Bangalore, brimming with life

A few years ago, as the guest editor for a day, a city newspaper saw me lament the lack lustre state of our Bangalore evenings.

With no clubs open till late, impositions on live music, disappearance of the rocking dance floors and Rangashankara being the only place one could go to in the evenings, the city was on the brink of cultural bankruptcy. I had then blamed the lack of cultural infrastructure in the city and the government’s inability to support the practices of cultural workers here. I had also pointed out that most of the corporate sector’s support in the city went to sports and not arts and culture programs. In the last few years none of that has changed, and yet the look of a Bangalore evening today is very different.

Which other city in India will give you the following as options to spend an evening with — you could immerse yourself at the Stuttgart chamber orchestra, or stare for hours at Tino Sehgal’s art installation ‘The Situation’ at the Max Mueller Bhavan, or listen to Jan Lundgren’s jazz at the Alliance Française or watch the wonderful Lysistrata at Jagriti. You could also watch a performance of the Afterlife Of Birds at the Rangashankara or a performance of thumri at the Bangalore International Centre. You could sit in front of Sheela Gowda’s works at GallerySke or contemplate on contemporary Chinese photographs at Tasveer. 

These are only the few options that I had checked out... I am sure there were more. And not just these, Bangalore has an international film festival, the Experimenta film festival, The Rangashankara annual Theatre Festival, the bi-annual International movement arts festival and now the Namma Dance festival to add to the extravaganza. To add to that, next year will see some more festivals including a literary one.

So, in short, wherever I go I get to hear this — Bangalore now happens to be the most happening city!

So, if it isn’t the government’s neglect and the corporate sector’s indifference that changed in the last few years, what did? The first thing that comes to my mind is the perseverance of Bangalore’s audience. Earlier, exciting international arts and culture programs would only count Delhi and Mumbai as their India stops. But the cosmopolitan audience in Bangalore has consistently shown its openness and acceptance of new ideas, driving great distances through traumatic traffic situations, across the city to fill up venues of every conceivable arts program.

There is an audience for every kind of programme, given the multi-cultural, multi-lingual communities living side by side in the city. They saw, heard, clapped, booed, talked, wrote and blogged about it. Demanding and hungry for more, this audience is something the international agencies could not ignore anymore. So if there is a cultural show worth its while that travels to India, it must visit Bangalore now. 

The other thing that did change is the spirit of the cultural practitioners in Bangalore. Not depending on traditional support like that of the government or the corporate sector, they are now trying out alternate models for sustainability. Some of them have turned entrepreneurs while others have opted for asking support from individuals, smaller local trusts and foundations and bilateral agencies. Still others are working on barter systems with festivals in other cities. All in all, they seem to have figured that there is no point in lamenting the death of conventional patronage — one has to just go out there and find new partnerships.

Finally, I cannot help feeling, that the quiet, sustained work over years, of organisations that have supported arts and culture projects behind the scenes, also has something to do with the city’s changed cultural atmosphere. India Foundation for the Arts is one such organisation that has helped shape the dreams of artists. The generous individuals in this city, who have donated to this organisation, believing in its work, deserve a standing ovation.

Bangalore is alive and brimming with life and activity. When I peer into the year 2012, I think it is going to be a very exciting time in Bangalore. I would not swap living in this city for living in any other.