'Curating a cultural festival an expert's job'

As the curtain came down on the multi-art, multi-venue Delhi International Arts Festival recently with a spectacular performance by China’s Sichuan Opera theatre from Chongqing, its festival director Prathibha Prahlad elaborated on behind-the-process intricacies, hard work and impediments in organising a festival on such a large scale.

“We begin the work for the next edition immediately after the current festival gets over. Since we do not have planned expenditure and allocation of a budget to work around with, we face enormous difficulty in trying to match the money we are able to raise through donations with the necessary expenditure incurred on various heads,” Prahlad tells Metrolife.

“To confirm artistic groups and commit to the outflow of money without adequate sponsorships and government grants is painful and unsettling. If there was enough money allotted and a secretariat of six-eight persons working through the year, it would be a lot easier to put up this mammoth festival,” she adds.

It was Prahlad’s love for culture and arts that she started this festival in 2007. Her life as a performer took her to several countries and continents and she always wondered why India didn’t have a diverse international cultural festival. So, she decided to create a platform that celebrated performing arts in general.

“I believe that culture is the most powerful tool of diplomacy and can not only strengthen ties between people of different countries but also nurture these ties and make it long lasting,” she says.

With each year, the festival has grown in scope and dimension, but there is one special moment that has been the highpoint of this journey. “The highpoint for me was when I received an email from the manager of the ABBA group in Sweden (with some original performers), asking to perform in the festival. I jumped with joy because I grew up listening to ABBA,” she recollects.

Over the last five years, Delhi has seen a surge in cultural festivals. Prahlad feels “if the quality of the festival is not good, or is organised with an indifferent attitude, it will die a natural death.”

As a festival director, Prahlad’s responsibility is to ensure that not only the festival has something new and different every year, but there is something on offer for every age group and every taste.

“I need to know what is popular amongst my audiences and not let my personal preferences come in the way of deciding what I put in the calendar, which is a challenge. The day I close my mind, I will stop growing and that really is no option for me,” she points out.

The worst nightmare for Prahlad while organising the festival is to “almost beg and plead” for funds. “I hate fund raising. I wish the government apportions a budget for the festival I can work with, instead of wasting my time and energy grovelling for funds.”

“The government should appreciate an individual’s enterprise and expertise and put its might and machinery, both in terms of fiscal and otherwise, to help the equity grow and sustain. Of course, the necessary checks and balances are required, which the government is adept at. However, it is not the government's job or in line of duty, to organise cultural festivals. It should not do this or indulge in such activities,” she says.

Prahlad hopes that government realises “administering culture is an expert's job.” “I feel that we have not grown out of the mindset that thinks of cultural festivals as naach-gaana events. Culture is way beyond that. I believe that curating a cultural festival is an expert's job,” she adds.