On Monday 14 Jan 2008 10:40 am, Charles Haynes wrote: > Are they "respected" professions? How widespread are they? I'm really > very uninformed about them other than having listened to a few > carnatic music performances, and a few other musical performances. I > know Deepa performs, and I have one friend back in the US who used to > do some Indian dance. Is it common for people to be amateur > performers? Are there local groups where people get together to > perform? Classes? Semi-professional and professional performing > groups? Perhaps you're right, and I'm just unaware. If so, I'd love to > learn more. Are there people on silk who are performers who could > teach me a little about the arts or point me at local resources?
Yes I think dance and music are both respected and there are professionals as well as part timers and there are patrons/sponsors. Amateur dance and music are widely prevalent and have a following that is getting bigger with more local TV channels. Sculpture and certain other arts get direct or indirect government support if I am not mistaken. > Yeah, patronage was how art was traditionally supported. Where are the > modern Indian patrons of the arts? If there aren't any, why do you > think that is? Perhaps we could support opensource development via a > patronage system? What captains of industry might be willing? Patronage for the arts in India never died out. The wealthy have always patronized art and this is only increasing with corporate patronage. > Interesting. Do you think that true of all the British colonial > tradition, or is India different? The main effect that British rule had on the arts in India was disruption of the economy and patronage secondary to that. Britain went about the world convinced that what it represented it was the best and little else was of consequence. This seems to be a characterstic of any entity that is a superpower. I still think a lot of Indians have a Hindu core that will make them take up open source after retirement when they consider, deep inside their hearts that their children are settled and their life's work is done. Many of our friends on Silk might fall into this category, but they are not old enough yet. We might just see the beginnings in a decade or so. The Open Source that is being discused here itself is not old enough to get the boost that it can get from a group of experienced "Don't give a damn about anything else" programmers. Old codgers have a special role in all skilled systems, and Information technology does not have enough old codgers yet. shiv
