Voice notes on history

How long till the history of a place is forgotten? How long till the stories of the art and culture residing there go undocumented? These are questions we ask art archivist K. Ramachandran, who is hosting a discussion on the importance of artistic history of Peruvanam, a small village in Kerala.

Hailing from the village of Peruvanam himself, Ramachandran tells us about the urgent need to preserve the traditional art and culture of his village. “Although obscure, Peruvanam is a place with a rich artistic history of over 1,435 years — not documenting this would be wrong,” he explains. The archivist is also the founder of Keli, a city-based charitable organisation that strives to preserve, develop and promote the classical and traditional cultural heritage of India. Working for the preservation of art through Keli for over 25 years, Ramachandran has researched, documented, presented and celebrated the art and artists of Kerala. Giving an insight about the discussion, Ramachandran says, “We’re engaging in documenting the cultural anthropology of the arts of Peruvanam. And ‘arts’ is an encapsulation of everything from art and music to theatre and dance.”

A publisher of two books titled Proud Imprints of Natyaveda and Abhinethri (The Actress), Ramachandran is well aware of what goes into archiving history. For him, the first step is to begin with the oral archiving. Pointing out how several authentic stories are lost in the vast expanse of oral traditions, he feels the need to dig a lot deeper. And considering how his native village has been going on without any documentation for thousands of years, he strongly believes it is important to stay true to the roots. “Our traditions go as far back as several thousand years with a Nangiar Koothu, an offshoot of Kutiyattam that is the sole domain of female artistes, itself going back to 1,800 years. It is easy for the organic history to be lost with the oral tradition. And so, we will be forming a strong, true oral archive by talking to almost 200 gurus. We plan on beginning the first leg there — by documenting their dialogue first,” he explains.

Peruvanam isn’t just the home to several art forms. The land has birthed many artists, who will also be a part of the discussion. “The village boasts great artists of Melam, Nangiar Koothu, a strong musical folk tradition, contemporary theatre activists and artists. We will also have award-winning film-makers on the panel, whose work ranges from the first neo-classical film made to the 2006 National Film Award winner, Priyanandan,” says Ramachandran.

The spectrum to cover is huge and while Ramachandran understands how ambitious his project is, he hopes to encapsulate (almost) all information accurately. “We are going to gather information from over 200 gurus — chances are there are going to be a lot of blank spaces and mismatches in their versions. However, rather than completely eliminating them from the narrative, I wish to debate the history,” he concludes.

The talk is organised Junoon Theatre.
On April 1, 5 pm, at McCbed Library, Bandra (W)