New Arts Spaces: The Panchatatwa of Reimagining Experiences

One could use the Panchatatwa litmus test to see whether a space is truly reimagining its vision, purpose and role in the arts and culture ecology of a city, or simply re-establishing the same old structures of power and control

We seek the ‘new’ in our lives for many reasons. Sometimes the ‘old’ needs to change because it has been oppressive and discriminatory. Its systems have privileged a few over others, and left gaps and erasures that must be addressed. Sometimes the old just ends serving its purpose and must be laid to rest. Some other times the old cannot respond to the questions and challenges thrown at it by the present and must make way for the new who can attempt to engage. So the new comes either as a rupture from the old and in opposition to it, or it pays its due to its ancestor while charting its own path. But ever so often this urge for the new springs out of our deep desire, our excruciating need to feel alive, be born again.

For all these reasons and more, in the world of arts spaces too, I have noticed that in the past decade and a half, many new visions and approaches have started to redefine, alter and shift our experiences and witness of art. Studying the work of these physical, virtual and temporal spaces across cities - their reasons for being, curatorial positions, public programmes, and relationships with the location they inhabit - I have found five distinctive elements – Panchatatwa if you may - that most of them embody.

Firstly they all address silences that have been created due to systemic injustices and marginatalisations that manifest through the privileges of caste, class, gender, sexuality, religion etc. For example Re-cognising Dance attempts to create a space online for dialogues on the Bharatnatyam and other dance forms bringing in diverse and radical voices that not only critique and counter positions of convention, but also enable listening across scholarships and practices. Similarly, Chander Haat, a collective artistic space in Sursana near Kolkata regularly brings artists and scholars together with homemakers, farmers, craftspeople and cooks to build dialogues between practices, questioning what constitutes ‘artistic’, and building understanding and solidarity among diverse practitioners.

Conflictorium, a physical space in Ahmedabad which attempts to understand conflict through artistic and cultural engagements best illustrates the second element – ability to take risks and experiment in content, form and ways of engagement. From exhibitions on Kashmir to programmes that question dynamics of power and censorship, from the Memory Lab of empty jars waiting for people to drop things that are associated with their memories to the Conflict Timeline that attempt to trace Gujarat’s violent history, this space has risked thoughtful and innovative connections with its public.

Thirdly, most of these spaces host diverse and unpredictable audiences – folks who you would not usually find at art galleries or museums. Through accessibility of infrastructure, comfort of familiar language, and welcoming, non-intimidating set-ups these spaces are exercises in inclusivity. At Studio Tamasha, an intimate and malleable space for theatre, music and dance in Mumbai, one meets software programmers and homemakers, artists and students, small business people and public sector officers experiencing performances and later engaging in conversations.

At 1Shanthiroad in Bangalore, a space for residencies, exhibitions, performances and workshops, artists often cook, eat, and live together. It is open, caring, and a significant sanctuary in the support network available for them in the city. This is another element of many of these spaces – they are embedded in the community and stand as resource and anchor for struggling practitioners.

And finally almost all of these spaces are driven by practitioners. Mahalakshmi Prabhakar and Aranyani Bhargav of Re-cognising Dance; Tarun Dey, Bhabatosh Sutar and Mallika Das Sutar of Chander Haat; Avni Sethi of Conflictorium; Sapan Saran and Sunil Shanbag of Studio Tamasha; and Suresh Jayaram of 1Shanthiroad are arts and culture practitioners who imagine, design, curate and enable these spaces with the same passion and rigour with which they push boundaries, take risks and challenge the way they make and present art in their practices. Owners and managers of spaces who are not artists must learn from them and perhaps take on board arts practitioners to create and implement their vision.

I note with delight that the Museum of Art & Photography (MAP) launching in Bangalore soon, where I serve as an advisor, already checks quite a few elements on my Panchatatwa list. Even while they were being built they had started engaging with various communities focusing on workshops for young people. In their digital avatar during the entire pandemic period they provided a series of talks, online experiences and conversations which focussed on unheard stories in the arts. Their building and arrangement of artworks have been done thoughtfully keeping various aspects of accessibility in mind. Their teams and leaders come with deep engagement with the arts, some with evolving practices as well. I hope these values keep inspiring their journey.

So, one could use the Panchatatwa litmus test to see whether a space is truly reimagining its vision, purpose and role in the arts and culture ecology of a city, or simply re-establishing the same old structures of power and control. One hopes that more and more such spaces are run and supported so that our witness of the arts can be truly transformative.

(The views expressed are of Arundhati Ghosh, Executive Director, India Foundation for the Arts)

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