Beit Zatoon is a
meeting place for art and culture with unmistakable political underpinnings on
Toronto’s Markham Street. I was there recently to listen to young spoken word
artists recite poems of social justice at an event that showcased the poetry of
a medieval Punjabi sufi poet Bulleh Shah. There was music, too – a veritable
feast of Indian semi-classical, and other genres both vocal and instrumental. And
rather incongruously, some bit of Shiite preaching (‘Karbala is his Kaaba’). The
artists and especially the audience comprised all races and many religions. I
assume there were many like me in the audience with little patience for anything
religious but an abiding belief in the oneness of humans, something that Bulleh
Shah preached.
A program on
Bulleh Shah is as South Asian as it gets, and would’ve easily attracted a few
hundred connoisseurs of sufi poetry in any Indian or Pakistani city. However, what
transformed the Toronto show into a foot-stomping, handclapping, swinging and
swaying musical communion was the participation of musicians of different ethnicities
from across the world and who call Toronto home. That wouldn’t have been
possible in South Asia – a subcontinent geographically divided by history.
I recall at
least two other programs that were similarly path-breaking and innovative. The
first was a poetry and music program at St. John’s Cathedral which had Canadian
poets of Bosnian, Brazilian, Indian and Irish origins, and violinists who
reinterpreted Bartok’s folk tunes. The second one was collaboration between a
Toronto-born poet and a painter of Japanese origin where the painter
interpreted the poem by painting on an illuminated glass panel.
These
collaborative efforts are not exercises in nostalgia nor are they merely an
attempt to recreate a milieu of a time that is now living in memory, or a place
left behind. Conscious of their new environment, the artists, musicians and
poets are reinterpreting the original material by synthesizing the traditional
with the modern. The resulting confluence is quintessentially Canadian.
During my five
years in Toronto, I’ve attended several similar programs organized every day by
different ethnic groups – all working quietly, unobtrusively to expand the
Canadian identity. I think it is this
artistic exploration that makes Canada unique. This land provides a platform
for everyone to celebrate oneness; to forge a new identity through their
creativity; to make some magic.
Without committing
a Socratic fallacy in defining the term Canadian, I’d say that labelling
something Canadian definitely builds our society. But building a society is
different from making culture a marketable commodity. If there is a perception
that labelling something ‘Canadian’ dooms our cultural industries to failure,
it’s because at present the term Canadian is narrowly defined and doesn’t
encompass all that it should – culturally, socially, economically, and politically.
The so-called “national
mainstream” takes no notice of the programs that I so enthusiastically attend. Its
disdain for the new Canadian culture stems from an absence of awareness of the
upsurge of new talent. This is the result of policies that prevent wholesome
integration of immigrants into the Canadian mainstream.
The “national
mainstream” indulges in rank tokenism. It’s happy to acknowledge Russell Peters’s
wild popularity, and occasionally also the masters who can’t be ignored –
Rohinton Mistry, MG Vassanji, Deepa Mehta, but then swiftly move on to Dion Phaneuf,
Justin Trudeau and Margaret Atwood. The cultural tumult that is transforming Canadian
cities remains hidden. In this process, artists, musicians, filmmakers,
poets who are perhaps as talented remain unacknowledged.
This is a pity
because there is both a growing market and sponsorship available for the new Canadian
culture. A culture acquires acceptance and gains in popularity when it’s
constantly talked about. Cultural marketability comes through heightened
awareness which can only be created if people from those sections of the Canadian
society who are involved with the development of new culture have the
decision-making powers. This can come about only by empowering immigrants
economically and politically.
Also published in Toronto Star (13-04-13):
Also published in Toronto Star (13-04-13):
No comments:
Post a Comment