assembly hall

    The symposium was organized by Udaipur???s Rediscovering Gavari Project (RGP) to examine Gavari as a theatrical microcosm of tribal artistry and indigenous values from eco-spirituality & female empowerment to egalitarian politics & environmental defence.


    Eminent Gavari scholar & IAS veteran Aditi Mehta presented the keynote address on Gavari, Goddess Spirituality & Women???s Empowerment and also spoke on Gavari???s unique status as a trance-empowered classic and contemporary theatrical form.

     

    Renowned playwright and director Sri Bhanu Bharti then thanked MLSU for finally bringing Gavari into academic focus and expanded on Mehta???s observation with his insights into Gavari???s Lessons for the Creative Performing Arts.

    Multifaceted art trailblazer Dr. Shail Choyal, who filmed the first ever Gavari documentary with Sri Bharti back in the Eighties, then closed the session with his perceptive views on Gavari as Sacred, Social & Political Theatre.

    MLSU Art Student Display of Gavari Imagery

    The midpoint chai break featured a vivid Gavari photo exhibition by the MLSU media art students who are also distributing the imagery to their painting & sculpture colleagues to inspire further creations.

    The animated roundtable on Gavari???s history, values & vulnerabilities

    Session II was conducted as a roundtable panel with MLSU History HOD, Dr. Prathiba discussing Gavari in the context of Mewar cultural history; installation art innovator Dr. Basant Kashyap recalling Gavari???s power as his first artistic catalyst; Rajputana Natural History Society???s Dr. Satya Prakash Mehra addressing Gavari???s contributions to environmental ethics & consciousness; author/film maker Sri Harish Agneya recounting the crying need for more Gavari documentation; West India UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage correspondent, Sri Lokesh Paliwal explaining Gavari???s key role as a Mewari ICH treasure; and RGP publicist W. David Kubiak describing the global resonance of Gavari???s eco-spirituality and anti-hierarchical values.

    Gavari???s first academic audience with many history, art & psychology students sitting in

    VC Sharma admitted he had previously known very little about Gavari, but now found its implications fascinating and offered support for further Gavari studies and activities.

    Rediscovering Gavari 2018 is part of an ongoing collegial promotion effort led by Udaipur???s District Administration, TAD, RTD, TRI, RTO and the core RGP team. The organizers expressed their sincere gratitude to UCSSH Profs Trikha, Bhanvidya, Deivedi & Kothari for facilitating the event and Hindustan Zinc for cosponsoring it. An edited compilation of symposium presentations will be published later in the fall on RGP???s official website http://www.gavari.info

  • The MLSU Rediscovering Gavari Symposium

    The MLSU Rediscovering Gavari Symposium

    On Saturday, Oct 6th from 1:00 to 6:00 pm, Mohanlal Sukhadia University’s College of Social Science & Humanities & RGP 2018 will host the world’s first interdisciplinary seminar on Gavari culture.

    MLSU Gavari Symposium Announcement

    This unprecedented event will feature a broad array of authoritative (and entertaining!) voices as well as original Gavari photography & mixed media creations from senior students at the UCSSH Art Department. 


    MISSION & OBJECTIVES
    Examine Gavari as a theatrical microcosm of tribal artistry and indigenous values from

    eco-spirituality & female empowerment to egalitarian politics & environmental defense.


    Everyone interested in any of these topics and/or cultural history, creative 
     artistry, tribal sociology, oral traditions, human rights, local autonomy, 
    ICH, sustainable development, etc.  is welcome to attend.


    SCHEDULE
    1:00 ??? 1:15  ??? Inaugural Welcome Session ??? MLSU Humanities Faculty representatives

    1:15 ??? 2:45 ??? Session I (20 min presentations)

    • Gavari, Goddess Spirituality & Women???s Empowerment ??? Aditi Ghosh Mehta, IAS (Retd)
      – previous posts: Ajmer Collector; Raj adt Chief Secretary for social justice & empowerment; Director, WZCC
    • Gavari???s Lessons for Creative Performing Arts ??? Sri Bhanu Bharti
      – award winning playwright, director and dramaturgical innovator
    • Gavari as a Sacred, Social and Political Ritual ??? Dr. Shail Choyal
      – internationally acclaimed painter, former Director, MLSU Art Dept, CEO, P.N. Choyal Memorial Trust
    • Gavari, Adivasi Values and Ecological Spirituality ??? Dr. Velaram Ghogra
      ??? ex-CEO, Indian Confederation of Indigenous & Tribal Peoples; former Adivasi rep to the UN Human Rights Commission, Geneva

    2:45 ??? 3:15 ??? Tea Break & Viewing of MLSU UCSSH art students??? Gavari-related creations

    3:15 ??? 5:45 ???Session II (20 min presentations)

    • Gavari and Mewar Cultural History ??? Dr. Pratibha
      – eminent cultural historian & author; Director, MLSU History Dept
    • Gavari as an Artistic Inspiration ??? Dr. Basant Kashyap
      – celebrated installation art innovator, former HOD of Painting at Meera Girls College
    • Gavari and Environmental Consciousness ??? Sri Shyam Sundar Paliwal
      – initiator of the famed Piplantri project; aka the “Father of Eco-feminism“, Mbr Rajasthan Wildlife Board & Panchayat Raj Parishad
    • Gavari and Ecological Ethics ??? Dr. Satya Prakash Mehra
      – eco-defense lawyer, founder/advisor, Rajputana Society of Natural History; CEO, Shri Vardhman Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Ajmer
    • Gavari and the Imagination of Tribal Youth ??? Sri Jagdish Gameti & Sri Amit Gameti
      – co-founded the Gavari Drama Group & have taken Gavari artistry all across India including to the National School of Drama

    Short Segments (10 min presentations)

    • Gavari Documentation ??? Sri Harish Agneya, CEO, Tuneer Films, Gavari author & videographer
    • Gavari and Intangible Cultural Heritage ??? Sri Lokesh Paliwal, UNESCO West India ICH correspondent
    • Gavari???s Implications for Localization & Globalization ??? Mr. W. David Kubiak, RGP researcher/publicist

    5:50 to 6:00 ??? Closing ceremony ??? MLSU representatives

  • Rediscovering Gavari in the Schools: MMPS opening

    Rediscovering Gavari in the Schools: MMPS opening

    One of the biggest threats to Gavari’s future is its waning support among “educated” Bhil youth who rarely see any reflection of their culture or respect for their traditions in the local schools.

    The Rediscovering Gavari Project has thus been hoping to introduce Gavari’s inspiring artistry and messages via Udaipur flagship schools to awaken local students & faculty to this rich heritage treasure and the global relevance of its eco-reverent and egalitarian values.

    The RGP team therefore requested some of Udaipur’s top schools to let them meet their students and learn what they knew about Gavari so they could design effective school introductions. Quite appropriately given its namesake’s tribal history,  Maharana Mewar Public School was the first institution to sign on to help create a student friendly Gavari presentation.

    MMPS invited the team to come on October 1st and despite the examination season commotion, nearly a hundred students showed up, many from the INTACH and Interact Clubs and  MMPS’ extraordinary Art Department. Principal Datta generously introduced the team and explained their hopeful mission. RGP researcher/publicist David Kubiak led off with the Mewar seal below and some dramatic Gavari imagery and asked the children what they knew about Mewari Bhil history and the Gavari ritual in particular. They answered that only about 15% of them had ever experienced Gavari personally and even they were pretty unclear what the tradition was about.

    The test presentation began with a brief visual reminder of the historic mutual respect between Bhil and Rajput leaders as equal protectors of Mewar’s independence and the health of its beautiful lands – a responsibility the Bhils continue to recall and honour in many Gavari plays.

    Mewar Official Seal
    Official Seal of Mewar showing equal status of Bhil & Rajput leaders

     

    Lokesh Paliwal explaining Gavari's ICH value for all Mewar
    Lokesh Paliwal explaining Gavari’s ICH value for all Mewar
    . Harish Agneya describing the rich meaning of Gavari dramasHarish Agneya describing the rich meaning of Gavari dramas

    UNESCO ICH correspondent, Lokesh Paliwal then explained the concept of Intangible Cultural Heritage and why Gavari was an incredible ICH treasure for both the local Bhil villagers and all the people of Mewar.

    RGP documentarian Harish Agneya then described some of Gavari’s most well known dance dramas and showed how & why these vivid live performances are a lot more exciting and informative than the Bollywood shows on TV.

    The students responded warmly and the speakers sincerely thanked the young audience & MMPS for helping them finally launch the Rediscovering Gavari School Program and showing them how to improve it in many important ways.

    The next RGP School Program is currently scheduled to be held at Delhi Public School – Udaipur on October 12th.

  • Village Gavari: Bandaria hosts Barenga troupe

    Village Gavari: Bandaria hosts Barenga troupe

    To really experience Gavari’s poetry and power you have to go to the villages where the spiritual connection to the land is visible & visceral and the performance energy is profound.

    [Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”19″ gal_title=”Village Gavari: Banadia hosts Barenga troupe”]

  • Guiding for Gavari workshop II  Sept 17 Coverage

    Guiding for Gavari workshop II Sept 17 Coverage

    “Guiding for Gavari” workshop II : Broadcast News Coverage

    Channel 6 Lake City News – September 17, 2018https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIw5kVaA7SA Channel 91 News – September 17, 2018

    Part II of the “Guiding for Gavari” workshop  was organized by the Rediscovering Gavari Project team and sponsored by the Rajasthan Tourist Department to bring global recognition to the Mewari Bhils’ Gavari tradition and promote Mewar tourism. Fifty of Udaipur’s top guides were called together and  eminent local experts & practitioners described Gavari’s extraordinary spiritual practices, theatrical themes and cultural significance so the guides could better understand this unique indigenous theatrical ritual and accurately explain it to visitors.

    GFG-I-Patrika coverage

    Primary speakers at the workshop in order of appearance were Sumita Saroch, Director of  RTD Udaipur, the workshop sponsor; Jagdish Gameti, co-founder of the Gavari Drama group; core RGP team members Lokesh Paliwal & Harish Agneya; Bhil leader, Dr. Velaram Ghogra, former president of the Indian Confederation of Indigenous & Tribal Peoples; famed Udaipur artist Dr. Basant Kashyap; West Zone Culture Centre Director Furqan Khan; and RTO Director Dr. Mannalal Rawat.

    The Rediscovering Gavari  Project is an ongoing education/promotion effort supported by successive Udaipur District Collectors to bring deserved attention to the Intangible Cultural Heritage miracle of Gavari, the Mewari Bhils’ ancient sacred theater tradition. 

     

     

     

  • Guiding for Gavari – press & opening session reportback

    Guiding for Gavari – press & opening session reportback

    PRESS COVERAGE

    REPORT

    Thanks to support from the District Administration, RTD, TRI, UAVDA and many other players, the initial ???Guiding for Gavari??? workshop today began the series quite auspiciously. In the inaugural session Udaipur RTD director Sumita Saroch addressed nearly 40 veteran guides and eloquently welcomed their interest and enthusiastic participation in such tribal-focused programs.

    Harish Agneya introduces Gavari plays
    Harish Agneya introduces Gavari plays & how to identify them in the field

    The first session, conducted by Gavari documentarian Harish Agneya, described the basic structure of Gavari; and he showed brief representative clips from various Gavari dramas & skits to acquaint the guides with their basic characters, themes and stories.

    UNESCO cultural correspondent Lokesh Paliwal then spoke about Gavari???s extraordinary importance as an Intangible Cultural Heritage treasure and the major role it can play in improving Bhil tribal welfare and their socioeconomic development. In the session???s second half Ms. Kiran Jain emphasized Gavari???s spiritual & ritualistic aspects and urged the audience to explore and help preserve the tradition???s deep wisdom.

    In the second session RGP publicist W. David Kubiak noted Gavari???s great potential to enliven Mewar as a sacred theatrical center in the beautiful but overlooked September season. He focused on Gavari???s globally resonant calls for women empowerment, human equality and environmental protection that Mewari Bhils not only preach, but also practice in their communities. He closed with a plea to Udaipur???s guide corps to recognize modern society???s obvious need for this threefold wisdom and help their guests understand its indigenous roots and contemporary relevance.

    RTO director Dr. Mannalal Rawat ended the workshop with vivid examples of Gavari???s remarkable contributions to inter-communal social cohesion and how the egalitarian values it dramatizes can help restrain social conflicts arising from misconceptions or cynical political machinations. He therefore asked the audience to deeply respect Gavari not just as an enlightened tribal phenomenon, but as a true national treasure that expresses the best instincts of Indian culture. Although Mewar???s Bhils now embody these values most dramatically, he reminded the guides that this indigenous legacy now belongs to all Mewar and the nation as a whole; and he advised them to accurately and gratefully present tribal culture to their tourist clients as a vital inspiring part of India???s history and heritage.

    The guide community???s appreciation of the event can be gauged by their warm reviews and the many suggestions they submitted ??? e.g., to celebrate Gavari with reverent annual festivals, to protect its sacred nature with a tour operator Code of Conduct, to help it achieve deserved respect with national & global Intangible Cultural Heritage recognition, etc.

    TRI will again host the next Guiding for Gavari workshop at 11:00 AM, September 17th, this time sponsored by RTD and featuring distinguished Adivasi voices.

     

    MORE PRESS

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    – Submitted with  gratitude by the RGP team


    Guiding for Gavari is a local community awareness initiative conceived and organized by the Rediscovering Gavari Project (RGP) team. All sessions are free and open to Mewar’s tourism professionals, but require an RSVP .

  • RG 2018 in the Local News

    RG 2018 in the Local News

    Upbeat 1st News Hindi coverage of RG 2018 featuring players, audience members and RG Collectorate organizer RTO director Manna Lal Rawat explaining the project’s objectives and importance, including the district administration’s hopes to establish Gavari season in Mewar as a destination tourism brand.