Mudhra, a music magazine and arts organisation along with Lions Club International District conducted a One day seminar on ‘Fine arts – its social and cultural impact’ recently in Chennai

Noted theatre personality S.Ve.Shekher inaugurated the seminar who gave a lively and thought provoking speech on the general art scenario at present.

Adding that music was a universal language, he also appreciated the efforts of Mudhra for taking up such a meaningful subject for the seminar. District Governor Lion Govindasamy Thangaraj and A. Natarajan, former director, Doordarshan applauded Mudhra for the work it has been doing to create awareness about fine arts among all strata of the society.

Lion Mudhra Bhaskar, District Chairperson for Fine Arts, welcomed the gathering and also highlighted the purpose of the seminar.
The forenoon session began with Dr.S.A.K Durga, who spoke on the role of music. She said that music was integral to our life and it had a great impact on our emotional well being as well.
Dancer Meenaskhi Chittaranjan who dealt with dance, explained how this art form can be used effectively to keep us fit, both physically and mentally. She also gave beautiful examples of how through dance, we can inculcate cultural values among children.

Meenakshi pointed out that as dance itself was a depiction of various episodes from our great epics like the Ramayana, children naturally imbibed many aspects of our culture without consciously being aware of it. B.R.Kumar, who addressed on the role of media in fine arts said that media is totally guided by technology today. He gave examples of how advanced we have become in terms of projecting different information all at the same time on the television, with the help of technology.
The afternoon session had musicologist Dr.M.B.Vedavalli discussing on the immense contribution that temples had made in the past with respect to propagating our art and culture. She explained with examples, the kind of music and dances that were practiced in specific temples and the method in which each art form was performed.
Dr.Pakkirisamy Bharathi, principal. Govt. college of music, gave an account of how educational institutions had a key role in promoting fine arts.
On a lighter vein, he said that while in Gurukula, the Guru could teach the student whenever he felt like it, in institutions, the teacher had no option but to teach when his classes were scheduled. He also focused on how a lot of theoretical information was imparted only by music institutions.
K.Kesavasamy who spoke next, took up the subject of ‘rare fine art forms’ with special reference to Bommalattam (Puppetry). He explained its form and structure as seen in various states of India. He volunteered to bring his troupe and perform in Chennai so that people could understand what a great art form Puppetry I, in telling children about the messages in our great epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata.
Dr.Kausalya who has a very vast experience as a teacher, both in institutions as well as privately, narrated in a lively manner how and what could be taught to children, especially in the rural areas. It was a revelation to hear her remark – “once a child came to my house and said – I do not want to learn Sangeetham, I want to just learn Paattu.”
She said his set her thinking and then realised that what the child meant was that she was not interested in any of the basics of Carnatic music- all she wanted to do was to learn a few simple songs and just sing.

Noted journalist and theatre person Gnani was the final speaker who dealt with a lot of vital issues about the arts and society. He pointed out to the pathetic state of many artists today, who find it so difficult to earn a living out of the arts. In his own inimitable style he remarked – “all of us are constantly performing drama because we do know many things happening around us, but pretend that we do not know them. Also, we live in a society where we want the arts but we do not want to patronize artists. We all talk big about nurturing fine arts like puppetry, but how many of you would dare to put your child to learn this art form and make him run a profession out of it?”
The seminar was coordinated by musician and musicologist Dr.Radha Bhaskar. Interactive sessions with the audience brought out many more interesting issues for discussion and the whole seminar provided a lot of food for thought.
Noted musician Vani Jairam, summed up the day’s proceedings and also made her observations on how the seminar was an eye opener to all, to think about fine arts in such a different perspective.