By Anokha Venugopal, Knowledge Hub

In last month’s newsletter, Jeyanthi R. shared some insights on the Visiting Artists Program, a collaboration between Keystone Foundation, Oberlin Shansi, and the Porivarai Community Foundation. It was through this effort (one that was three years in the making) which Jeyanthi, Balusubramani, and Kannan, who are from the Irula Adivasi community in the Nilgiris, came to the United States to share their musical traditions and culture with the town and college in Oberlin, Ohio.

What is the Visiting Artists Program?

As defined on the Oberlin Shansi website, “Unlike traditional residency programs that feature professional performers of established artistic traditions, Shansi’s Visiting Artists Program broadens definitions of “expertise” by working with musicians who are currently engaged in the process of translating intimate, sometimes ritualistic music and dance practices to staged contexts. This program has the potential to disrupt eurocentric ways of thinking about arts, preservation, and social change. In addition to serving as artists, the invited Irula musicians are grassroots community organizers who engage with social issues relevant to their communities, including the loss of land, opportunity, and livelihoods.” You can learn more about the program here.

The experience was absolutely life-changing, a true journey of sound, sight, taste, connection, and more. Here’s a photo story from this trip so you can see just a few of the adventures that our group had!

Left to right: Balasubramani, Gavin Tritt, Isabel Tadmiri, Ted Samuel, Anokha Venugopal, Jeyanthi R., Kannan R., Ranjani Prasad, Abhishek, Phoebe Von Conta. Not pictured, Jessica Cotter, the incredible Adminstrative Assistant at Shansi.

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Balusubramani and Kannan wait outside the Birenbaum venue to start off the Sounds of the Forest: Indigenous Ways of Listening presentations. Each of them holds a Kwol, a flute-like instrument from the Irula community.
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Engaging discussions and questions from Oberlin community members attending the Indigenous Way of Listening talk.
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A group photo with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame staff! Our group first demonstrated Irula music and dance, followed by a collective music jam session with instruments that we brought from Aracode: audience members, Rock and Roll HOF staff and our group created some lovely sounds together. Finally, the staff at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame did a live music demonstration for us, namely Creep by Radiohead and Everlong by the Foo Fighters. It was electrifying to see how music truly transcends borders and cultures, and brought us all together in that moment, from Aatu Kwol to alternative rock.
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As defined on the Studio B website, “Live From Studio B is a radio program run by students at Oberlin College that brings you live performances from local and touring artists every Sunday”. We were lucky enough to film a whole recording session where the group above (Abhishek, Kannan, Balu, and Jeyanthi) had fun improvising some new sounds.
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Balu captures the crowd at Kendall at Oberlin, a senior home in Oberlin, with his soulful playing of the Nagasore. Behind him plays a video created by Anokha of the Aracode forest landscape.
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The Allen Art Museum is recognized as one of the best academic art institutions in the entire United States. For our group to perform Irula music and dance for a crowd of 130 people in this museum, and to receive an ovation that lasted several minutes, felt truly monumental.

Images by Anokha Venugopal